MLW and Bilingualism: Case Study and Critical Evaluation

Early Bilingualism And Its Consequences

The first researches in the field suggest that learning two languages in childhood was detrimental for the child's cognitive capacity (Darcy, 1963) and that bilingualism was a source of mental confusion and brought about linguistic disadvantages.

Today all of these statements are challenged by other authors who consider them to be unfounded (Cummins, 1978). From the results obtained in the application of the model we can infer that both perspectives can be thought as being right and wrong in some respect.

When the child speaks two languages fluidly, he knows more than a word for the same object or concept. Some researches consider this as an element in favor of the child's cognitive flexibility.

In relation to the model and the evaluations of the statistics section, this multiplicity appears as an element that might in some respect significantly focus the reasoning process, not as a weakening factor but as a mere adaptation to the requirements of the environment.

Many works in the field of psychopedagogy point out certain cognitive advantages that bilingualism may generate in the development of reasoning. Technically they are based in works by Ellen Bialystok, who has published several works which at the same time are extensions of ideas presented by her during the 80s.