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Staff news
New volunteer coordinator:
Lucy Tulloh
 We are extremely pleased that Lucy Tulloh has agreed to take on the role of Volunteer Coordinator. Many of our events could not take place without the help of a network of volunteers across Edinburgh. From setting up projectors in school halls, to facilitating discussions in Scottish Government buildings, volunteers have played a key role in the success of Bilingualism Matters. Having Lucy on the team will help make sure we provide our volunteers with the best possible support.
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Upcoming events
15 April 20:00 - 21:30
Me and granny are learning Spanish: Is it ever too late to learn a second language?
This is an Edinburgh International Science Festival event exploring the science and the policy behind language learning. The event will take place in the Main Hall, Summerhall. Please purchase tickets in advance: £8/ £6.
This event will be signed in BSL. Please let us know if you would like access to the interpreter.
More information and booking: Edinburgh International Science Festival
3 June TIME TBC
Primary School Information Series: Leith Primary
Information session for parents and carers of children at Leith primary school.
15 August 15:00 - 16:00
Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas: Not So Native Now
We're delighted to announce that Prof. Antonella Sorace will be returning to the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas at this year's fringe festival. Keep an eye on Beltane's website for more details.
More information: Beltane Public Engagement Network
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Research update
Language students at University show improved cognitive performance
A study by Bilingualism Matters researchers (Mariana Vega-Mendoza, Dr. Thomas Bak, & Prof. Antonella Sorace) received attention across Scottish media earlier this year, after it showed that language students at the University of Edinburgh showed more improvement in thinking skills than their peers studying other humanities subjects.
By comparing the results of first year students with those of fourth year students in the same subject area, the researchers were able to show that both language students and monolingual humanities studies improved their thinking skills over the course of a degree, but that students of languages showed an additional boost. Crucially, the language students didn't start learning modern languages until high school at the earliest, showing that you don't have to speak a second language from early childhood in order to reap the benefits.
Vega-Mendoza, M., West, H., Sorace, A., Bak, T.H. (2015). The impact of late, non-balanced bilingualism on cognitive performance. Cognition, 137, 40-46. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.12.008
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Pilot project with older language learners
Bilingualism Matters researcher Dr. Thomas Bak is the lead investigator on a project which will study the effect of language learning on the mental skills of older learners. Over the next few months, a group of learners will be asked to undertake a short course in a language, or in a non-language activity. The cognitive skills of the two groups will be compared at the start and end of the course.
The study follows on from work by Bilingualism Matters PhD student Maddie Long, which was presented at our recent workshop with Yakety Yak language cafés (see "Recent Events"). Indeed, the languages to be studied in this new project were selected based on consultation with older learners at the Yakety Yak workshops. The pilot project is being generously funded through a grant from the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh.
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 Advancing the European Multilingual Experience
This major EU project recently celebrated its first birthday. Milestones include a policy brief on education and multilingualism (available to download from our website), and the launch of the remaining AThEME-funded branches of Bilingualism Matters in Slovenia, France, and Spain. Events to promote AThEME are being held around Europe - in January Prof. Antonella Sorace travelled to the Netherlands to speak at an event on the value of minority languages.
Researchers at Edinburgh will shortly be running their first participants as part of the AThEME-funded research. The initial projects will compare Sardinian-Italian bilinguals with speakers who are fluent in both English and Gaelic, to investigate the effect of language similarity (or difference). Keep an eye on our website to find out how you might be able to get involved!
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Recent events
Gather Festival keynote: the science of multilingualism
March 2015 Edinburgh
Gather Festival is an annual celebration of the International Community in and around the University of Edinburgh. As part of this year's event, Bilingualism Matters Director Prof. Antonella Sorace gave a keynote lecture about the science of multilingualism. Prof. Sorace covered the main facts, benefits and challenges of language learning over the lifespan, leading into discussion on what general messages and expectations we can take from the wealth of scientific research available.
The talk was followed by a chance to put multilingualism into practice, with a taster session of the University of Edinburgh Student Association's free "Tandem" language café. Learners, native speakers and curious passers-by gathered to chat, share and connect in as many languages as possible.
You can find out more about the Tandem programme on EUSA's website.
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Languages across the Lifespan with Yakety Yak language cafe
February 2015 Edinburgh
Two University of Edinburgh Centres - Bilingualism Matters and the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology - teamed up to welcome 80 adult learners from Edinburgh-based Yakety Yak language cafes for a "Languages Across the Lifespan" workshop. The first workshop proved so popular that a second event had to be added the following week due to popular demand!
During the 2 hour workshop, guests took part in a team quiz on languages in Scotland and across Europe, followed by presentations on state of the art research into child language learning (Prof. Antonella Sorace), the effect of intensive language courses on mental abilities in adult learners (PhD candidate Maddie Long), and language in the ageing brain/ dementia (Dr. Thomas Bak).
Following questions and coffee, guests were asked to discuss their motivation for language learning, and the languages would be most interested to learn in future. The results of their discussions will inform the pilot project into language learning in older adults.
Huge thanks to all who attended, and especially to Corrine from Yakety Yak for her organisational skills!
Find out about Yakety Yak sessions near you by checking their website
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Scotland, People and Language forum
February 2015 Glasgow
On 20th February, Bilingualism Matters teamed up with Education Scotland and Gathered Together to organise the first Scotland, People and Language forum at Atlantic Quay, Glasgow.
The event was a chance for practitioners who work with languages or with second language learners of English from across Scotland to meet each other, share resources and good practice, and discuss their experiences. Sixty delegates from 35 organisations, including 13 different local authorities, came together for the half-day workshop with sessions focusing on language education and community languages, parental involvement in language teaching, and examples of good practice/ challenges in working with diverse languages.
Speakers: Louise Glen (Education Scotland), Judith McKerrecher (SCILT/ Craigmount high school), and Martha Robinson (Bilingualism Matters/ University of Edinburgh).
An event report is being written up to highlight the scope of the discussions and sharing which took place. Feedback was hugely positive, both about the speakers' presentations and the facilitated small-group discussions. As one guest commented:
"I now have renewed enthusiasm to put my head above "everyday" water and keep in touch with developments across Scotland. Thank you!"
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Global Citizenship Day at Loretto RC primary
February 2015 Musselburgh, East Lothian
On 13th February, Bilingualism Matters was thrilled to be invited to attend Global Citizenship Day at Loretto RC primary school in Musselburgh. The day was the culmination of a huge amount of learning and effort. Our thanks to Miss Kinsella and Mrs Hill for organising.
In order to prepare for the event, every class selected a different country.
P1 Poland; P2 China; P3 Germany; P3/4 Nigeria; P4/5 Italy; P6 Pakistan; P7 Ireland
Children investigated a range of different aspects of that country - everything from the history to currency - and created impressive displays for the event. Classes put on various performances and traditional dress was worn by many children. Children and adults were also encouraged to try out some of the food native to the selected countries. We sampled mangoes and sugar snap peas from Nigeria, soda bread from Ireland, Polish pickles, German sausage, Chinese tea...
In researching their chosen country, children also made comparisons between that country and Scotland. As such, issues such as social justice and diversity were highlighted. It was a pleasure to ask questions about the children’s learning, and to hear so many well researched and thoughtful answers. Discussions covered everything from the best way to make a Chinese dragon, to Malala Yousafzai's campaign for education for girls. Truly, the day highlighted the importance of Global Citizenship as an ethos that can help children (and adults) engage in the world around us.
Well done again to all the children and thank you for inviting us to share your fantastic event!
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Primary school information series
January - February 2015 Edinburgh
 This term, we have held sessions for parents at Leith Walk Primary, James Gillespie Primary, and Flora Stevenson Primary schools. If you would be interested in an event at your school, please speak to your headteacher and ask them to get in touch.
The above events were organised with Edinburgh EAL services. Their website is really useful for both parents and teachers of children with English as an Additional Language.
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Information leaflets for families, teachers and policy makers now available to download from our website.
  
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Bilingual parent
Dr Martha Robinson
Martha came to Scotland 25 years ago to improve her English after finishing her undergraduate degree. She now has a Scottish husband and two girls, aged 13 and 16. Martha's father was American, her mother was German, and the family moved to Spain in the early 60s - so she was brought up speaking English and German in the home, and Spanish outside the home. Martha is also a trained language teacher and is currently promoting language learning in Edinburgh schools as part of the the SOFT project.
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Why do you want your child to grow up bilingual?
Speaking different languages and travelling a great deal has always been part of my family dynamics, even if my background meant I never felt that I 100% "belonged" to a particular language or culture. I think that having another language is such a great experience for children in terms of opening their eyes to different ways of thinking about and seeing the world, and I wanted to be able to share that with my children.
What has been the biggest challenge so far?
Because my own linguistic situation was quite complicated, the first challenge was to decide whether to pass on German or Spanish. In the end we decided to choose Spanish as our home language, as we often visit my family who still live in Spain. However, for a long time my husband did not want to learn Spanish, so the established dominant language of our home is English when daddy is around, and Spanish when he is not. This has meant that my girls for years refused to speak Spanish to me personally - they were worried about excluding daddy - and I found this really hard work and frustrating.
Have you found any solutions or ways of overcoming that challenge?
I always tried to find other Spanish speaking families, because I found that my children would speak it to other children, even when they would not speak it with me. I also wanted to give them a bit of German on their way and I used to sing to them at bedtime… they are now learning it at school they have a wonderful accent!!!
What advice would you give to other parents?
Never give up!! Always speak to your children in the language you want them to learn, get them to meet as many different speakers as possible, watch videos, sing to them…. If they don't answer back in your language then try not to worry too much or take it as a personal insult. Insisting that your child HAS to speak to you in your language, even if they don't want to, can be counter-productive. Just try to give them as much input as you can in a relaxed way. That way, if they later decide to use the language with you (as my girls now have), they will have a good basis.
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Contact us
Bilingualism Matters,
School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences
University of Edinburgh
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