The Pros and Cons of Bilingual Education in Malaysia.

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Recommended: Advantages of bilingualism in a classroom

Earlier this year, Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Guan Yew told the press (SinChew Daily, 2013) that he would like to urge all the parents in Singapore to let their children to receive bilingual education as soon as possible as it deliver more pros than cons for the development of the children. Traditionally, bilingual education was perceived by experts as “damaging” to children early language development as it may cause them to confuse between two languages and affect their learning (Chitester, D.J., 2007), but as more recent researchers begin to uncover the advantages of bilingual education (Cognitive Development Lab, 2013 & National Association for Bilingual Education, n.d.), people around the globe are now accepting and encouraging their children to receive bilingual education, picking up additional languages like: Spanish or Mandarin. The bilingual education indeed offers several priceless advantages to everyone like helping in the development of brain, providing wider job opportunities and making more new friend.

The development of the brain of a bilingual individual is better than a monolingual individual. Few years ago, researchers from the University of Washington (as cited in Klass, 2011, para 4.) found that the brains of bilingual infants (from families where two languages were spoken) are able to discriminate the different of the phonetic sound of the languages they usually heard when they grew up than monolingual infants in where their brains were adapted to only identify their mother tongue only. Dr. Patricia Kuhl, one of the members of this research team thus believe that bilingual education can shape infants’ brains and keep them ready for future challenges. Concurrently, a renowned psychologist, Dr. Ellen...

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...ducation for Bilingual Education. (n.d.). Does bilingual education really work? Retrieved from: http://www.nabe.org/BilingualEducation
Neergaard, L. (2011, Feb 19). Retrieved from: New study shows speaking, understanding multiple langues helpful in delaying Alzheimer’s. New York Time.
Retrieved from: http://lubbockonline.com/health/2011-02-19/speaking-two- languages-may-delay-getting-alzheimers#.UmVYo5U9IcA
Perri Klass, M.D. (2011, Oct 10). Hearing bilingual: How babies sort out language. New York Time. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/health/views/ 11klass.html?r=0
SinChew Daily. (2013, Aug 17). Lee Guan Yew urged to let children practice bilingual education as soon as possible. Retrieved from: http://news.sinchew.com.my/ node/317526?tid=2 wwwAAASorg. (2011). Interview with Amy Weinberg, Ph. D. Retrieved from: http://youtu.be/-hxn2szAQjY

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