介绍:
Do you find language learning is difficult? New study shows why.
Learning a second language is far easier for some people than others because of innate differences in how the various parts of the brain “talk” to one another.
Success or failure in language learning has much to do with differences in the strength of connections between certain areas of the brain. Even when you’re resting, doing nothing or even sleeping, the different regions of your brain are communicating with each other, according to the Canadian researchers. The strength of these connections varies between people.
The differences are so striking that researchers can even predict who will succeed in language skills, and who will fail, simply based on brain scans.
In the study, researchers scanned the brains of 15 English speakers before they began a 12-week French course, and then tested their language abilities both before and after the course. Those who made greater improvement in speaking French by the end of the course had stronger connections between the left frontal operculum — which plays a role in verbal fluency — and the left superior temporal gyrus — an important part of the language network.
These findings have effects on predicting success and failure in language learning. The most interesting part of this finding is that the connectivity between the different areas was observed before learning. This shows that some people may have a particular neuronal activity pattern that may lend itself to better learning of a second language.
However, scientists say that the findings don’t mean that brain connectivity is the only factor that affects a person’s ability to learn a second language, because the brain can be shaped by learning and experience.
The study is a first step to understand individual differences in second language learning, and might help us develop better methods for helping people learn better.
