Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition in Children - Essay Example

In this study, we will delve into the advantages and disadvantages of bilingualism. There have been good and bad results according to the experiences of different groups of people in the different areas of the world. Myths and fears abound but bilinguals themselves can disprove them. It is safe to say that today bilinguals are as successful as monolinguals in various disciplines, perhaps even surpassing them.

More discussion will be given time on the professional side of dealing with this phenomenon. There can be negative results, it is to be expected, but in our research, we noted the positive sides reported by well-known experts in the field of linguistic and language study. Other topics discussed here are the causes of bilingualism, the definition of bilingualism and who are to be called bilinguals, the results of the various studies of bilingualism, and other language and linguistic areas of study that affect or are affected by bilingualism.

          As an introductory part of the subject, we know bilingualism usually means knowing two or more languages; bilinguals can communicate to a group or a larger group, and to a diversified group of people as well.

Bilingualism has struck many states throughout the world. More and more states have more than one language due to the presence of immigrants and newcomers from places suffering from environmental or man-made forces. Some countries have turned into bilinguals with more than two official languages; sometimes their communities speak more than the recognized languages.

There are questions that this essay will attempt to answer, questions such as: What is the child’s native language? Should the language in the community or what is popularly spoken by the child’s native language? What must the community and educational institutions do to help bilingual children? What should parents do to deal positively with their bilingual children? Will bilingual children learn English, and will the experience of learning two languages lead to either cognitive or linguistic confusion?