The ability to speak a second or foreign language is a highly valued skill in today's society and job market, and school systems throughout the world increasingly consider the promotion of bilingualism to be among their key objectives. This educational trend does not merely prepare students to succeed economically, however, because learning another language has been shown to have many other important advantages during childhood development. Researchers have argued, for example, that bilingual people never completely 'switch off' one of their languages even when they are operating solely in the other language. This constant juggling of the two languages requires the brain to select the information or in this case, language that is relevant to the current situation and, as such, stimulates cognitive functions. The bilingual student's brain becomes more flexible and learns to process and filter competing information more efficiently. It also demonstrates an increased aptitude for high-level thinking, multitasking and maintaining long periods of concentration. Bilingualism can also be said to produce social benefits because children expand their awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and gain knowledge of life in other parts of the world. Furthermore, through learning a second language, children acquire valuable insight into the workings of their own language and, as a result, improve their overall communicative skills.