Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

D I V E R S I T Y
Teaching with Linguistic Variety: 
Bilingual Education
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272 Chapter 
8 
Cognition and Language
Although the controversial issue of bilingual education versus immersion has 
strong political undercurrents, evidence shows that the ability to speak two languages 
provides signifi cant cognitive benefi ts over speaking only one language. For example, 
bilingual speakers show more cognitive fl exibility and may understand concepts more 
easily than those who speak only one language. They have more linguistic tools for 
thinking because of their multiple-language abilities. In turn, this makes them more 
creative and fl exible in solving problems (Heyman & Diesendruck, 2002; Bialystok & 
Martin, 2004; Kuo, 2007). 
Furthermore, speaking several languages changes the organization of the brain. 
For example, bilingual speakers who learn their second language as adults show 
different areas of brain activation compared with those who learn their second 
language in childhood. In addition, brain scans show that people who speak multiple 
languages have distinct patterns of brain activity according to the language that they 
are using (see Figure 2) (Kim et al., 1997; Kovelman, Baker, & Petitto, 2008; Kovacs & 
Mehler, 2009). 
Related to questions about bilingual education is the matter of biculturalism, that is, 
being a member of two cultures and its psychological impact. Some psychologists 
argue that society should promote an alternation model of bicultural competence. Such 
a model supports members of a culture in their efforts to maintain their original 
cultural identity as well as in their integration into the adopted culture. In this view, a 
person can belong to two cultures and have two cultural identities without having to 
choose between them. Whether society will adopt the alternation model remains to be 
seen (Carter, 2003; Benet-Martínez, Lee, & Leu, 2006; Tadmor, 2007).
FIGURE 1 
The language of diversity. Some 22% of the people in the United States speak 
a language other than English at home. Most of them speak Spanish; the rest speak an 
astounding variety of diff erent languages. Where are the largest clusters of non-English 
speakers in the United States, and what do you think explains these concentrations?
 
(Source: MLA Language Map, 2005, based on 2000 Census.)
ALASKA
HAWAII
0
1–99
100–499
500–999
1,000–4,999
5,000–19,999
20,000–49,999
50,000–99,999
100,000–499,999
500,000–999,999
1,000,000–3,500,000
NEW HAMPSHIRE
VERMONT
MAINE
MASSACHUSETTS