Nigel P. Daly (published in Taipei Times, May 28, 2023; https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2023/05/28/2003800537)
Taiwan’s students spend 1000s of hours of their youth studying English. Yet after 3-5 class-hours of English as a Foreign Language every week for more than 9 years, most students can barely utter one fluent sentence of English. The government’s “Bilingual Nation 2030” policy will do little to change this. So, since AI technologies will soon be able to translate in real time, why should we squander so much of our youth’s time and potential on learning a foreign language?
AI can restore this lost time to our youth. But AI should not replace language learning. Instead, AI has the capacity to amplify it. AI might also amplify our humanity.
Human language makes us unique from other animals. It defines our essence as cognitively and socially complex creatures. And this is where we differ from AI.
Our human essence will become increasingly important in a society whose workforce will become radically transformed by AI. Many jobs will be replaced with AI systems and many more will require humans working with AI. Humans who can do things that AI can’t and who can work well with AI will become the most competitive and most successful.
In the coming Age of AI, humans will need to become extra-human in order to compete with not only other humans but also AI machines.
Education in general, and foreign language education in particular, will have a pivotal role to play here.
Becoming bilingual in a second or foreign language is one way to enhance our humanity and human intelligence. First, bilingual brains have been shown to be smarter, more creative and more able to solve problems. Second, learning foreign languages can increase our empathy and ability to understand and relate to others. Finally, investing effort into mastering any skill provides value and meaning to humans.
Bilingual brains
In the brains of bilinguals, both languages are always active. This creates more neural connections and denser gray matter in the brain than monolinguals [1,2]. Since gray matter is responsible for processing information and performing cognitive tasks, it is not surprising that several studies have found that bilinguals possess superior cognitive abilities for attention [3], focus, creativity, and problem solving.
Although young bilinguals build vocabulary more slowly, they learn to manage their attention more efficiently by switching back and forth between languages. This is why bilinguals are often more efficient, flexible, and faster multitaskers [4,5,6]. And in tests of association and creative uses for objects, bilinguals often outperform monolinguals. The ability to focus attention and engage in creative thinking, especially for convergent thinking [7] that requires focused attention, can give bilinguals an edge in problem-solving.
Empathy and relationship building
Most people think that the only function of language is to send and receive information, but many overlook its social function. Much of our language is devoted to functions like greetings, requests, and polite phrasing, whose primary function is to build and maintain relationships.
In the process of developing high proficiency in a foreign language, bilinguals become more aware of language and culture differences. This helps them better understand and share feelings with others and become more open-minded and tolerant of differences. These are crucial skills in intercultural experiences like travel, socializing, sales, and negotiation. Studies have shown that children growing up in multilingual environments are more effective communicators [8] because they can take into account others’ feelings and perspectives.
Human value in an AI age
Mastering a skill like a foreign language can make your life meaningful. In the Age of AI, to live a good life that has value will become more difficult—yet more important—than ever before.
A good life should not be confused with a convenient life. If everything you want can be done by an AI, will you feel good? Will you have any sense of self-worth? Will your life have any meaning?
Anything of value or meaning in our life comes from struggle, difficulty, and friction. We can see this in the Ikea Effect: People attach much more value to a cheap desk if they put effort into assembling it themselves. This effect takes greater importance for more abstract human endeavors, like sketching a portrait, throwing a 3-point shot, or fluently using a second language.
Apart from the cognitive benefits we enjoy from effortful language learning, we also derive a more profound sense of purpose and meaning from persistently working to improve our language and communication abilities.
AI-enhanced language learning
Of course, these cognitive, empathic, and meaning benefits only come when we become skilled users of a second language. Sadly, this achievement is enjoyed by few Taiwanese students. For most, the 1000s of hours of study are a hugely negative return on investment.
However, for teachers and students who know how to use AI, the holy grail of education is, for the first time in history, within grasp: personalized learning for all.
AI chatbots like ChatGPT and its plugins, Bing Chat, Microsoft Office’s Copilot and Khan Academy’s Khanmigo, are poised to help teachers personalize lessons and assignments for students of different levels and interests, and to give learners access to personal tutors 24 hours a day.
With more personalized learning and access to personal language tutors anytime and anywhere, the students in Taiwan with 1000+ hours of language study will achieve a higher language ability than the current high-beginner or low-intermediate level.
Maybe then we could realize the kind of language learning goals set out in “Bilingual Nation 2030” as well as the internationally recognized Common European Framework, which estimates that 700 to 800 hours of study should result in an advanced level proficiency.
Maybe then, our students would develop the cognitive and empathic skills to prevent being made redundant by AI. Maybe then, our students would not waste their time on meaningless memorization tasks and find meaning in learning from more personalized course content.
Maybe then our students would be motivated to learn more and communicate more with others, and when they do, finally feel like they are living a more meaningful life.
References
1. Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O’doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., & Price, C. J. (2004). Neurolinguistics: structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. *Nature*, *431*(7010), 757-757.
2. Zou L., Ding G., Abutalebi J., Shu H., & Peng D.(2012). Structural plasticity of the left caudate in bimodal bilinguals. *Cortex*, *48*(9), 1197-1206.
3. Poarch, G. J., & Bialystok, E. (2015). Bilingualism as a model for multitasking. Developmental Review, 35, 113-124. Bilingualism as a Model for Multitasking – PubMed (nih.gov)
5. Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I., Klein, R., & Viswanathan, M. (2004). Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task. *Psychology and aging*, *19*(2), 290.
6. Costa, A., Hernández, M., Costa-Faidella, J., & Sebastián-Gallés, N. (2009). On the bilingual advantage in conflict processing: Now you see it, now you don’t. *Cognition*, *113*(2), 135-149.
7. Hommel, B., Colzato, L.S., Fischer, R., & Christoffels, I.K. (2011). Bilingualism and creativity: Benefits from cognitive control and cognitive flexibility. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20(4), 236-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721411407616
8. Fan, S.P., Liberman, Z., Keysar, B., & Kinzler, K.D. (2015). The exposure advantage: Early exposure to a multilingual environment promotes effective communication. Psychological Science, 26(7), 1090-1097. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615574699
