Browsing by Author "Bahmanpour, Mina"

Previous research has indicated that bilingualism can affect cognition. Research has highlighted, how important it is for bilingual students to be able to utilize their linguistic background as support for their learning. Bilingual education has proved to be beneficial for the academic achievement of bilingual students. As the number of bilingual students in Finland increases, it is important to examine, what kind of tools can be used to support the needs of bilingual students, who do not attend bilingual education. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between bilingualism and learning and the ways in which bilingualism can be used to support learning. This study aims to understand how bilingualism affects cognition and learning and in what ways it is possible to utilize bilingualism to support learning. The method I have chosen to use in this study, is literature review. This method allows me to understand the topic in a broader scale. My sources included studies on the relationship between cognition and bilingualism as well as studies on bilingual education. I used the results of these studies to introduce the Buddyschool-model and the ways in which it can be used to support the learning process of bilingual students in Finnish basic education. The results of the literary analysis indicate that bilingualism can have a positive effect on cognition. However, often balanced bilingualism was a requirement in order to enjoy the cognitive benefits of bilingualism. The results also highlight the correlation between utilizing one’s bilingualism at school and academic achievement. Therefore, the Buddyschool-model in which older students teach younger students, offers a great opportunity to support bilingual students at school. In my master’s thesis I am interested to learn more about the effects of the Buddyschool-model on academic achievement.