This article overviews the research on the complex relationship between
bilingualism and cognitive development and the important implications of
this relationship for bilingual education. Recent studies are discussed that
examine the cognitive development in bilingual children with regard to
metalinguistic awareness, concept formation, and analogical reasoning. A
case is made for additive bilingual instruction in early childhood programs as
a means of reinforcing the productive and receptive knowledge of the first
language during this critical period of linguistic, social, and cognitive
development.