Hi Samira, I appreciate your brain connections. I agree, that there are rarely forms of knowledge that occupy their own separate spaces in our brain. Language processing involves various areas of the brain and because of such complex nature of language processing, multilingualism is known to have various cognitive benefits. Like many ideas/concepts/identities, language too is intersectional and is far from a simple black and white frame.
I appreciate how you pointed out that traditional bilingual education focuses on mastery of English and thus reinforces monolinguistic ideology. Despite the advancement of bilingual education, I've noticed that there's still a pervasive ideology that bilingual education exists or is beneficial as it allows the individual to in a more efficient manner become "fluent/proficient" in English. Instead of viewing them as a co-relationship, where they benefit each other, bilingualism is viewed as a tool to achieve English "fluency." This defeats the whole purpose of bilingual/multilingual education. I'm with you on the importance of breaking down myths surrounding proper language use as part of the fight towards justice for all learners. This past Wednesday, in a group discussion, someone brought up the point that multilingual/bilingual education is beneficial for both multilingual and non-multilingual learners -- in essence it's beneficial for all. All learners benefit from recognizing multilingualism and practicing it -- the neuro benefits for one amongst many.
I appreciate how you pointed out that traditional bilingual education focuses on mastery of English and thus reinforces monolinguistic ideology. Despite the advancement of bilingual education, I've noticed that there's still a pervasive ideology that bilingual education exists or is beneficial as it allows the individual to in a more efficient manner become "fluent/proficient" in English. Instead of viewing them as a co-relationship, where they benefit each other, bilingualism is viewed as a tool to achieve English "fluency." This defeats the whole purpose of bilingual/multilingual education. I'm with you on the importance of breaking down myths surrounding proper language use as part of the fight towards justice for all learners. This past Wednesday, in a group discussion, someone brought up the point that multilingual/bilingual education is beneficial for both multilingual and non-multilingual learners -- in essence it's beneficial for all. All learners benefit from recognizing multilingualism and practicing it -- the neuro benefits for one amongst many.