By James Simons-
Speaking more than one language helps academic excellence, according to a research study.
Data from the Millennium Cohort study found that children who speak more than one language do better than their peers in Maths and English by the age of seven. The research does not keep track of their relative progress five or ten years later.
The data drawn from a large same of 19,000 British children ,was conducted by Anita Staneva at the University of Sydney and presented at the annual conference of the Royal Economy.ics Society in Bristol today, Tuesday.
The study along with others concludes that an extra language provides good exercise for the brain , shaping the brain and boosting learning ability and problem solving .
Children who grow up listening and speaking two different languages are meant to have an advantage because of the training received by he brain over an extended period of time from an early age. Children born into just English speaking homes are encouraged to learn French , Spanish, or even both.
DOWNSIDE
The one downside to this research is that it fails to reflect any assessment between bright children in their late teens or early twenties who grew up speaking one language and those who developed more than one language.
The general message may be hat speaking more than one language gives children an edge over many of those who just speak one language , but it does not necessary apply to children speaking one language who eventually attend the best private schools and Universities.