Thursday, June 15, 2017

WHY BEING BILINGUAL HELPS KEEP YOUR BRAIN FIT


By: Gaia Vince
Level of Difficulty: **
WATCH, LISTEN AND TAKE NOTES
·         Why being bilingual helps keep your brain fit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbLJ5C7lphI
·         The benefits of a bilingual brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmOLN5zBLY&t=30s
·         How does language change your brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGITqiG-Ips
QUESTIONS
1.       What conclusion can be drawn from the first two paragraphs of the text?
·         Bilingualism is nothing special in some parts of the world
·         Bilingualism is exceptional in some parts of the world
·         Bilingualism is easy in some parts of the world
·         Bilingualism is compulsory in some parts of the world
2.       The information concerning multilingualism points to a surprising conclusion. It is...  ………………………..
3.       The Snowflake experiment proves / disproves the above because those who succeed ……………and this shows that ………………
4.       We understand from the text that a certain amount of…………..was necessary for languages to start to develop.
5.       Hunter gatherers became multilingual for practical reasons such as…….. and for social reasons such as……
6.       The reason why the tide turned and bilingualism was looked down on was scientific / non-scientific because …
7.       The disregard of the 1962 experiment mentioned in the text shows that the negative attitude towards bilingualism was hazardous / prejudicial / sensible / understandable
8.       What conclusion can we draw from the writer’s personal example?
9.       Read the paragraphs describing English – German bilinguals. We understand from the information provided that the way the bilingual’s perspective depended on ….
10.   The study involving English – Japanese bilinguals came up with an interesting result:…
11.   Read the following excerpt from the text:  “In a revealing experiment with his English-German bilingual group,…” In what sense is the experiment revealing? In that…
12.   Read the assessment of the Snowflake experiment the two flanker tests the writer took.  What was the result of the experiment?
13.   What conclusion can be drawn from this experiment? Learning a new language has a positive impact on…
14.   The exercise of continual executive control by bilinguals impacts the brain in that…
15.   The above mentioned build up of grey matter has an additional advantage:
16.   What general conclusion can be drawn concerning bilingualism from the last two sections you have read?
17.   Immersion schooling should replace current practices because it has various personal advantages such as improving.......... and various practical advantages such as providing ......advantages
18.   Which sentence in the last section of the text best expresses the general conclusion we can draw from the text?
WRITING
Write an essay in which you discuss the advantages of a bilingual education. Use the information you have acquired. Look back at the advantages listed in the text; can they be grouped in certain ways? When writing your essay, make sure that each paragraph of your development is about one group of advantages.
WHY BEING BILINGUAL HELPS KEEP YOUR BRAIN FIT KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
There has been an inordinate amount of focus on monolingual education and the imagined disadvantages of confusing the students with a second language. Research shows that this is far from being the case as this text demonstrates. As a multilingual individual, I can attest to this myself. The text should provide some interesting insights into the issue and lead to a well structured essay.
1.       The first
2.       The human brain evolved to be multilingual
3.       Proves, are the ones who don’t care at all about the task, the brain is primed to work it out subconsciously
4.       Biological evolution
5.       Trade and travel; not being allowed to marry anyone in the same tribe or clan to have a child
6.       Non-scientific ; it was regarded as disloyal to speak anything other than the one national language
7.       Prejudicial
8.       You gain a different personality with every language you speak
9.       Which country they were tested in
10.   Bilinguals have a different mindset for each language
11.   In that it reveals that the different mindsets of a bilingual person are continually in conflict (as bilingual brains sort out which language to use).
12.   Learning a new language helped the writer’s performance on the flanker test the second time round
13.   Cognitive conflict resolution
14.   Bilingual people have significantly more grey matter in their ACC
15.   It delays the effects of dementia
16.   Bilingualism helps keep us mentally fit
17.   Concentration, focus, the development of self esteem
18.   Each new language gives you a whole new life style, a whole new shade of meaning


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