ON THE EFFECTS OF AGE ON THE WAY WE LEARN LANGUAGES

Because of the effects of age on the way we learn language, we should consider how important it is to learn more than one language as soon as possible. Research shows that learning more than one language can stimulate growth in areas of the brain such as the hippo-campus and cerebral cortex, which results in better language skills overall. Being multilingual has also proven to build cognitive skills that are completely unrelated to language and can even prevent dementia. It’s also been proven to delay early onset Alzheimer’s disease symptoms by four year. This of course is related to being multilingual.

Having conducted substantial amounts of research and analyzes, people should find value in learning more than one language because of the benefits it provides. Not only is multilingualism cross-culturally habitual, with 60-70% of the world’s population being multilingual, but being multilingual greatly improves a person’s mental and physical health. Research has shown that learning more than one language promotes better concentration, comprehension, memory retention, and multi-tasking. Being multilingual can even help prevent degenerative diseases. Having established this, learning another language, or even multiple languages, has easily proven itself to be beneficial. Thank you for reading!

Works Cited:

“The Advantages of Learning a Second Language.” Student Resources In Context, Gale, 16 Apr. 2015

Barber, E. J. W. “Language, Linguistics, and Literacy.” New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, Vol. 3, Detroit, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005, pp. 1231-38. Student Resources In Context.

“Connectivity and Competition: Multilingualism in Ancient Italy 800-200 BC.” Mena Report, 29 Nov. 2018. General OneFile.

DeKeyser, R. M. (2017). Age in Learning and Teaching Grammar. In the TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching (eds J. I. Liontas, T. International Association and M. DelliCarpini). doi:10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0106

Macías, Reynaldo F. “Bilingualism and Multilingualism.” New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, edited by Maryanne Cline Horowitz, vol. 1, Detroit, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005, pp. 209-13. Student Resources in Context  — Accessed 9 Jan. 2019.

“Multilingualism Education Unifies, Expert Says.” UWIRE Text, 9 Oct. 2018, p. 1. General OneFile.

“TimesCast / Understanding Hyperpolyglots.” General OneFile, Gale, 9 Mar. 2012,  Accessed 11 Jan. 2019.