THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BILINGUALISM: COGNITIVE ADVANTAGES AND CHALLANGES AMONG THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The cognitive effects of bilingualism among students’ university are the research focus of this study with particular emphasis on metalinguistic awareness and creative thinking skills. The ability to communicate fluently in two or more languages is referred to as bilingualism which has become more popular due to the migration and globalization of many people around the world. The research design of this study is quantitative research with the use of a survey to obtain data among 79 university students. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire with an open-ended question and mainly closed-ended questions with a five-point Likert scale. Various cognitive skills such as attention, memory, problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, creativity and metalinguistics awareness were assessed using the questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analyses were used to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaire. Based on the results, the majority of the participants believe that bilingualism helps to develop their cognitive capacities. For example, there was a strong association between bilingualism and creative thinking skills as well as the ability to understand the functions of languages. Moreover, the results of this study show that bilingual students are of the view that the exposure to more than one language helps to develop their understanding of grammatical structures of languages and their use. Overall, the study indicates that bilingualism is crucial for cognitive and intellectual development of university students.

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