PSYC 341 Study Guide - Divergent Thinking, Theory Of Multiple Intelligences, Statistical Significance
22 Mar 2014
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Document Summary
Historically, people have viewed bilingualism as a burden on the brain, contributing to mental confusion, identity conflicts, etc. In welsh schools kids were even beaten, or had their mouths washed with soap and water, if they spoke two languages in school. This deficit viewpoint argues that like a balance, the more you know in your second language, the less you"ll know in the other one. Another common belief was that knowing two languages meant there was less room to store other areas of learning. A welsh research, saer, gathered 1400 children aged 7-14 from bilingual and monolingual backgrounds and administered iq tests. He found a 10point difference in iq between bilinguals and monolingual english speakers. He concluded that bilinguals were mentally confused and at a disadvantage for thinking this attitude was prevalent until the 1960"s. But there are several methodological problems to his study (and many early studies):
