Objective Several studies have reported that bilingualism may affect cognitive processes. Second language acquisition takes place in a variety of ways. However, considering the fact that language training courses provided by institutes are expanding at a blistering pace, the effects of foreign language learning through the medium of language schools deserves a separate line of investigation in the realm of research pertaining to bilingualism. This study aimed at probing the effect of language learning on children by comparing the switching and creativity levels of those who undertook advanced English classes and others who did not.
Methods & Materials A cross-sectional, causal-comparative study was conducted. The population of this research included all monolingual and bilingual children in the age group of 13-15 years in Isfahan in the year 2015. Sixty-four children pursuing advanced levels of English (level RECE and REACH from the center of Iranian language and equivalent levels in other schools) were part of the intervention group, and 51 monolingual children of the same age group were selected as participants in the control group. The purposive sampling method was used. In order to evaluate and measure children's creativity in the monolingual and bilingual groups, the Torrance creativity questionnaire was used. The classic Stroop test D-KEFS CW was used to measure the ability of switching of monolingual and bilingual children. The data obtained was analyzed by way of descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), using SPSS software (version 22).
Results The results showed that there is a significant difference between children belonging to bilingual and monolingual groups in terms of switching (P<0.05). Bilingual children acted better in switching assignments than their monolingual counterparts. Also, there was a significant difference between the two groups with regard to the scores of fluency, flexibility, and elaboration (P<0.001), which are components of creativity. There was no significant difference between children in the two groups in terms of originality (P>0.01).
Conclusion In accordance with the results of the study, it can be concluded that learning English through educational institutions, and at an advanced level, significantly increases the switching capability in children as well as their scores across the three components of creativity (fluency, flexibility, and elaboration). Therefore, the role of second language acquisition should be highlighted because of its contribution to children's creativity and ability to switch. In general, better performances of children are attributed to the capability of switching languages, specific cognitive mechanisms used in the two systems of languages, their familiarity with a new culture and customs while learning a new language, the intensive training sessions as well as the special atmosphere prevailing in the classes.