Bilingualism, Intelligence,
Transfer, & Learning
Strategies
Lec. 10
1. Varieties of bilingualism
 Any two language: speech, sign, or written
 E.g. sign languages, Sanskrit (written mode), etc.
 Because language in all its complexity can be acquired through a variety
of modalities – sound (speech), sight (writing), and visual motion (signs) – an
adequate concept of a bilingual should allow for any of these realizations.
1. Varieties of bilingualism
 We may say a person is bilingual if he or she knows:
1. Two languages in the same modality, for example, two speech-based
languages such as spoken English and Spoken German, or two sign-based
languages such as American Sign Language and Japanese Sign
Language, or
2. Two language based on different modalities, e.g. spoken German and
American Sign Language, or spoken French and written Sanskrit
2. Is bilingualism beneficial or
detrimental?
 Knowledge of another language enables people to communicate with
members of other cultures in their own language., which provides a means
for further cooperation and understanding among nations and peoples.
 Knowing another language is also important within countries where there is
more than one prevalent or official language, as in Switzerland and
Canada.

at a personal level, the pleasure and cultural benefits of bilingualism are
obvious.
2. Is bilingualism beneficial or
detrimental?
 The arguments offered against bilingualism are typically restricted to young
children learning a second language.
 It must be said that the criticism that has been leveled against early
bilingualism is primarily of another era, the early half of the twentieth
century.
3. Effects of early bilingualism on firstlanguage development and intelligence
 I. effects on first-language development
Can learning a second language at an early age , while the child is still in the
process of learning the native or first language, have a negative effect on the
learning of the native language?
3. Effects of early bilingualism on firstlanguage development and intelligence
1. Effects on first language development
 Negative reports (culturally biased)
Smith (1939),
Bereiter & Engelman (1966)
 Positive reports
Labov & other researchers (1960s) & (1970s)
Bruck et al (1976)
 Positive effects with very different languages
English & Japanese
3. Effects of early bilingualism on firstlanguage development and intelligence
2. Effects on intelligence
 Negative reports (culturally biased)
USA: Goddard (1917)
Wales: Saer (1922,1923)
 Positive reports
Peal & Lambert (1962)
Bain & YU (1980)
3. Effects of early bilingualism on firstlanguage development and intelligence
3. conclusion
It is unlikely that learning a second language negatively affects intelligence in
a permanent or important way. In fact, some research suggest there may
even be beneficial effects. Given the advantages of knowing another
language and of young children’s propensity for speedy language acquisition,
there is good reason to favor early bilingualism.
4. Sequential and simultaneous
learning situations
 There are two conditions according to which a person may become
bilingual:
1. The two languages can be acquired sequentially, such as the second
language being learned later at school (children & adults), or
2. Simultaneously, such as where the young child is exposed to two different
languages in the home at the same time (children).
4.1. sequential learning of two
languages
 The difference lies in the starting time
 In sequential bilingualism, children are said to pass through 4 different
stages:
1. Silence
2. Gesture
3. Production of abbreviated utterances
4. Production of grammatical utterances
4.2. Simultaneous learning
 One person speaks one language ONLY, or one person speaks two
languages:
1. One person – One language
1P – 1L
2. One person – Two languages
1P – 2L
4.2. Simultaneous learning
 The 1P-1L situation is better
 I simultaneous trilingual case (1P-1L) X 3
 Developmental stages in bilingual language learning
4.3. First –language & second-language
relations affect learnability: the transfer effect
1. First language similar to second language
2. Facilitation occurs even between very different languages
5. Strategies for second-language
production
5.1. the first-language strategy &
second –language strategy
1. The first language strategy & the second language strategy
i.
Errors caused by interference
ii.
Errors caused by second-language strategy
iii. Errors caused by first language strategy
5.2. strategies for sentence production
& communication
 The greater the input, the more the opportunity for language learning
 Communication strategies
1. Overgvergeneralization
2. Using words form L1 when they are unknown in L2
3.
5.3. strategies for becoming a better
second-language learner
 A person may develop strategies to improve the learning of a second
language; such as
1. Verification
2. Inductive processing
3. Deductive reasoning
4. Practice
5. Memorization
6. Monitoring
6. Teaching reading in a bilingual
situation at home
1. How to teach the reading of two Language
2. Which language should be read first