a young brain’s journey into bilingualism · asked about bilingual children “each of these...
TRANSCRIPT
program
� defining bilingualism� Universal Grammar� cultural embodiment
� cultural embodiment� our genetic blueprint� the bilingual brain� coping with multilingual input� dynamics of bilingual development
what is bilingualism?
� the ability to speak two languages� the ability to read and write in both
languages
languages
�bilingualism is a process,not a result
a widely accepted view
� Childhood bilingualism is the “ result of the very early, simultaneous, regular, and
simultaneous, regular, and continued exposure to more than one language.”
� Annette de Houwer (1995:222)
ii. the cognitive organization
� compound � coordinate � subordinate
� subordinate
iii. competence & proficiency
� balanced vs� dominant
� dominant
(Leydesdorff 2004)
Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti(1747-1849)
�hyperpolyglot�professor of oriental
�professor of oriental languages & Greek at Bologna University
�cardinal�never left Italy
Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofantioral & written competence
� fluent in 38
languages�perfect in 28� fluent in 40
dialects
introducing Universal Grammar
� “It seems the child approaches the task of acquiring a language with a rich conceptual framework already in place about sound
already in place about sound structure and the structure of more complex utterances”.
� Noam Chomsky (1988:34)
Noam Chomskyasked about bilingual children
� “Each of these different languages involves a different switch setting. How all this
languages involves a different switch setting. How all this works nobody knows. It is a very interesting problem”.
� The Managua Lectures (1988:188)
mentalese: preverbal language
� thinking without wrapping the thoughts into syntax and words
thoughts into syntax and words
� “What did I think before I learned how to think?”
� Penelope Lively
cross-cultural issues 1
� When bilinguals learn two languages, they often do so in the context of two different cultures.
context of two different cultures.� Culture and cultural values are
associated both with language and with differences in thinking, feeling and acting.
cross-cultural issues 2
�The ignorance of foreign languages is often accompanied by an ethnocentric view rejecting the need
ethnocentric view rejecting the need to learn, understand and appreciate other languages, customs, and cultures.
the information to retain here is …
�…that neuronal growth has the precise time window of embryonic day 40 to125 and
day 40 to125 and �… that the rest is stimulus
induced postnatal netting running through phases of exuberance and reduction.
a young brain gets prepared
� glucose values largely exceed adult values� synaptic density shows system-specific
bursts
bursts� networks get refined & pruned (40%
between age 6 and 11) � long-distance fibres connect brain areas� myelination permits swift & safe transfer
scales in the myelination of
neural pathways
� visual: 2-4 months�
�haptic: 12 months�auditory: 4 years�frontal cortex: 20 years
research question
� How does the
� How does the brain organize two or more languages?
brain measures of speech
perception in bilingual babies
� reactions to Spanish & English speech sounds
� correlation of data with sociological
� correlation of data with sociological measures taken in the home and through interviews with parents.
research lab Patricia Kuhl
research in progress
� substantial progress has been made in understanding the initial phases of language acquisition.
language acquisition. � brain imaging studies and clinical
experiments expose new details of how the first language we learn warps everything we hear later.
research question
� is there a mechanism of control which constantly manages the
which constantly manages the coordination of the two languages and their grammars?
� Rita Franceschini, Christoph M. Krick, Sigrid Behrent & Wolfgang Reith (2003)
results (fMRI studies)
� a neuronal system is activated by switching from one language to another.
� this system is not specialized in language switching but has a general function related to the orientation of attention and the management of comparison and control.
proficiency & age of acquisition
� for pairs of L1 and L2 languages that are fairly close, attained proficiency is more important than age of acquisition
more important than age of acquisition as a determinant of the cortical representation of L2
� Perani et al. (1998) � Mehler & Christophe (2000)
activation in the left
prefrontal cortex
� increased in the less dominant language
language
�decreased with higher language proficiency
6 months
� newborns and infants demonstrate exquisite abilities to detect, discriminate & categorize phonetic
discriminate & categorize phonetic details
� and also seem to extract prosodic & rhythmic cues to keep languages apart.
8 months
� the language magnet starts to work (Kuhl 2004)rhythm and intonation become
� rhythm and intonation become language specific
� hand movements become rhythmic infants create phonological templates
an important phase shift
prefunctional period
� lexical categories
functional period
� functional categories
� fillers categories� inflection� attributes� negation� wh-sentences
high & low producers
� the number of words a child can say at 20 months is the best predictor of later language abilities, including the onset of grammar
grammar� high producers: average 310 words
(range 154-531)� low producers: average 77 words
(range 33-131)Bretherton, McNew, Snyder & Bates (1993)
critical periods
� the child’s processing skills undergo massive changes in its early periods where skills seem to operate within different time
operate within different time windows depending on the complexity and cognitive load of the task.
time of exposure
� The age of first bilingual exposure is a vital predictor of bilingual language and
of bilingual language and reading mastery
� Petitto, Laura-Ann (2009:185)
multilingual input 1
� “Bilinguals have to learn a distinct set of properties for each of the languages from a multi-language
languages from a multi-language input while avoiding interference between the two languages.”
multilingual input 2
� “Thus they might recruit specific mechanisms that help them to simultaneously extract patterns
simultaneously extract patterns from two languages even before they start speaking.”
� © SISSA Italy
flexibility
� bilingual infants are more flexible in language learning
language learning
� infants exposed to two languages develop more flexible learning strategies
speed
� bilingual infants are able to acquire two languages just as fast as
two languages just as fast as monolinguals learn on because they have more experience in learning in a mixed input environment.
bilingual development
�The developmental paths of mono- and bilingual children show
mono- and bilingual children show a great similarity apart from more or less intensive phases of code-mixing.
in case you look for conformity
�bilingual data are notoriously idiosyncratic
idiosyncratic
� Marilyn Vihman (1999:295)
the initial state
�holistic processing � gross contours�
� non-analysed chunks � prefabs�crosslinguistic mix
trilingual Finnish/Arabic/GermanSami, 1;8 years own data
Sami pointing at an aeroplane� hui, gogogoi (Fin. lentokonen)
da obe weg.
da obe weg.
Sami having swallowed a button, touching his belly
� nappi (Fin. button) Hause.
the chaotic phase
�reorganisation of patterns� application of rules
� application of rules�over-productivity� fluctuations�cross-linguistic mix
bilingual primary school, Hamburg
� c’é un dottore – e una … persona che untersuchere …
� y el otro un niño tiene un Loch en el
� y el otro un niño tiene un Loch en el Strumpf
� y el hermano más grande muestra eso a la mama y es erschrocken vielleicht oder besorgt
secondary school, Graz, age 11
�I are hungry! I want a toast!�Du eat nix?�Leon, das ist nicht dein knife!
�Leon, das ist nicht dein knife!�Who is schmeissing the butter? �Can I have a tea, please?�I want .. I will the marmalade!�Please, can I have the Löffel?
L1 Turkish, L2 German
Emel, 9 years
�dört eck ler
Orhan, 11 yrs
� im zwölfzehnten
�dört eck ler
vier + eck + plural
Vierecke (squares)
� im zwölfzehntenBezirk
adjective derivationL1 BKS, 9 years
�prodavica�prodavanica�prodačica
�prodajica�prodivnica�prodejica
�prodačica�prodajka�prodajnica�predačica
�prodejica�prodakinja�prodavčica
prodavati (to sell) prodavačica (seller f.)
the final state
� stabilisation of systems
systems� detailled pattern
processing� high flexibility
adult competence is determined by
� the cut-off point
� later exposure � training� community support
recovery patterns
� clinical studies have shown that bilingual aphasics do not necessarily manifest the same language disorders with the same degree of severity in
with the same degree of severity in both languages
� languages can be affected in parallel, differentially or selectively
neural plasticity in the aging
brain
� U3A� The University of
the Third Age
� U3L� Die Universität
des 3. Lebensalters
dynamic remodelling
of connections
� rewiring the cortex� use of alternative circuits
extensions of dendritic ramifications
� extensions of dendritic ramifications (trees)
� reorganisation of cortical maps
memory loss? forget about it
�Within a matter of years the problem of memory loss, whether bothersome, age-related forgetfulness or the crippling
forgetfulness or the crippling effects of Alzheimer's disease, could be little more than . . . well, a memory.
� Eric Kandel (2006)
a quest for lifelong learning
� “We should also try to increase the longevity of existing nerve cells.” (Rakic 2002:70)
� There is some cell loss associated with healthy aging, but this by itself does not indicate significant memory loss. (Kandel 2004)
EU-funded research on bilingual
development
� organizersÁgnes Melinda Kovaćs & Jacques Mehler
conclusions
� Becoming bilingual is a special giftparents can offer their children, butthe gift must be planned andpresented with care for it to be wellused and appreciated.
lost in
translation
� “The need to manage multilingual resources is
multilingual resources is more pronounced than ever.”
� Labov (2002)
references
� Altarriba, Jeanette & Roberto R. Heredia, eds. (2008). An introduction to bilingualism: principles and processes. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
� Angelis de, Jessica (2007). Third or additional language acquisition. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.
� Baker, Colin (42006), Foundations of Bilingual Education
� Baker, Colin (42006), Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
� Baker, Colin & Ofelia García, eds. (2007). Bilingual education: an introductory reader. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
� Bialystok, Ellen (2008). Language processing in bilingual children. Cambridge: CUP.
references
� Brizić, Katharina (2007), Das geheime Leben der Sprachen. Gesprochene und verschwiegene Sprachen und ihr Einfluss auf den Spracherwerb in der Migration.Münster: Waxmann.
� Caldas, Stephen J. (2006). Raising bilingual-biliterate
� Caldas, Stephen J. (2006). Raising bilingual-biliterate children in monolingual cultures. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
� Gazzaniga, Michael S., ed. (2009), The cognitive neurosciences 4. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
� Kandel, Eric (2006), In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind. New York: Norton & Company.
references
� Kroll, Judith & Annette de Groot, eds. (2005). Handbook of bilingualism. Psycholinguistic approaches. Oxford: OUP.
� Petitto, Laura-Ann (2009), “New discoveries from the bilingual brain and mind across the life span:
bilingual brain and mind across the life span: implications for education. Mind,Brain and Eduaction vol. 3, Number 4, 185-197.
� Tracy, Rosemarie (2007). Wie Kinder Sprachen lernen. Und wie wir sie dabei unterstützen können. Tübingen: Franke.
� Wei, Li, ed. (22007). The Bilingualism Reader. London: Routledge.
