Cognitive benefits from L2 – Twelve students of varying backgrounds sit down for dinner at two long tables in the kitchen of a Foreign Language Student Residence apartment north-east of the BYU campus. Some are STEM majors; others study humanities. A few have family in Utah; others come from overseas. If you listen closely, however, you’ll notice something out of the ordinary which they all share. One thing has brought them together tonight — a common love for a foreign language; not one of them is speaking English.
BYU ranks third-highest in the nation for producing the most graduates with foreign language degrees, with 62 languages regularly taught and nearly 65% of students speaking a second language. There are also 128 languages spoken on campus. The school holds language fairs, supports language clubs, provides opportunities for students to live in immersive language-learning housing and funds free foreign film showings.
Foreign language learning has a greater impact on student growth than is initially evident. In fact, studying a second language leads to benefits related to students’ native language understanding, global and cultural empathy and cognitive abilities, students and experts have realized.
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