经济学人下载:约翰逊语言专栏--多掌握一门外语带来的益处(2)

In response to the scepticism, researchers who believe in the advantage have refined their studies—now acknowledging that, beneath their common trait, bilingual people use their languages in varying ways that may account for the incongruent previous results. Does speaking two very distinct languages have a different effect from speaking two very similar ones? What about two dialects? Does speaking more than two provide any additional benefit? Does it matter if subjects live among people who speak their first language or their second?
作为对怀疑论的回应，相信这种优势的研究人员改进了其研究——现在承认，在有共同特征的前提下，双语者使用其语言的方式不同，这可是之前结果不一致的原因。使用两种截然不同的语言和两种非常相似的语言会产生不同的效果吗？那么两种方言呢？使用两种以上的语言有什么额外的好处吗? 研究对象是否生活在讲第一语言或第二语言的环境中间有影响吗？

A recent study by four researchers at the University of the Balearic Islands is a good example. They studied 112 bilinguals using three criteria: the age they acquired a second language; fluency in their two languages (most are not equally adept in both); and the frequency with which they switch between the two options. Frequency of switching, it turned out, was the variable that correlated best with improved executive control. Unlike Mr Filippi’s, other studies have hinted that frequent switching may be a good predictor of the bilingual advantage.
巴利阿里群岛大学的四名研究人员最近进行的一项研究就是一个很好的例子。他们用三个标准对112名双语者进行了研究：学习第二语言的年龄；精通两种语言(大多数人对这两种语言都不熟练)；以及他们在两种语言之间切换的频率。结果表明，切换频率是与提高执行控制最相关的变量。与菲利皮先生的研究不同，其他的研究已经暗示频繁的转换可能很好地预示双语优势。

On balance, it seems that if the dividend is real, it is subtle and affected by many other factors. Though wealthy parents have been taken by the notional leg-up, hiring foreign nannies for their offspring and so on, it may be poorer individuals who get the biggest benefit. A study in Hyderabad, for instance, reproduced the finding of a four-year delay in the onset of dementia among bilinguals— except that the gap was six years for those test cases who were illiterate. If switching languages is healthy mental exercise, other highly skilled, cognitively demanding kinds of labour are likely to provide good work-outs, too. People who do other forms of mental multitasking all the time may not get such a big lift from bilingualism, if they get any at all.
总的来说，如果回报真实存在，那么似乎也是不易察觉的，并受许多其他因素的影响。虽然富裕的父母们被这种名义上的鼓励所利用，为他们的子女聘请外国保姆等等，但可能是更贫穷的个人得到的收益最大。例如，海得拉巴的一项研究重新论证了双语者痴呆症发病延迟4年——除了那些文盲测试者是6年。如果转换语言是健康的脑力锻炼，那么其他高技能、高认知要求的工作也可能提供良好的锻炼。但如果有提升的话，那些一直在做其他形式的脑力多任务处理的人可能没有从双语中得到的提升大。

The bottom line is that learning another language (or teaching a child one) sometimes confers an intellectual boost, though not always. But that has never been the main reason to do it. A second language expands the number of people you can talk to. It adds to the ways you can say things, and so offers a second point of view on the whole business of expression. Bilingualism may help you understand other people; one study found that bilingual children are better at grasping other perspectives, perhaps because they are always keeping track of who speaks what, a regular reminder that everyone is different. Finally, speaking a second language less well than your first supplies another kind of useful practice: it is a constant exercise in humility.
最重要的是，学习另一种语言(或教孩子一种语言)有时会带来智力上的提升，但并不总是如此。但这从来都不是这么做的主要原因。第二外语可以增加可以交谈的人的数量。丰富了讲话形式，这就为我们提供了关于表达的第二种观点。双语可以帮助你理解他人；一项研究发现，掌握双语的孩子在理解其他观点方面做得更好，这可能是因为他们总是在跟踪谁在说什么，这经常提醒他们，每个人都是不同的。最后，说第二种语言没有你的母语说得好提供了另一种有用的练习：一种持续的谦虚练习。