Friday, 29 November 2024

Language learning improves cognitive function, especially cognitive flexibility, in the over 65s, according to a Dutch study by Jelle Brouer and colleagues at the University of Groningen.

The proportion of the population over 65 in most countries is increasing as life expectancy increases and birth rates decline. Unfortunately, this phase of life is often accompanied by chronic ill health, one of these challenges being cognitive decline and dementia.

Life experiences which can reduce the risk or delay the onset of dementia include having more education and/or a challenging and stimulating job. Basically, the more cognitive stimulation a person has throughout life, the lower the risk.

One of the ways this might work is by increasing ‘cognitive reserve’. This is like having more money in the bank so that when the bills start coming in it takes longer to go bankrupt. What is less clear, is whether cognitive stimulation later in life can still be effective.

Learning a language is cognitively taxing and people who speak more than one language have been reported to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s by several years. Jelle’s study sought to establish whether language learning in later life could still improve cognitive function and consequently enlarge cognitive reserves...

The debate over the influence of age on language learning continues, but whether older people genuinely find language learning more challenging or not, the results of this study show that it is still very worthwhile to try.

Never too old to start - E L Gazette

And teaching a language when you are older is also challenging!

Jay Doubleyou: "the perils of teaching a foreign language"

Monday, 25 November 2024

'first language literacy skills enhance second language learning'

We know how important, how useful and how helpful reading is:

Jay Doubleyou: reading really is the best way to improve (your own and a second) language

And if it's fun, then all the better:

Jay Doubleyou: "children who read for pleasure are better at english"

There is theoretical support for this:

Jay Doubleyou: krashen and second language learning

As well as a lot of practice:

Jay Doubleyou: to acquire a language you need lots of comprehensible input

Here's a piece in the latest E L Gazette by Gill Ragsdale looking at why it's so important:

Teach your children well

First language literacy skills enhance second language learning.

Early enhancement of reading skills in Spanish translates to improved English literacy, according to a study by Raul Gutiérrez Fresneda and colleagues at the Universities of Alicante and Málaga in Spain...

It appears that increasing reading skills in the first language (Spanish) improved literacy skills in the second language (English). Although these languages may seem relatively similar, Spanish is a much more transparent language—meaning words can be more easily decoded letter by letter—than English, with its infamous inconsistencies and exceptions.

This makes the transfer of literacy skills especially interesting and not something that could be assumed. The authors suggest that, in general, exposure to more than one language may expand literacy skills more generally.

Another implication from this study is that second language proficiency can be strongly influenced by the quality of education in the learners’ first language, independent of individual differences in otherwise innate abilities.

Setting up young children with strong foundations in their first language can have a long lasting impact on their success in other languages. Where such foundations have been lacking, perhaps further interventions for second language learners could close the gap.

Teach your children well - E L Gazette

One point then is that we need to be teaching immigrants their own language:

Jay Doubleyou: bilingualism and school

Jay Doubleyou: global britain: seeing the languages of immigrants as an asset to be nurtured

Monday, 18 November 2024

adventures in art at the british museum

The BBC radio series in conjunction with the British Museum threw up all sorts of exciting objects, each with their own fascinating back story:

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects - Downloads

Let's look at some of their possibilities:

Throne of Weapons

A History of the World in 100 Objects The World of Our Making (1914 - 2010 AD)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The World of Our Making (1914 - 2010 AD), Throne of Weapons

Which is a reminder of this artist:

Jay Doubleyou: shonibare - gorgeously recognisable artist

Becoming an Artist: Yinka Shonibare | Tate Kids - YouTube

Yinka Shonibare MBE: FABRIC--ATION - YouTube

...

Hokusai's The Great Wave

A History of the World in 100 Objects Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD), Hokusai's The Great Wave

Which takes us to:

John Berger / Ways of Seeing , Episode 1 (1972) - YouTube

...

Early Victorian tea set

A History of the World in 100 Objects Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, Mass Production, Mass Persuasion (1780 - 1914 AD), Early Victorian tea set

Which is a reminder of this again:

Jay Doubleyou: teaching empire in british schools

And what museums are doing with their imperial treasures:

Returning the Benin Bronzes - YouTube

Including the British Museum:

Benin plaque - the Oba with Europeans

A History of the World in 100 Objects The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD), Benin plaque - the Oba with Europeans

With another example from west Africa here:

Ife head

A History of the World in 100 Objects Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD), Ife head

...

Finally, looking through the list, where would these objects take you?

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects - Downloads

Perhaps this?

Minoan Bull Leaper

A History of the World in 100 Objects The Beginning of Science and Literature (1500 - 700 BC)

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The Beginning of Science and Literature (1500 - 700 BC), Minoan Bull Leaper

Which might finish here:

Picasso and the Minotaur: Why Was He So Obsessed?

Exposición - Picasso Minotauro - Picasso, Pablo (Pablo Ruiz Picasso)

exploring picasso by eyesight and muscle memory | ballpoint,… | Flickr

And here:

PICASSO DRAWING OF BULL - YouTube

Wednesday, 13 November 2024

climate literacy around the world

How much do we know about climate change?

There have been lots of surveys/questionnaires/guides put together lately:

Introduction to the 2024 Climate Literacy Guide | NOAA Climate.gov

Allianz | Allianz Climate Literacy Survey 2023

The challenge of climate literacy – The Earthbound Report

Global Climate Literacy Competitions

What sort of quizzes and such like could we put together?!

Anna Turns, senior environment editor, writes in the latest Imagine newsletter from The Conversation - on what's being done to improve climate literacy around the world:

Understanding complex climate science can be tricky enough, even in your own language. So what happens when none of the mainstream climate information is published in your native tongue?

Most people are excluded from conversations and decisions about how to tackle the biggest threat to humanity because they can't easily access accurate reporting. Almost 90% of scientific publications are in English, explains Marco Saraceni, a professor of linguistics at the University of Portsmouth. "This is a staggering dominance of just one language. But English, often called a global language, is only spoken by a minority of the world’s population." Between 1 and 2 billion people speak English – so, as Saraceni highlights: "At least three-quarters of the world’s population do not speak the language in which the science about climate change is disseminated globally. At the same time, languages other than English are marginalised and struggle to find space in the global communication of science."

Languages are a significant barrier to the global transfer of scientific knowledge, according to a 2016 study. Out of the 100 most prestigious scientific journals, 91 are published in the UK and US. Yet, the biggest effects of the climate crisis are being felt in the developing world. This widespread language bias leads to inequalities, argues Saraceni. One way to break the barrier of English monolingualism involves using AI to promote multilingualism, he explains.

A noteworthy example is the work of Climate Cardinals, a US-based youth enterprise with a mission to “make the climate movement more accessible to those who don’t speak English”. Its network of thousands of young volunteers is translating climate information into more than 100 languages. Now, specialist Google tools are also being used to accelerate the translation of these resources.

Climate science is getting lost in translation

And here's the full report from Mario Saraceni Associate Professor in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Plymouth:

How language barriers influence global climate literacy | University of Portsmouth