a young brain’s journey into bilingualism · asked about bilingual children “Each of these...

a young brain’s journey into

bilingualism

annemarie.peltzer@uni-graz.at 1

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

�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)

i. onsetsimultaneous vs sequential

ii. the cognitive organization

� compound � coordinate � subordinate

� subordinate

iii. competence & proficiency

� balanced vs� dominant

� dominant

(Leydesdorff 2004)

iv. sociocultural status

� additive� subtractive

� subtractive

how many languages can we

learn?

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

the linguistic view

Universal Grammar

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)

the cultural view

cultural embodiment

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 biological view

our genetic blueprint

▲ a neural primer

which functions are involved?

the lobes of the human brain

� frontal

� frontal� temporal�parietal�occipital

the language areas

hemispheric specialization

speech processing

a primer on the neural basis of

language development

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

the bilingual brain

research question

� How does the

� How does the brain organize two or more languages?

baby labs

Patricia KuhlU Washington

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.

code switchingthe fasciculus arcuatus

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

steps to language

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.

how do children cope with

multilingual input?

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

� 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)

bilingual development

dynamics of bilingual development

� tutti si ärgano.

potential landscapes

scales of language development

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.

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

bilingualism

across the life-span

adult competence is determined by

� the cut-off point

� later exposure � training� community support

bilingual aphasia

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

� 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.

Thank you for your attention!

a young brain’s journey into bilingualism · asked about bilingual children “Each of these...

Documents

Eikonal equation solver in CUDA - uni-graz.at

How Brain’s Learn

ap t 0 {ft an b - uni-graz.at

THE BRAIN’S MASTERPIECE EQUATION: HOW SYMMETRY …

Masterarbeit 170226 final - uni-graz.at

EuropeanWomeninMathematics - uni-graz.at

Module 3 Brain’s Building Blocks

Running head: THE BRAIN’S POWER 1

Are smarter people’s brain’s different? · German scientists identified a network connecting 20 different areas in the frontal and parietal regions that were associated with intelligence

The Rise and Fall of Russian Treaty ... - unipub.uni-graz.at

Quantifying the atomic-level mechanics of ... - uni-graz.at

imsc.uni-graz.at fileimsc.uni-graz.at

Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain’s reward center

A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE BRAIN’S BLACK BOX: UNDERSTANDING …

Parading in the city s public space - unipub.uni-graz.at

Building the Brain’s “Air Trafﬁc Control” Systemdevelopingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/How-Early... · Building the Brain’s “Air Trafﬁc Control” System:

Building the Brain’s “Air Trafﬁc Control” System

Module 3 Brain’s Building Blocks. Objectives Students will be able to… –Explain the causes and effects of Alzheimer's –Distinguish the different parts

EU-US project R enewable R esources & C lean T echnology O pportunities @ Graz / Austria Dr.Anton Huber anton.huber@uni-graz.at anton.huber@uni-graz.at

Circadian phenotype impacts the brain’s resting …...Circadian phenotype impacts the brain’s resting-state functional connectivity, attentional performance, and sleepiness Elise