One of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is Quality Education for All (Goal 4). But what is quality, and who decides?

Research into bilingualism has increased exponentially over the last few decades as cognitive and neurological benefits are explored. It could be one of the most powerful educational gifts we can give young people.

Cognitive benefits

The mental exercise of switching from one linguistic circuitry to another pushes a level of cognitive flexibility that is remarkable: bilingual people move in and out of two (or more) language systems with their intricate semantic codes. In doing so, they perform formidable mental arithmetic, leaving the bilingual brain less prone to the early onset of Alzheimer’s and other types of mental degeneration. Researchers such as Ellen Bialystok have shown that the mental reserves the bilingual brain creates allow for system recuperation; if one system falters, the other can override and take control of executive functioning. In other words, a bilingual brain is almost like having two brains that can work together or even compensate for one another. This alone is a strong reason for bilingual teaching in schools.

Neurological benefits

The actual morphology of the brain is affected by bilingualism. Compelling studies have shown that there is better and more efficient white matter connectivity and neuroplasticity in a bilingual brain than in a monolingual one.

The bilingual brain actually creates more grey matter in the early phases of exposure to a new language. Parts of the cortex are solicited much more, meaning that, on the whole, the brain operates more efficiently. Because neural connections have been trained into particularly efficient configurations (essentially by reinforcing more neural connections), less oxygen and glucose are required to think, making the bilingual brain more economical and higher performing. 

Social benefits

Learning another language is learning another culture and another set of values; it is an opening not only of the mind but of the entire spectrum of being. As the great Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” Knowing how to communicate with other people in their language is a tremendous strength, much needed in a world that is increasingly polarized and in which loneliness and social isolation are growing problems. Nelson Mandela echoed this sentiment in his powerful book Long Walk to Freedom by explaining how, if you talk to a person in a language they understand, that goes to their head but if you talk to them in their language, that goes to their heart. Mandela’s role in unifying South Africa after years of exploitation and separation was connected to his remarkable ability to speak several languages and to appreciate the cultural codes of other people. This is one of the reasons why he came to have such universal appeal as a global leader.

So-called ‘hacks’ for learning languages online in a minimum amount of time miss the point: the whole enterprise of learning another language is a long and passionate discovery of another world through other people.

Intellectual benefits

When you are brought from basic interpersonal communication skills to the higher level of cognitive academic language proficiency, you are able to read literature in the original language. Although I do not believe as an educator that one cannot grasp the essence of great literature in translation, there can be little doubt that the sensitivity, the precision of aesthetics, the subtleties, and the poetry of writing can only really be picked up in the original. Giving students that avenue into the great literary traditions of another culture is a formidable advantage that enriches the experience of reading and learning greatly.

Languages are dying

Let us not forget that according to UNESCO, the linguistic wealth of the planet is being depleted dramatically: one language dies approximately every 14 days. Out of the 7,000 languages spoken today, we estimate that at least 50%, and up to 90%, will become extinct by the year 2100. This is particularly acute in so-called Global South nations such as India, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, and Cameroon. The fact that educational systems (largely relics of 19th-century colonial monolingualism and deculturation efforts) force children to learn in European languages like Spanish, English, and French, are wiping out other languages and have been doing so for over 100 years.

Citizens from countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will very often speak several languages because they have had to learn the language of the colonizer above and beyond their home languages. They are naturally plurilingual, meaning they exhibit many of the advantages mentioned in this article. However, the pressure to comply with global languages and to perform academically in these languages sidelines the development of other home languages. This brings questions of justice and parity to the fore. We are currently killing off the planet’s linguistic diversity and, therefore, reducing the powerful legacy of plurilingualism. Imagine how depressing a scenario it would be to have only one language spoken throughout the world, not only as a symbol of monocultural dominance but of intellectual poverty.

A call to action

This is why it is so important for all of us in education to keep bilingualism alive in schools, to encourage the learning of home languages, and to foster a truly biliterate or multiliterate environment. It is very much in keeping with the international-mindedness of the United Nations and the dream of a polyphonous world where we might bask in the light of each other’s cultural heritage, histories, and, ultimately, our languages. Bilingualism is a gift and something we should preserve.