Language is the shared link between expressing sentiments, establishing relations, and forming social identities that are key in maintaining the function of societies. Different culturally shared values provide details in interpretation that associate a language with a specific set of ideas. Language is “the foundation of civilization. It is a glue that holds people together, and it is the first weapon drawn in a conflict” (Villeneuve, et al., 2016). In other words, language has the ability to influence perception, solely from its position as the primary tool for expressing human thought and the conception of ideas. Based on this interpretation, it might be safe to assume that those who carry the most diverse language-based intellect would possess the greatest balance of power and intellect. With the exponential growth of the immigrant population in the United States over the past several decades, it can be assumed that the natural blend of different cultures is a leading cause of the expression of diversity throughout the country. Despite the country’s identity as the undisputed “melting pot” in modern civilization, the common perceptions of the United States associated with both exceptionalism and laziness have seemingly led to the belief that Americans are characteristically weak when it comes to linguistics. It is widely assumed that the existence of English as the primary language in the country carries an overwhelming tendency to induce the wave of monolingualism among United States residents. Largely attributed to a lack of desire to push the boundaries of cultural awareness beyond one’s own familiarity, the promotion of monoculturalism would only strengthen a surge of mass naïveté across generations. However, these notions are not maintained as completely valid in a country that, nonetheless, remains diverse in nature. Contrary to popular belief, a considerable amount of the country’s population identifies as bilingual, with approximately 22 percent of the nation’s population being classified with fluently speaking a language other than English, as reported by 2016 U.S. Census Bureau data. Beyond the advantage of cultural competence or sheer ability to understand an increased variety of ethnic populations, research has concluded that additive bilingualism, identified as an acquirement of a second language without any cognitive “damage” to an individual’s first, leads to mental flexibility, as well as aid in executive function (Carlson, 2013). Furthermore, the subset skills of mental flexibility revolve around the “task switching” that is required when recognizing when not to utilize one of two or many languages in a given moment. The cognitive capacity to switch between two or several tasks has the ability to be extended beyond language versatility, as experimental linguist Antonella Sorace claims bilingual individuals “can pay focused attention without being distracted and also improve in the ability to switch from one task to another” (Kamenetz, 2016). Studies conducted by the Singapore Management University have additionally concluded that bilingualism also aids those who exhibit deficit hyperactivity disorder and even increases cognitive development of individuals who are exposed to two or more languages near infancy (Hwajin, 2015). As cognition is typically linked to measures of intelligence, several studies have also highlighted the effects of bilingualism on standardized testing, as well as general academic performance and engagement. As expressed in a scholarly research article, 10-year-old bilingual students from six different French schools were placed through a series of verbal and non-verbal exams (Peal & Lambert, 1962). The French exams were administered by a native French speaker, while the English portion of the exams were administered by a native English speaker. This study resulted in a showcase of bilingual students scoring higher than those who are monolingual. Another study displayed an opposite effect of bilingualism on test scores(Anastasi, 1953). The study was performed on 176 Puerto Rican students from grades six to eight. These students were given a “culture free” examination, and the results were compared to the national average on the exam (Anastasi, 1953). These students had scored lower than the national average on the exam; however, this may have resulted from other lurking variables rather than bilingualism, most prominently low socioeconomic status amongst the community. Another study also exhibits bilingualism having adverse effects on cognitive development, with the subjects of the study appearing to have relatively low standards of writing composition skills(Hakuta, 1957). The remainder of this report will aim to effectively evaluate the effect of bilingualism on measures of general intelligence in the form of standardized assessments, such as the SAT or ACT.
The research will test if a random sample of high school bilingual freshman have a higher test score average than a random sample of high school freshman who speak one language. With the acquisition of this information, one may be able to understand whether or not those who are bilingual truly have an advantage on academic exams than those who are not.
Hypothesis
Shown through several studies, bilingualism can provide several benefits including enhancements in cognitive development (Marian, 2012). The increased capabilities of bilingualism include flexible mental processing as well ablest acquisition of new vocabulary and language. Though some did provide information on the negative effects of bilingualism on academics, many variables had not been taken account of: socioeconomic status, familial background, accessibility of academic resources. Based on the advantages, present in assorted research articles, bilingual freshman students should have a higher mean score on the exam than the mean score of monolingual freshman students.
Proposed Methods of Sampling:
At the beginning of each year, students will identify whether or not they are bilingual in their registration packet. With the district’s permission, students who identify as a bilingual person will be pooled in a group. A random selection of 50 students will be chosen from this group through simple random sampling. Students will be chosen through a lottery system, and this randomization will be done through the computer. Students who are monolingual will be pooled into another group. Simple random sampling will then be administered on this group to minimize bias and error. 50 students will be chosen from the group of students who are monolingual. If a student refuses to take the exam another student will be chosen randomly through this system. The samples will be taken from a single high school in Sacramento County to ensure homogeneity of variance.
Many sophomore, junior, and senior students have access to SAT boot camps and other tutoring services, allowing an advantage over those who do not have access to extra resources. These factors may cause error and will not truly exhibit whether or not bilingualism has a positive affect on SAT scores. To minimize any lurking variables and errors in data, freshman high school students will be the only subjects of this experiment. Both groups will take an identical SAT exam at the same time. Students will be separated to avoid cheating.
Some possible limitations include response bias; some students may agree to take the exam if they have a desire to test their academic skills. These students may represent those who are focused on academics, and this could indicate that these students may have prior experience with test-taking. Because this bias is purely human-based, there are no exact methods to eliminate it. However, to reduce this bias, students will be told to take an examination. The type of examination will not be specified. This will allow students to not focus on studying for the examination; rather, it will allow students to utilize existing skills while taking the examination.
Analysis
A one-way, independent t-test will be conducted to determine whether or not bilingualism has a positive effect on test scores. If all conditions, nominal distribution, homogeneity of variance, large sample sizes, and random sampling, are met for experimentation, a t-test can be conducted. The study will include two groups. Group one will include 50 randomly selected bilingual students. Group two will include 50 randomly selected monolingual high school students. The overall sample size will be 100 students. A group of 50 students was decided to ensure a larger sample size and to reduce overall error. Both groups will be given an SAT exam, in the school gymnasium, to take with the same proctors and after lunch. Group one will be placed on one side of the gymnasium, and group two will be placed on the other side of the gymnasium. Two stacks of exams will be made: one stack for group one and one stack for group two. The average score and variance will be calculated by group. A one-way, independent t-test will be conducted and tested for significance with an alpha level of 0.05.