Bilingualism and Its Impact on Language Development: Teacher’s Perspective and Opinion
Mustafa Altun & Hind Mahmud Muhammad
English Language Teaching Department, Tishk International University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Email: [email protected]
Published: February 22, 2023
Abstract
A bilingual is an individual who is able to speak, read, write and think in two different languages. Bilingualism is considered a challenging achievement in language learning, the difficulties that learners face include language fluency delays, language mixing, and dominance of one language over another language. Being bilingual at a young age facilitates language development; bilingual learners are more able to develop their languages than monolingual learners. A bilingual learner’s brain has better attention and capacity, they can see the world differently than others, and it gives them the impression that they have two different personalities. The purpose of this study is to discover how bilingualism aids in the development of young learners’ languages and the effects of bilingualism on language development. The research employed a questionnaire survey to gather teachers’ perspectives and opinions. The results indicated that teachers generally believe that young learners benefit from acquiring a second language early on and that their first language will not be forgotten.
Keywords: Bilingualism, A bilingual, Young Learners, Foreign Language, First Language, language development
DOI: 10.23918/vesal2023v26