Words R Us

area of the brain

second language development in Japan.

Broca’s area

native like quality exposure

six year period

how much exposure to a second language should a kindergarten-aged child receive in order to develop native like competency or at least reduce such barriers?

English as a second language in Japan

motivation to continue studying English throughout the secondary school years will be much higher

decline in learning abilities from puberty

critical period for second language learners

it is possible for adult learners to achieve native like performance

alternative to the critical-period hypothesis is that second-language learning becomes compromised with age

children growing up without normal linguistic and social interaction

20 months until age 13

inconceivable mental and physical disabilities

syntactic skills were extremely deficient

Genie used her right hemisphere for both language and non-language functions

particularly good at tasks involving the right hemisphere

46 Chinese and Korean natives living in America

three and seven years of age on arrival did equally as well as the control group of native English speakers. Those between eight and fifteen did less well

regardless of what language is used elevated activity occurs within the same part of Broca’s area

early bilingual subject

For monolingual parents living within their own monolingual society it is possible to raise a child bilingually

95% of people the left hemisphere of our brain is the dominant location of language

two specific areas that divide language by semantics (word meaning)

People with damage to Broca’s area are impaired in the use of grammar with a notable lack of verbs however are still able to understand language

actual development of our language centers begins well before birth

supports the notion of speaking to your child before birth

Japanese babies can detect the difference between the /l/ and /r/ sounds which proves most difficult for their parents

survival of the fittest

critical period of development is when there is an excess of synapses and the brain plasticity remains at a maximum

importance of experience during sensitive period of language development

age related factors may impair our ability in acquiring a second language

child’s parent’s own 2nd language ability