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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Kai Aknin

Kai Aknin

The multilingual mind: issues ... - Google Books - 0 views

shared by Kai Aknin on 14 Mar 11 - No Cached
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    Pages 7-12 have some fascinating information regarding the brain's usage in multilingual children and adults.
Kai Aknin

Photographic Psychology: Image and Psyche - 0 views

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    Difficulty of capturing micro-expressions
Kai Aknin

Why study a FL - 4 views

shared by Kai Aknin on 03 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers", the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area.
  • Children in foreign language programs have tended to demonstrate greater cognitive development, creativity, and divergent thinking than monolingual children. Several studies show that people who are competent in more than one language outscore those who are speakers of only one language on tests of verbal and nonverbal intelligence.
  • Studies also show that learning another language enhances the academic skills of students by increasing their abilities in reading, writing, and mathematics. Studies of bilingual children made by child development scholars and linguists consistently show that these children grasp linguistic concepts such as words having several meanings faster and earlier than their monolingual counterparts.
Kai Aknin

Neuroscience for Kids - Second Language - 19 views

  • In most cases, if a person is not exposed to a language during the critical period, he or she will never be able to speak the language as well as someone who learned language normally.
  • Although the person may be able to learn many vocabulary words, his or her syntax will probably never reach a normal level.
  • Children who have brain damage are often able to regain their language abilities with practice. Adults, however, who suffer damage to language areas are rarely able to achieve their previous language proficiency.
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  • This observation further supports the concept that there might be a difference between learning language in childhood and adulthood.
  • Surgeons need to know which brain areas are involved in language comprehension and production, so that they will not disturb these valuable centers during operations on the brain.
  • Research suggests that learning second (or third) languages is easier for young children, and some evidence indicates certain brain areas that might be involved in this learning. Several studies have related second language learning to Broca's and Wernicke's areas.
  • Many studies suggest that the age at which a second language is learned may determine whether brain areas used for processing each language are overlapping or different. Early bilinguals seem more likely to use overlapping brain areas and late bilinguals seem more likely to use different areas for each language.
  • Although it is generally believed that a critical period exists for a first language, it is not known if there is a similar critical period for a second language.
  • certainly be important during neurosurgery.
Kai Aknin

Cornell Chronicle: Benefits of learning a second language - 4 views

  • Learning a second language does not cause language confusion, language delay or cognitive deficit, which have been concerns in the past. In fact, according to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language.
  • That's important, say Barbara Lust, a developmental psychology and linguistics expert, professor of human development and director of CLAL, and her collaborator, Sujin Yang, former postdoctoral research associate at the lab, because that ability is "responsible for selective and conscious cognitive processes to achieve goals in the face of distraction and plays a key role in academic readiness and success in school settings."
  • In other words, "Cognitive advantages follow from becoming bilingual," Lust says. "These cognitive advantages can contribute to a child's future academic success."
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  • This collection of multilingualism projects, along with many research results from other labs across the world, affirms that children can learn more than one language, and they will even do so naturally if surrounded by the languages.
Kai Aknin

Foreign Languages & Literatures - Western Illinois University - 2 views

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    Generalized benefits of learning a foreign language.
Kai Aknin

Language and Culture:  Learning Language - 2 views

  • It is impossible to understand the subtle nuances and deep meanings of another culture without knowing its language well.
  • Young children are inherently capable of learning the necessary phonemes, morphemes, and syntax as they mature.  In other words, they have a genetic propensity to learn language. 
  • Studies of average American children show that there is rapid learning of language in the early years of life.
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  • Learning a second or third language is easier in early childhood than later.  It is particularly important to learn correct pronunciation as young as possible. 
  • Learning a second language can be affected by the patterns of the first language.  This is referred to as linguistic interference.
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    Description of words, syntax, etc.
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