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##  Brain Research: Implications for Second Language Learning. ERIC                 Digest.                                                                      

There has been a longstanding interest among second and foreign                 language educators in research on language and the brain. Language              learning is a natural phenomenon; it occurs even without                        intervention. By understanding how the brain learns naturally,                  language teachers may be better able to enhance their effectiveness             in the classroom. BRAIN DEVELOPMENT: CAN TEACHING MAKE A                      DIFFERENCE?It has long been known that different regions of the             brain have specialized functions. For example, the frontal lobes are            involved in abstract reasoning and planning, while the posterior                lobes are involved in vision. Until recently, it was believed that              these specialized regions developed from a genetic blueprint that               determined the structure and function of specific areas of the                  brain. That is, particular areas of the brain were designed for                 processing certain kinds of information from birth. 
New evidence              suggests that the brain is much more malleable than previously                  thought. Recent findings indicate that the specialized functions of             specific regions of the brain are not fixed at birth but are shaped             by experience and learning. To use a computer analogy, we now think             that the young brain is like a computer with incredibly                         sophisticated hardwiring, but no software. The software of the                  brain, like the software of desktop computers, harnesses the                    exceptional processing capacity of the brain in the service of                  specialized functions, like vision, smell, and language. All                    individuals have to acquire or develop their own software in order              to harness the processing power of the brain with which they are                born. 
A number of studies support this view. However, all were                carried out on animals, because it is not possible to do such                   research with humans. Caution is called for when extrapolating these            findings to humans. The studies discussed below reveal the                      incredible neural flexibility of the developing (and aging)                     brain. (See Chapter 5 in Elman et al., 1997). 
Cortical tissue                 transplanted from its original location to a new location in the                brain of young animals takes on the structure and function of its               new location and not those of its original location. More                       specifically, neurons in the visual cortex of rodents have been                 transplanted to regions of the brain that are normally linked to                bodily and sensory functions. The transplanted tissue comes to                  function like somato-sensory neurons and loses the capacity to                  process visual information (O'Leary & Stanfield, 1985). Likewise, if            input from the eyes is rerouted from what would normally be the                 visual area of the brain to what is normally the auditory area of               the brain, the area receiving the visual input develops the capacity            to process visual and not auditory information; in other words, it              is the input that determines the function of specific areas of the              brain (Sur, Pallas, & Roe, 1990). 
Greenenough, Black, and                     Wallace (1993) have shown enhanced synaptic growth in young and                 aging rats raised in complex environments, and Karni et al. (1995)              have shown expansion of cortical involvement in performance of motor            tasks following additional learning other words, the cortical map               can change even in adulthood in response to enriched environmental              or learning experiences. 
These findings may have implications for             language educators: for one thing, that teaching and teachers can               make a difference in brain development, and that they shouldn't give            up on older language learners. LEARNING THROUGH CONNECTIONSThe            understanding that the brain has areas of specialization has brought            with it the tendency to teach in ways that reflect these specialized            functions. For example, research concerning the specialized                     functions of the left and right hemispheres has led to left and                 right hemisphere teaching. Recent research suggests that such an                approach does not reflect how the brain learns, nor how it functions            once learning has occurred. To the contrary, "in most higher                    vertebrates (humans), brain systems interact together as a whole                brain with the external world" (Elman et al., 1997, p. 340).                    Learning by the brain is about making connections within the brain              and between the brain and the outside world. 
What does this mean?             Until recently, the idea that the neural basis for learning resided             in connections between neurons remained speculation. Now, there is              direct evidence that when learning occurs, neuro-chemical                       communication between neurons is facilitated, and less input is                 required to activate established connections over time. New evidence            also indicates that learning creates connections between not only               adjacent neurons but also between distant neurons, and that                     connections are made from simple circuits to complex ones and from              complex circuits to simple ones. 
For example, exposure to                     unfamiliar speech sounds is initially registered by the brain as                undifferentiated neural activity. Neural activity is diffuse,                   because the brain has not learned the acoustic patterns that                    distinguish one sound from another. As exposure continues, the                  listener (and the brain) learns to differentiate among different                sounds and even among short sequences of sounds that correspond to              words or parts of words. Neural connections that reflect this                   learning process are formed in the auditory (temporal) cortex of the            left hemisphere for most individuals. With further exposure, both               the simple and complex circuits (corresponding to simple sounds and             sequences of sounds) are activated at virtually the same time and               more easily. 
As connections are formed among adjacent neurons to              form circuits, connections also begin to form with neurons in other             regions of the brain that are associated with visual, tactile, and              even olfactory information related to the sound of the word. These              connections give the sound of the word meaning. Some of the brain               sites for these other neurons are far from the neural circuits that             correspond to the component sounds of the words; they include sites             in other areas of the left hemisphere and even sites in the right               hemisphere. The whole complex of interconnected neurons that are                activated by the word is called a neural network. 
The flow of                 neural activity is not unidirectional, from simple to complex; it               also goes from complex to simple. For example, higher order neural              circuits that are activated by contextual information associated                with the word doggie can prime the lower order circuit associated               with the sound doggie with the result that the word doggie can be               retrieved with little direct input. Complex circuits can be                     activated at the same time as simple circuits, because the brain is             receiving input from multiple external sources--auditory, visual,               spatial, motor. At the same time that the auditory circuit for the              word doggie is activated, the visual circuit associated with the                sight of a dog is also activated. Simultaneous activation of                    circuits in different areas of the brain is called parallel                     processing. 
In early stages of learning, neural circuits are                  activated piecemeal, incompletely, and weakly. It is like getting a             glimpse of a partially exposed and very blurry photo. With more                 experience, practice, and exposure, the picture becomes clearer and             more detailed. As exposure is repeated, less input is needed to                 activate the entire network. With time, activation and recognition              are relatively automatic, and the learner can direct her attention              to other parts of the task. This also explains why learning takes               time. Time is needed to establish new neural networks and                       connections between networks. This suggests that the neural                     mechanism for learning is essentially the same as the products of               learning is a process that establishes new connections among                    networks and the new skills or knowledge that are learned are neural            circuits and networks. 
What are the implications of these findings            for teaching? First, effective teaching should include a focus on               both parts and wholes. Instructional approaches that advocate                   teaching parts and not wholes or wholes and not parts are misguided,            because the brain naturally links local neural activity to circuits             that are related to different experiential domains. For example, in             initial reading instruction, teaching phonics independently of the              meaning of the words and their meaningful use is likely to be less              effective than teaching both in parallel. Relating the mechanics of             spelling to students' meaningful use of written language to express             themselves during diary writing, for example, provides important                motivational incentives for learning to read and write. Second, and             related to the preceding point, teaching (and learning) can proceed             from the bottom up (simple to complex) and from the top                         down (complex to simple). Arguments for teaching simple skills in               isolation assume that learners can only initially handle simple                 information and that the use of simple skills in more complex ways              should proceed slowly and progressively. Brain research indicates               that higher order brain centers that process complex, abstract                  information can activate and interact with lower order centers, as              well as vice versa. For example, teaching students simple emotional             expressions (vocabulary and idioms) can take place in the context of            talking about different emotions and what situations elicit                     different emotions. Students' vocabulary acquisition can be enhanced            when it is embedded in real-world complex contexts that are familiar            to them. Third, students need time and experience ("practice") to               consolidate new skills and knowledge to become fluent and                       articulated. ARE ALL BRAINS THE SAME?Brains are not all the               same. Take the early research on left-right hemispheric differences             with respect to language. For most individuals, the left hemisphere             is critically involved in most normal language functions. We know               this because damage to the left hemisphere in adults leads to                   language impairment, which is often permanent. However,                         approximately 10% of normal right-handed individuals have a                     different pattern of lateralization; their right hemispheres or both            hemispheres play a critical role in language (Banich, 1997, pp.                 306-312). Males and females have somewhat different patterns of                 lateralization, with males being more left-hemisphere dominant than             females. In the domain of reading, brain maps of students with                  dyslexia demonstrate that there are very large individual                       differences in the areas of the brain that underlie their                       difficulties (Bigler, 1992). 
We also know that the areas of the               brain that are important in specific domains of learning can change             over the life span. There is increasing evidence of right hemisphere            involvement in early language learning but less in later learning.              Young children with lesions to their right hemisphere demonstrate               delays in word comprehension and the use of symbolic and                        communicative gestures. These problems are not found in adults with             right hemisphere lesions. Stiles and Thal have argued that there may            be a link between the word comprehension problems of children and               the right hemisphere, because "to understand the meaning of a new               word, children have to integrate information from many different                sources. These sources include acoustic input, but they also include            visual information, tactile information, memories of the immediately            preceding context, emotions in short, a range of experiences that               define the initial meaning of a word and refine that meaning over               time" (Stiles and Thal, as cited in Elman et al., pp. 309-310). We              know from a variety of sources that integration across domains of               experience is a right-hemisphere function. 
By implication, brain              research confirms what we know from education research: that                    educators must make provisions for individual differences in                    learning styles by providing alternative grouping arrangements,                 instructional materials, time frames, and so on. Instruction for                beginning language learners, in particular, should take into account            their need for context-rich, meaningful environments. Individual                differences in learning style may not be a simple matter of personal            preference, but rather of individual differences in the hardwiring              of the brain and, thus, beyond individual                                       control. CONCLUSIONSOur understanding of the brain is                     continually evolving, thus our interpretation of the implications of            findings from brain-based research for teaching and learning should             also continually evolve. Brain research cannot prescribe what we                should teach, how we should organize complex sequences of teaching,             nor how we should work with students with special needs. Educators              should not abandon their traditional sources of insight and guidance            when it comes to planning effective instruction. They should                    continue to draw on and develop their own insights about learning               based on their classroom experiences and classroom-based research to            complement the insights that are emerging from advances in brain                research. REFERENCESBanich, M.T. (1997). "Neuropsychology: The            neural bases of mental function." Boston:                                       Houghton-Mifflin. 
Bigler, E.D. (1992). The neurobiology and                   neuropsychology of adult learning disorders. "Journal of Learning               Disabilities, 25," 488-506. 
Elman, J., Bates, E.A., Johnson, M.,              Karmiloff-Smith, A., Parisi, D., & Plunkett, K. (1997). "Rethinking             innateness." Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 
Greenenough, W.T., Black,              J.E., & Wallace, C.S. (1993). Experience and brain development. In              M. Johnson (Ed.), "Brain development and cognition: A reader" (pp.              290-322). Oxford: Blackwell. 
Karni, A., Meyer, G., Jezzard, P.,               Adams, M., Turner, R., & Ungerleider, L. (1995). Functional MRI                 evidence for adult motor cortex plasticity during motor skill                   learning. "Nature, 377," 155-58). 
O'Leary, D.D., & Stanfield,                 B.B. (1985). Occipital cortical neurons with transient pyramidal                tract axons extend and maintain collaterals to subcortical but not              intracortical targets. "Brain Research, 336," 326-333. 
Sur, M.,               Pallas, S.L., & Roe, A.W. (1990). Cross-modal plasticity in cortical            development: Differentiation and specification of sensory                       neocortex. "Trends in Neuroscience, 13,"                                        227-233. 
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This digest was produced jointly with the Center             for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE). 
This               digest was prepared with funding from the U.S. Dept. of Education,              Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Library of             Education, under contract no. ED-99-CO-0008. The opinions expressed             do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of ED, OERI, or            NLE.                                                                         **Title:** Brain Research: Implications for Second Language Learning. ERIC                 Digest.                                                                      **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, 4646 40th Street               NW, Washington, DC 20016. For full text:                                        http://www.cal.org/ericcll/DIGEST.                                           **Descriptors:**  Brain,  Brain Hemisphere Functions, Instructional Effectiveness,               Language Acquisition, Language Processing,  Language Research,                  Second Language Instruction,  Second Language Learning, Teaching                Methods                                                                      **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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