The research conducted at the Jagiellonian University reveals that bilingualism not only facilitates communication with the representatives of different cultures but also brings other benefits.

"Knowing and using two or more languages leads to the development of special mechanisms in our brains. These mechanisms help us in many activities which apparently have nothing to do with language use," says Zofia Wodnicka from the Institute of Psychology JU, the leader of the team studying the impact of bilingualism on our brains.

Statistically speaking, bilinguals are more creative than monolingual speakers and they tend to be more focused on their tasks, especially when exposed to distractive stimuli. Bilingual speakers are also very good at handling concurrent activities.

According to the research team from the Jagiellonian University the brain of a bilingual speaker always activates two languages no matter which language is currently in use. A special mechanism enables the use of one of the languages while the second language is "suppressed". Probably a frequent use of this mechanism leads to a better control of activities undertaken by bilingual speakers.

Dr Wodnicka's team aims to give some insight into these issues as well as to discover other "side effects" of bilingualism.
"We register changes that take place in our minds and brains during intensive use of a second language. By way of experimental methods, including the use of induced potentials, we measure the brain's electrical activity connected with the event. This research should enable us to answer the question whether frequent code-switching leads to a better control of mind observed in bilinguals.

The research is carried out thanks to the funding received from the Foundation for Polish Science within the FOCUS programme and grants from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

For more information related to the research, contact bozena.podgorni@uj.edu.pl