Page 12 - ELG1709 Agu-Sep Issue 450

NEWS
NEWS
FOREIGN LANGUAGE Teacher’s pet

QUASHES ETHICAL

All teachers, or at least the most
QUALMS dedicated ones, can take credit for
many things: developing students’ potential,
shaping the future generation, making the
world a better place. Getting the Beatles to
By Claudia Civinini their foreign language or in their insert lyrics in their albums, though, is a claim
Would you kill a person to save native language. that only one teacher in the world could make,
another five? Over six experiments, they found it emerged recently. Juan Carrión – who died
Answering moral dilemmas is no that participants in the native last month at the age of 93 - was an avant-
easy feat – imagine having to do language conditions responded garde English teacher in 1966 Spain. He used to
it in your foreign language. How more ethically than those in the transcribe the lyrics of Beatles’ songs and then
would this affect your decision? foreign language conditions. use them in his classes. When he heard that
Studies have found that The effect was least pronounced John Lennon was in Spain shooting How I Won
bilinguals are more likely to swing when the question format explicitly
to a utilitarian answer in their L2 stated the consequences of the the War, Juan didn’t let Lennon’s fame deter
than in their L1 – maximising net actions (for example, ‘would you him. He reached the location of the shooting,
benefit over the ethics of causing push one man over the bridge to save befriended a bodyguard and quickly got Lennon
harm. five lives, even though the man will to correct the lyrics he had
But why is this? Could it be die?) Interestingly, utilitarianism transcribed. After that
because a foreign language slows scores – how likely participants meeting, all Beatles’ albums
down your thinking process and were to approve of harmful actions released had lyrics, and the
allows you to consider the greater when they maximise net welfare,
good? and disapprove when they don’t – rest is history. Juan’s story
It turns out this happens not was also lower for participants in was made into the award-
because foreign language users the foreign language condition. winning 2013 movie, Living
think more, but because they ‘feel Beyond blunting the emotional Is Easy with Eyes Closed.
less’, the authors of a new study said. response to prohibited actions such
This means using a foreign language as murder, the foreign language
dampens the emotional response to effect also showed a decrease in
the violation of an ethical rule. utilitarian reasoning. Naughty corner
US researchers randomly The authors say this result may
assigned bilingual participants to hint at the cognitive difficulty of
conditions where they would be using a foreign language, especially
presented with moral dilemmas in if proficiency is not optimal.
The quest
for authentic material
LATE BILINGUALS ENJOY took a bizarre twist in
Finland, where it was
BRAIN ADVANTAGE found that excerpts from
the controversial website
Breitbart had been used
By Claudia Civinini ‘The early exposure to two in an English exam. It turns out the country
We all know that adults, unlike languages facilitates the bilingual asked its secondary school students to prove
those lucky babies of the opposite ability to keep both languages their understanding of English on texts that
page, have a hard time learning a separate’. However, in the case of leave even the most seasoned of fact-checkers
new language. late bilinguals, the L2 acts as ‘in a baffled. Breitbart has been accused of peddling
But precisely because of this, late parasitic capacity’ to the L1, and
bilinguals enjoy even more cognitive switching from one to the other, ‘fake news’ and far-right material. ‘Perhaps
benefits than early bilinguals, a a task operated by the executive it was the linguistic features of the material
new study has found. It is already control network, requires more […] that led to the decision’, the examination
known that people who become effort. But this effort ‘trains’ the board acting director told the Yle website. To
bilingual as children are quicker at brain and makes it able to switch be fair, Breitbart’s language does have many
switching from one task to another tasks more quickly. ‘The extra effort unique features – but one would question their
than monolinguals. But those who required on the part of the cognitive educational value. The Association of Teachers
become bilingual as adults are even system involved translates into an of English in Finland, however, ‘doesn’t see
quicker, the research has revealed. extra gain’, said Dr Connolly.
The author of the study, Dr The study used a computer-based the problem’, Yle reports, as the texts in
Anne-Marie Connolly, director of task that required participants to question were ‘apolitical’. The Matriculation
studies at Everest Language School switch between two tasks, each Examination Board said it was ‘not very
in Dublin, said: ‘There is ample requiring their own set of rules. familiar’ with Breitbart’s reputation. We may
evidence to suggest that within the The Switch Cost, the time taken not be familiar with the ‘apolitical Breitbart’
bilingual mind the two languages to disengage from one set of rules either, we are afraid.
are not separate. and engage with the other set, was
editorial@elgazette.com 11