In an age of shiny scams from the fleecer with a microphone (plain blunt hucksterism), some charlatans have adopted the mantle of neuroscience, not as the light of enlightenment, but as an attention grabber to wow the unwary. Some are desperate to learn English and fall for the sirens’ songs of these con artists, who weave impressive language that includes lots of sciencey words about a revolutionary ‘mind-based approach’. However, underneath the glitter this is no more than an average language lesson showing, yet again, that the brain is amazing but can still be taken in by an old fashioned bamboozling.
I acknowledge learning a language isn’t just memorizing the vocabulary and the grammar rules. It’s a complicated process in which different regions of the brain are involved. Recent findings in Neurosciences have illuminated how our brains learn and encode new languages. Here are 10 fascinating facts about the neuroscience of language learning:
Brain Plasticity: The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections is called plasticity. Language learning, especially at a young age, can enhance this plasticity.
Critical Periods: There are critical periods in childhood where the brain is especially receptive to learning a new language (It varies between ages and cultures, but let's say 0-2, 5-7,12-15).
Bilingual Brain Benefits: Bilingual individuals often show enhanced executive functions.
Broca's and Wernicke's Areas: These are two primary regions in the brain involved in language processing and productions. If one of these is affected, a person may get aphasia.
Stroop Effect in Bilinguals: Bilingual individuals often demonstrate an enhanced ability to manage the Stroop effect (semantic interference while reading colored letters).
Language and Identity: The brain processes a second language differently based on the age of acquisition and cultural identity.
Accent and Brain Processing: The brain's ability to produce a native-like accent in a second language diminishes over time.
Neural Density: Language learning can increase the density of the gray matter in the brain. Well, if you have your brain active enough, this will be easy.
Emotional Processing: Individuals often process their native language with more emotional intensity compared to a second language. This can influence how we express and perceive emotions in different languages.
Now, here there are actually 5 things real Neuroscientist have contibuteto education:
Neuromarkers for Language Learning: Neuroscience has discovered neuromarkers that can forecast the impacts of neurological language education . Identifying these indicators will aid teachers in designing pedagogical approaches that cater to individual students, thus maximizing their language-learning process.
Bridging Education and Neuroscience: Combining knowledge from neuroscience with education leads researchers and teachers to construct language learning tasks that harmonize with the brain’s inherent learning mechanisms, hence enhancing effectiveness of teaching language.
Impact of Neuroscience on Teaching Methods: Neuroscience research has spurred the development of combined pedagogical approaches that improve language learning. By understanding how the brain works, we can develop better teaching approaches.
Shaping Educational Practice: Neuroscientific and genetic insights can inform educational practices, thus offering a scientific grounding for language-teaching methodologies.
Neurobiology of Learning: Researching the neurobiology of learning, in particular, second language acquisition, can provide useful perspectives on how the brain processes and acquires new languages. This awareness of learning preferences can shape instruction to match cognitive preferences for learning.
In the esteemed world of neuroscience, researchers work non-stop to uncover the complex symphony of neurons that make up learning another language possible. There is indeed ample promise in this field and suggestions for how to structure our attempts at language learning — everything from the best time of day to learn a new language to the value of immersion. But like any deep scientific enterprise, the path from lab to real world application is a subtle and intricate dance. Watch out for the con artists using a few neuroscience buzzwords to sell you some magic potion to learn a language more effectively. While neuroscience may light the way to polyglot prowess, it comes without a magical wand — real mastery takes hard work, diligence, and effort. So, the next time someone brandishes 'brain-based' shortcuts, remember: Even at the era of neuro science, nothing can match the hard work.
Our grey matter is nothing short of magical — it dances to the beat of each new word and phrase in the grand, tapestry that is brain science and language learning. But let’s not let ourselves be taken in by the jargon jugglers promising stellar returns only to deliver star dust. Rather, let’s rejoice in some of the real marvels of neurobiology and its revelations about language acquisition. After all, our minds are built for linguistics but they’re not bad with sniffing bullshit out either. And it is not like researchers have stopped studying the brain and the development of language, there will be discoveries to explore. Here’s to the true power of the mind and to learning a language one truly, the REAL thing at the time!
And since people will require some evidence of what I'm saying, these are just some of the sources I have checked on this matter:
Asher, J. J., & García, R. (1969). The Optimal Age to Learn a Foreign Language. The Modern Language Journal, 53(5), 334–341. https://doi.org/10.2307/323026
Johnston, M. V. (2004). Clinical disorders of brain plasticity. Brain and Development, 26(2), 73–80. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0387-7604(03)00102-5
Klein, D., Mok, K., Chen, J.-K., & Watkins, K. E. (2014). Age of language learning shapes brain structure: A cortical thickness study of bilingual and monolingual individuals. Brain and Language, 131, 20–24. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2013.05.014
Li, P., Legault, J., & Litcofsky, K. A. (2014). Neuroplasticity as a function of second language learning: Anatomical changes in the human brain. Cortex, 58, 301–324. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.05.001
Madua, A. (2022). Teaching English to the rythm of the brain. Journal of Neuroeducation. https://doi.org/10.1344/joned.v3i1.39456.
Mårtensson, J., Eriksson, J., Bodammer, N. C., Lindgren, M., Johansson, M., Nyberg, L., & Lövdén, M. (2012). Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language learning. NeuroImage, 63(1), 240–244. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.06.043
Sun, X., Marks, R., Zhang, K., Yu, C., Eggleston, R., Nickerson, N., Chou, T., Hu, X., Tardif, T., Satterfield, T., & Kovelman, I. (2022). Brain bases of English morphological processing: A comparison between Chinese-English, Spanish-English bilingual, and English monolingual children.. Developmental science. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13251.
Wilcox, G., Morett, L., Hawes, Z., & Dommett, E. (2021). Why Educational Neuroscience Needs Educational and School Psychology to Effectively Translate Neuroscience to Educational Practice. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.618449.
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