儿童早期多语认知优势:争议、发展机制与教育启示

Cognitive Advantages of Multilingualism in Early Childhood:Controversies,Developmental Mechanisms and Educational Implications

婴幼儿阶段是儿童语言和认知系统快速发展的阶段。对该阶段儿童语言能力和认知发展状况的探究,更加接近揭示多语和认知发展关系最自然的状态。鉴于认知优势的现有理论解释主要针对大龄儿童或成人多语者,并不完全适用于揭示儿童早期语言和认知的发展关系,文本从儿童语言认知发展普遍规律及多语获得进程中的认知需求着手,分析早期语言和认知关系及其发生途径。注意能力和语言加工技能是预测执行功能发展速率的重要因子:其一,多语环境下,注意增强在多语优势机制中充当启动或中介的作用;其二,在多语习得过程中,早期语音知觉及词汇映射发展的复杂性对多语婴幼儿知觉和认知产生额外需求。这种需求对儿童而言既是挑战也是契机,促成语言和认知产生更紧密的联系。通过对早期多语儿童认知优势的理论探讨,为儿童早期多语和认知发展提供了理论和教育支持。

Early childhood is a period of rapid development of language and cognition.Research on language ability and cognitive development in this stage can reveal the most natural relationship between multilingualism and cognitive development.However,the existing theories of the cognitive advantages of elder children or adults multilingualists are not suitable for early childhood.It’s necessary to explore the coupling relationship between children's language and executive function from the general law of children's language and cognitive development and the particularity of the micro-structure of multilingual development process.Previous research show that in the process of multilingual acquisition,the particularity and complexity of early speech perception and vocabulary mapping development have additional needs for perception and cognition.This kind of demand is a challenge as well as an opportunity for children,which leads to a closer relationship between language and cognition.In addition,as a basic cognitive ability,attention may be one reason for the appearance of multilingual advantage in infants and young children.In multilingual environment,attention enhancement plays a priming or mediating role in the mechanism of multilingual advantage.This paper discusses the cognitive advantage mechanism of early multilingual children in order to provide a supportive language environment and educational intervention for the development of multilingual children.