The Relationship between Bilingual and Empathy

Abstract

Empathy is an essential ability for humans; it is important to discuss its effects and influence. Language is also a part of our life, and it represents a different culture. With globalization, learning another language would become more and more familiar. However, is learning another language would benefit our lives? Based on the background, this article tried to the relationship between the bilingual and empathy. Previous studies have shown that there is a significant correlation between empathy and bilinguals. However, the previous researches would focus more on whether one aspect would affect the other one. This research will discuss the interaction between these two. On one way, bilinguals would be more empathetic than monolinguals. At the same time, empathy would influence multiple language learning after finding the interaction between the bilingual and empathy. This article also tried to explore the reason why bilinguals would be more empathetic than monolinguals. The search includes cultural background, emotional intelligence (EI), and cultural intelligence (CQ). This research would help to understand better the relationship between bilinguals and empathy and the reason behind the phenomenon that bilinguals would be more empathetic than monolinguals.