Bilingualism: A Holistic Perspective

Benefits of Bilingualism:

Cognitive Competence

Young bilingual children have greater semantic flexibility than their monolingual peers.

Socio-Cultural

Bilingulas develop a bicultural worldview and identity

Psychological

Increase self-esteem and the cohesion oftheir families

Communicative competence

Able to maintain family communication andinteraction across generations

Holistic

Integrates knowledge of and from both languages

The total of the two languages is greater than their sum because they interact with each other to increase the functionality of each.

Fractional

Describes bilinguals as being the equivalent of two monolinguals in one person

Develop parallel linguistic competence in both languages simultaneously.

Simultaneous

Grow up learning two languages in their environment from infancy

Sequential

Develop mastery or proficiency in one language before acquiring the second language

Subtema

University professors and
bilingual teachers must consider more than the
linguistic aspect of bilingualism

Social and
cultural factors

How linguistic factors interact in their lifes

Influence of their socio-psycholinguistic
development