In addition to the several advantages of bilingualism mentioned in this blog, a recent study has found that bilinguals have better attention and focus.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham recruited 99 participants from which 48 were English-Chinese bilinguals while the other 51 were English monolingual speakers. Participants carried out 3 different tasks: the Simon task, the Spatial Stroop task and the Flanker task. These tasks consisted on indicating the direction or the color  of arrows and squares while ignoring extra information. Both groups scored similarly. However, the monolingual speakers had slower responses than bilinguals.

Researchers concluded that bilinguals are better at focusing because the response time of bilinguals was faster than monolinguals’. According to the researchers, this could be due to the fact that “the lifetime task of switching between languages appears to enhance the ability to maintain attention.”

To read the original article visit: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160909112256.htm