The Straist Time: Babies exposed to two languages show better memory and learning ability

Babies exposed to two languages show better memory and learning ability: Study

A new study of six-month-old infants has discovered that babies exposed to two languages may have better memory and information processing skills than those only exposed to one. 

PUBLISHED

SEP 2, 2014, 10:13 AM SGT

Amelia Teng

SINGAPORE - Babies exposed to two languages may have better memory than their monolingual peers, and can also process information faster, a new study of six-month-old infants here has discovered.

They appear to be quicker in absorbing information and get "bored" of familiar images faster, the study of 114 infants found. Half of the infants lived in a environment exposed to a second language - Chinese, Malay or Tamil - at least 25 per cent of the time. The monolingual babies had at least 90 per cent exposure to English.

The study, which is the first of its kind to look at the effects of bilingualism in infants at such a young age, is part of a long-term project known as Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (Gusto), which started in 2009. It is a partnership between the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Singapore Institute for Clinical Studies, KK Women's and Children's Hospital and the National University Health System.

The experiment consisted of two tasks that tracked the babies' eye movements. They were first shown an image of a bear or a wolf. Then they were given the same two images side by side, one of which would be new to them.

In the first exercise, the bilingual infants stared at the picture for a shorter period of time than the monolingual babies, before looking elsewhere. In the second task, the bilingual infants paid more attention to the new image than the monolingual ones, who spent an equal amount of time on both.

Associate Professor Leher Singh, the lead author of the study which was published in journal Child Development in July said the findings suggested that bilingual infants "take in information very rapidly, getting bored of the same image faster".

"They also have better memory and can better recognise images," added the National University of Singapore psychology professor.

"As adults, learning a second language can be painstaking and laborious. We sometimes project that difficulty onto our young babies, imagining a state of enormous confusion as two languages jostle for space in their little heads. However, a large number of studies have shown us that babies are uniquely well-positioned to take on the challenges of bilingual acquisition and in fact, may benefit from this journey."

双语环境成长婴儿 吸收辨识能力更强

http://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/singapore/story20140902-384480

双语环境成长婴儿 吸收辨识能力更强
2014年09月02日
   

图中王晶晶老师通过英语对译教导华文程度较弱的学生。今天，本地科研人员发布研究报告，指生长在双语环境的婴儿吸收能力和辨别能力都比生长在单语环境的婴儿来得强。（档案照片）

（联合早报网讯）新加坡科研人员研究发现，生长在双语环境的婴儿，无论在吸收新资讯，以及辨别熟悉物件方面，都比生长在单语环境的婴儿来得强。

领导这项研究的新加坡国立大学文学暨社会科学院心理学系副教授勒埃辛（Leher Singh）说，对于成人来说，学习第二语言或许是痛苦和艰辛的，因此人们往往会以为幼童和婴儿也会面对这样的困难。

她说：“但是，已经有很多研究证明，人们从婴儿时期开始就能够很好地学习和掌握双语。”

其它国家相关研究的结果也显示，生长在双语环境的婴儿日后在上学前和上学时期的智商和词汇测试等方面的学术表现，也有较突出的成绩。

这项最新研究是“在新加坡健康成长”（Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcome，简称GUSTO）研究的其中一部分。参与GUSTO研究的机构包括新加坡科技研究局（A*STAR）属下的新加坡临床科学研究院（SICS）、竹脚妇幼医院和新加坡国立大学医院。

研究结果已在今年7月30日刊登于科学刊物《幼儿发展》（Child Development）中。

本报记者：叶伟强

On Lian He Zao Bao today: Infants can differentiate English, Chinese and its 4 tones 今日《联合早报》：未满周岁婴儿能区分 华英语及“阴阳上去”

Original link to zaobao: http://origin-realtime.zaobao.com.sg/news/singapore/story20140731-371776

研究：在双语环境下 未满周岁婴儿能区分 华英语及“阴阳上去”

杨丹旭

2014年07月31日

• | 
•     

     

   

• 
  符思莹本身的华文不好，但她希望让女儿索菲从小接触华文，以便未来能掌握好华文和英文。（曾坤顺摄）

国大学者指出，人们可能认为向婴儿灌输两种不同语言，会让他们造成困惑，研究结果却正好相反。另项研究显示，若婴儿只有机会接触英语，对华语的敏感度会较低，未来学习这门语言的能力也可能减弱。学者因此建议家长尽早让孩子接触双语。

杨丹旭　报道

yangdx@sph.com.sg

一岁以下的婴儿也许还在牙牙学语，但如果生活在双语环境中，他们就能从中吸收华文信息，甚至分辨华语中“阴阳上去”四声变化。学者因此建议家长尽早让孩子接触双语，为他们营造更好的语言环境。

新加坡国立大学的学者展开三项婴儿学习语言的研究，以了解生活环境如何影响婴儿的语言能力。

在其中一项研究中，11个月大的婴儿会先接触一些简单的英文和华文单词。研究人员之后改变单词的音调和声调，测试婴儿是否继续对这些单词有印象。

在英文单词测试中，双语环境下成长的婴儿知道虽然音调改变，英文单词并没有改变。由于华语有四声的特点，在华文测试中，声调改变后，婴儿就意识到已经不是同一个华文词汇。

领导研究的国大文学暨社会科学院心理学系副教授勒埃辛（Leher Singh）受访时指出，这显示即使还未开口说话，在双语环境下成长的婴儿，其实已经能在潜意识下区分英文和华文。

她说，人们可能认为向年幼的婴儿灌输两种不同语言，会让他们造成困惑。研究结果却显示，即便还未正式开始学习语言，婴儿已能区分华语和英语，前者有四声声调，后者则是比较单一的声调。

研究人员的另一项研究也显示，在华英双语环境下成长的婴儿，不仅能辨识不同发音，也对华语的四声非常敏感，能区分出四声的不同。不过如果初生婴儿只有机会接触英语，对华语的敏感度相对较低，未来学习这门语言的能力也可能减弱。

直接对话对婴儿帮助大

勒埃辛说：“这些都说明更早让孩子接触一门语言，对他们掌握语言非常重要。一岁前的婴儿有很强的能力汲取语言信息，这也是让孩子接触语言的好时机。”

对于想让孩子学好华文的家长，勒埃辛建议家长从婴儿时期开始，以亲身体验方式让孩子接触华文。她说：“亲身体验能更好地帮助年幼的婴儿学习语言，这得通过父母与宝宝直接对话，或是由其他看护者同他们交谈，让宝宝接触语言，而不是通过播放电视，或数码器材等工具让宝宝接触语言。”

研究人员一个多月前开始第三项研究，了解初生婴儿在不同成长阶段，语言能力如何受环境影响。参加初步研究的是四个月和九个月大的婴儿，分别来自英语和华语生活环境。

国大心理学系博士研究生符思凌介绍，研究初步结果显示，四个月大的婴儿无论生活在哪种语言环境，对华语四声的辨识度都不高；不过一旦到九个月，华语环境中的婴儿对声调的辨识能力大大高于在英语环境中成长的婴儿。她说：“一岁前，家长可能不会觉得孩子能听懂什么，但这些研究都显示，虽然孩子还没开始说话，他们对周遭语言环境已很敏感。”

金融分析师符思莹（32岁）不久前带10个月大的女儿索菲报名参加研究，她也希望通过这项测试，更好地了解女儿的语言掌握能力。

符思莹和丈夫平时都用英语对话，不过在与女儿交流时，她会特地说一些简单的华文词。她说：“我在学校学华文时觉得很辛苦，后来去英国住了13年，华文华语变得更差。但具备双语能力非常重要，我想让我的女儿从小接触华文华语，所以努力为她营造一个好的双语环境。”

研究人员接下来将对生活在双语环境中的四个月和九个月大的婴儿展开测试，看他们对华语四声的识别能力如何随年龄变化而改变。有兴趣带孩子参加测试的家长，可拨电65167751或电邮infantlanguagecentre@nus.edu.sg联络研究人员。

Never Too Early to Start Language Education

Babies and toddlers learn any language faster than adults. Scientist found out why.

"Patricia Kuhl shares astonishing findings about how babies learn one language over another — by listening to the humans around them and "taking statistics" on the sounds they need to know. Clever lab experiments (and brain scans) show how 6-month-old babies use sophisticated reasoning to understand their world."

You can see this TED talk here via this link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_genius_of_babies

Sample Class on the Topic of Body Parts

New Branches at Confucius Institute and Newton opening for term 3

New Branches and Schedule of the Term 3 Starting from June 30th, 2015

Monday 10.30am @ East Coast branch  (Woo Mon Chew Rd)

Tuesday 10.30am @ Buona Vista branch (Confucius Institute)

Wednesday 4pm @ Buona Vista branch (Confucius Institute)

Thursday 10.30am@ Newton branch (Gilstead Rd)

Saturday 10am @ Newton branch (Gilstead Rd)

Sunday 10am @ East Coast branch


Registration form

Syllabus for Term 3:
Body parts 身体、nature around me 自然、sense of direction 方位、animals 动物、expressions 表情

Term 3 June 30 - Sep 28
Term 4 Sep 29 - Dec 28

Fee:
$250 per term for 10 weekly classes
You may join the class at any time of the term with prorated fee.

No class on public holidays or in the event of extreme weather condition. Classes will be rescheduled.

Each term includes 10 class weeks and 3 term break weeks at the end. These term break weeks are reserved to buffer for rescheduled classes.

In the case your child or you are sick, please call/message to inform me as soon as you can. If you have travel plan that affects the attendance, please email to inform me. Make-up classes are available twice during the term at any any branch during any available time slot. Please Email me to find out the availability before you show up at the make-up class you intend to go to to avoid disappointment.

Do you know?
With completion of a term at Confucius Institute branch, your baby will receive a certificate from Confucius Institute. Enroll now!

Victoria's Chinese Playgroup

Introducing a brand new form of early childhood education: My aim is to introduce and familiarize toddlers to the Chinese language, at the age when they are most capable of picking up new languages, in a fun family setting.

Research shows that children start picking up languages, specifically the sounds of languages he or she hears frequently, as early as 6 months of age. This parent-accompanied playgroup aims to help families, whose primary language at home is English, to expose their babies and/or toddlers to the Chinese language.

I have created the "Early Education of Chinese Language Program" for 0-5 years old babies and toddlers based on my knowledge and experience. I sourced and put together the content. When there's not enough material out there for me to utilise, I write/adapt them - be it nursery rhymes, songs, poems or stories. I choreographed the gestures and movements to go with story and song, I also created my own puppet shows. Before each class, I practice and rehearse, and wish my little learners the best time in learning Chinese language.

Through all these fun activities, the Chinese Playgroup aims to give children some cultural and/or historical knowledge as the background of language study, immerse them in an authentic mandarin speaking environment, and cultivate their passion for the Chinese language.

Besides children's puppet shows, nursery rhymes, songs & dance, stories, and poems reciting, there will be Chinese classical reading as well. The session will then end with a free play and conversation session when the instructor can interact with the babies/toddlers individually in mandarin. Parents are encouraged to participate and learn the nursery rhymes, stories and songs for their own independent playtime with their children.

Details:

Babies and Toddlers up to 5 years of age, no minimum age.

At least one parent/adult per 0-4 years old student must present. 

Contact info:

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Victorias-Chinese-Playgroup-1441839899427111/

E-mail: 

victoriakheng@gmail.com

Introducing Victoria

I am a young mother with a passion for language education. I have a degree in Chinese Studies from the National University of Singapore, was raised in China, and educated in CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College in Singapore. In addition, I have been living with purely English-speaking families for more than a decade. My experiences make me effectively bilingual, and I am comfortable teaching in both English and Mandarin.

I understand the difficulty of introducing other languages to babies in a predominantly English-speaking environment, as that is the position I find myself in.

It would be my pleasure to help other families become effectively bilingual, too.