Question

What is it about the unique experience of a bilingual that gives advantages in divergent thinking and metalinguistic awareness?

Answer 1

Bilinguals have an advantages in divergent thinking and metalinguistic awareness as Bilingualism facilitates cross-cultural communication, which positively affects cognitive abilities. According to recent researches the bilingual brain can have better attention and task-switching capacities than the monolingual brain, as it has developed the ability to inhibit one language while using another. In addition, bilingualism has been reported to have positive effects at both ends of the age spectrum: Bilingual children as young as seven months can better adjust to environmental changes, while less cognitive decline has been experienced in bilingual seniors (Marian, 2012).