Nuestra NEBRIJA 35 - octubre 2020

42 In many countries worldwide, it is easy to find speakers of different languages within the same community. The presence of effective multilin- gualism has ceased to be an exception and has almost become a norm in developed societies, or at least, a desirable milestone in the globali- zed world. But even if this may sound strange to most of us, multilingualism was initially consi- dered as a potentially harmful construct for the cognitive system. Luckily, this idea was rapidly discarded and multilingualism then began to be considered as the driving element for the cogniti- ve advantages in basic psychological processes such as memory and attention. Today there’s a live debate on the cognitive and cerebral consequences of multilingualism, ope- ning doors to gaining a better understanding of the neuroarchitectural reconfiguration process that results from negotiating between more than one language in an active way. Multilingualism in Education Many schools have been promoting the use of more than one language to communicate and teach for different reasons. The goal of these programs is to encourage children to become active and effective multilingual society mem- bers. Nevertheless, the precise way in which this should be implemented in order to represent a benefit for all school children poses a challenge for many professionals in cognitive science and educational neuroscience. What is the difference between processing na- tive and non-native languages? At what stage Are we aware of the multiple cognitive consequences of being immersed in multilingual learning contexts? Are multilingual classes posing any obstacles or delays into the learning process? Our researcher Jon Andoni Duñabeitia reviews the state of play and dismantles some myths about the question. Jon Andoni Duñabeitia Director of the Center for Cognitive Science of the School of Languages and Education, Nebrija University Multilingual classroom: time to say `yes´? Nebrija Research