Bilingualism changes children's beliefs

Children who are exposed to two languages are more likely to believe that experiences make people what they are, not their birth as thought by most of their peers, new research has found.

Most young children are essentialists: they believe that human and animal characteristics are innate.

Bilingual kids are more likely to understand that it is what one learns, rather than what one is born with, that makes up a person's psychological attributes, the findings showed.

The study suggests that bilingualism in the preschool years can alter children's beliefs about the world around them.

"Our finding that bilingualism reduces essentialist beliefs raises the possibility that early second language education could be used to promote the acceptance of human social and physical diversity," said psychology professor Krista Byers-Heinlein from Concordia University in Canada.

For the study, the researchers tested a total of 48 monolingual, simultaneous bilingual (learned two languages at once) and sequential bilingual (learned one language and then another) five and six-year-olds.

The kids were told stories about babies born to English parents but adopted by Italians, and about ducks raised by dogs.

Sequential bilinguals knew that a baby raised by Italians would speak Italian. But they also believed that a duck raised by dogs would bark and run rather than quack and fly.

"Monolinguals were more likely to think that everything is innate, while bilinguals were more likely to think that everything is learned," Byers-Heinlein pointed out.

The study has important social implications because adults who hold stronger essentialist beliefs are more likely to endorse stereotypes and prejudiced attitudes.

The findings appeared in the journal Developmental Science.