双语让儿童更有创造力

Bilingual children outperform children who only speak one language in problem-solving skills and creative thinking, according to research led at the University of Strathclyde.
斯特拉斯克莱德大学的一项研究表明，双语儿童在解决问题的能力和创造性思维等方面，都比单语儿童要更优秀。

A study of primary school pupils who spoke English or Italian- half of whom also spoke Gaelic or Sardinian- found that the bilingual children were significantly more successful in the tasks set for them. The Gaelic-speaking children were, in turn, more successful than the Sardinian speakers.
对说英语或意大利语的小学生-其中有一半还会说盖尔语或撒丁语——进行的研究表明，双语儿童明显比单语儿童更能成功地完成任务。而会说盖尔语的儿童比会说撒丁语的儿童则要更加成功。

The differences were linked to the mental alertness required to switch between languages, which could develop skills useful in other types of thinking. The further advantage for Gaelic-speaking children may have been due to the formal teaching of the language and its extensive literature.
双语儿童和单语儿童之间的差异主要是与在语言间转换所需的思维敏捷性有关，这种思维敏捷性会促进养成一些对其他类型思维方式有用的技能。而会说盖尔语的儿童更有优势，这可能是因为这种语言进行了正式讲授并存在着大量的文献。

In contrast, Sardinian is not widely taught in schools on the Italian island and has a largely oral tradition, which means there is currently no standardised form of the language.
与之对比，撒丁语在意大利小岛撒丁岛上并没有在学校里得到广泛讲授，大多是靠口头传授的，也就是说，现在这种语言还没有进行标准化。

Dr Fraser Lauchlan, an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde's School of Psychological Sciences & Health, led the research. It was conducted with colleagues at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia, where he is a Visiting Professor.
弗雷泽·劳克伦博士是斯特拉斯克莱德大学心理科学与健康学院的名誉讲师，他是该项研究的负责人。该研究是他在撒丁岛卡利亚里大学做客座教授时和那里的同事一起进行的。