Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T18:20:17.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Insights into the neural mechanisms of becoming bilingual: A brief synthesis of second language research with artificial linguistic systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2019

Kara Morgan-Short Open the ORCID record for Kara Morgan-Short [Opens in a new window]
Kara Morgan-Short*
Affiliation:
Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago
*
Address for correspondence: Kara Morgan-Short, E-mail: karams@uic.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Artificial linguistic systems can offer researchers test tube-like models of second language (L2) acquisition through which specific questions can be examined under tightly controlled conditions. This paper examines what research with artificial linguistic systems has revealed about the neural mechanisms involved in L2 grammar learning. It first considers the validity of meaningful and non-meaningful artificial linguistic systems. Then it contextualizes and synthesizes neural artificial linguistic system research related to questions about age of exposure to the L2, type of exposure, and online L2 learning mechanisms. Overall, using artificial linguistic systems seems to be an effective and productive way of developing knowledge about L2 neural processes and correlates. With further validation, artificial linguistic system paradigms may prove an important tool more generally in understanding how individuals learn new linguistic systems as they become bilingual.

Keywords

second languageartificial languageartificial grammarevent-related potentials
Type
Review Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 87 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrahamsson, N and Hyltenstam, K (2009) Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language: Listener perception versus linguistic scrutiny. Language Learning 59, 249–306. doi:10.1111/j.1467–9922.2009.00507.xGoogle Scholar
Batterink, L and Neville, H (2013) Implicit and explicit second language training recruit common neural mechanisms for syntactic processing. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 25, 936–951. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00354Google Scholar
Batterink, L and Neville, HJ (2014) ERPs recorded during early second language exposure predict syntactic learning. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 26, 2005–2020. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00618Google Scholar
Batterink, L, Oudiette, D, Reber, PJ and Paller, KA (2014) Sleep facilitates learning a new linguistic rule. Neuropsychologia 65, 169–179. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.024Google Scholar
Bialystok, E and Kroll, JK (2017) The neurobiology of language: Looking beyond monolinguals. Biolinguistics 11, 339–352.Google Scholar
Birdsong, D and Molis, M (2001) On the evidence for maturational constraints in second-language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language 44, 235–249. doi:10.1006/jmla.2000.2750Google Scholar
Christiansen, MH, Conway, CM and Onnis, L (2012) Similar neural correlates for language and sequential learning: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Language and Cognitive Processes 27, 231–256. doi:10.1080/01690965.2011.606666Google Scholar
DeKeyser, RM (1997) Beyond explicit rule learning: Automatizing second language morphosyntax. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 19, 195–221. doi:10.1017/S0272263197002040Google Scholar
DeKeyser, RM (2000) The robustness of critical period effects in second language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 22, 499–533. doi:10.1017/S0272263100004022Google Scholar
Esper, EA (1925) A technique for the experimental investigation of associative interference in artificial linguistic material. Language Monographs 1, 1–47.Google Scholar
Ettlinger, M, Morgan-Short, K, Faretta-Stutenberg, M and Wong, PCM (2016) The relationship between artificial and second language learning. Cognitive Science 40, 822–847. doi:10.1111/cogs.12257Google Scholar
Finn, AS, Hudson Kam, CL, Ettlinger, M, Vytlacil, J and D'Esposito, M (2013) Learning language with the wrong neural scaffolding: The cost of neural commitment to sounds. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 7, 85. doi:10.3389/fnsys.2013.00085Google Scholar
Folia, V, Uddén, J, De Vries, M, Forkstam, C and Petersson, KM (2010) Artificial language learning in adults and children. Language Learning 60, 188–220. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00606.xGoogle Scholar
Friederici, AD, Steinhauer, K and Pfeifer, E (2002) Brain signatures of artificial language processing: Evidence challenging the critical period hypothesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 9, 529–534. doi:10.1073/pnas.012611199Google Scholar
Godfroid, A and Uggen, MS (2013) Attention to irregular verbs by beginning learners of german: An eye-movement study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 35, 291–322. doi:10.1017/S0272263112000897Google Scholar
Godfroid, A (2019) Eye tracking in second language acquisition and bilingualism: A research synthesis and methodological guide. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315775616Google Scholar
Goo, J, Granena, G, Yilmaz, Y and Novella, M (2015) Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning: Norris and Ortega (2000) revisited. In Rebuschat, P (ed), Implicit and explicit learning of languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 443–482. doi:10.1075/sibil.48.18gooGoogle Scholar
Granena, G and Long, MH (2013) Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains. Second Language Research 29, 311–343. doi:10.1177/0267658312461497Google Scholar
Grey, S and Tagarelli, KM (2018) Psycholinguistic methods. In Phakiti, A, De Costa, P, Plonsky, L and Starfield, S (eds), The Palgrave handbook of applied linguistics research methodology. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 287–312. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-59900-1_14Google Scholar
Hahne, A (2001) What's different in second-language processing? evidence from event-related brain potentials. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 30, 251–266. doi:1010490917575Google Scholar
Hamrick, P and Sachs, R (2018) Establishing evidence of learning in experiments employing artificial linguistics systems. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 40, 153–169. doi:10.1017/S0272263116000474Google Scholar
Huettel, SA, Song, AW and McCarthy, G (2004) Functional magnetic resonance imaging. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc.Google Scholar
Indrarathne, B, Ratajczak, M and Kormos, J (2018) Modelling changes in the cognitive processing of grammar in implicit and explicit learning conditions: Insights from an eye-tracking study. Language Learning 68, 669–708. doi:10.1111/lang.12290Google Scholar
Issa, BI and Morgan-Short, K (2019) Effects of external and internal attentional manipulations on second language grammar development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41, 389–417. doi:10.1017/S027226311800013XGoogle Scholar
Johnson, JS and Newport, EL (1989) Critical period effects in second language-learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of english as a second language. Cognitive Psychology 21, 60–99. doi:10.1016/0010-0285(89)90003-0Google Scholar
Lenneberg, EH (1976) Biological foundations of language. New-York: John Wiley. doi:10.1002/bs.3830130610Google Scholar
Leung, J and Williams, JN (2012) Constraints on implicit learning of grammatical form-meaning connections. Language Learning 62, 634–662. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00637.xGoogle Scholar
Leung, J and Williams, JN (2014) Crosslinguistic differences in implicit language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 36, 733–755. doi:10.1017/S0272263114000333Google Scholar
Luck, SJ (2014) An introduction to the event-related potential technique (Second Edition ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT press.Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K, Deng, Z, Brill-Schuetz, KA, Faretta-Stutenberg, M, Wong, PCM and Wong, F (2015) A view of the neural representation of second language syntax through artificial language learning under implicit contexts of exposure. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 37, 383–419. doi:10.1017/S0272263115000030Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K, Steinhauer, K, Sanz, C and Ullman, MT (2012a) Explicit and implicit second language training differentially affect the achievement of native-like brain activation patterns. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 24, 933–947. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00119Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K, Finger, I, Grey, S and Ullman, MT (2012b) Second language processing shows increased native-like neural responses after months of no exposure. Plos One 7, e32974. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032974Google Scholar
Morgan-Short, K, Sanz, C, Steinhauer, K and Ullman, MT (2010) Second language acquisition of gender agreement in explicit and implicit training conditions: An event-related potential study. Language Learning 60, 154–193. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00554.xGoogle Scholar
Mueller, JL, Hahne, A, Fujii, Y and Friederici, AD (2005) Native and nonnative speakers' processing of a miniature version of Japanese as revealed by ERPs. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 17, 1229–1244. doi:10.1162/0898929055002463Google Scholar
Mueller, JL (2006) L2 in a nutshell: The investigation of second language processing in the miniature language model. Language Learning 56, 235–270. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00363.xGoogle Scholar
Mueller, JL, Hirotani, M and Friederici, AD (2007) ERP evidence for different strategies in the processing of case markers in native speakers and non-native learners. BMC Neuroscience 8, doi:10.1186/1471-2202-8-18Google Scholar
Mueller, JL (2009) The influence of lexical familiarity on ERP responses during sentence comprehension in language learners. Second Language Research 25, 43–76. doi:10.1177/0267658308098996Google Scholar
Nevat, M, Ullman, MT, Eviatar, Z and Bitan, T (2017) The neural bases of the learning and generalization of morphological inflection. Neuropsychologia 98, 139–155. doi://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.08.026Google Scholar
Norris, JM and Ortega, L (2000) Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning 50, 417–528. doi:10.1111/0023-8333.00136Google Scholar
Ortega, L (2018) SLA in uncertain times: Disciplinary constraints, transdisciplinary hopes. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics 33, 1–30.Google Scholar
Petersson, KM (2004) Artificial syntactic violations activate Broca's region. Cognitive Science 28, 383–407. doi:10.1016/j.cogsci.2003.12.003Google Scholar
Petersson, KM, Folia, V and Hagoort, P (2012) What artificial grammar learning reveals about the neurobiology of syntax. Brain and Language 120, 83–95. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2010.08.003Google Scholar
Robinson, P (2010) Implicit artificial grammar and incidental natural second language learning: How comparable are they? Language Learning 60, 245–263. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00608.xGoogle Scholar
Robinson, P (2005) Cognitive abilities, chunk-strength, and frequency effects in implicit artificial grammar and incidental L2 learning: Replications of Reber, Walkenfeld, and Hernstadt (1991) and Knowlton and Squire (1996) and their relevance for SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 27, 235–268. doi:10.1017/S0272263105050126Google Scholar
Sanz, C and Morgan-Short, K (2005) Explicitness in pedagogical interventions: Input, practice, and feedback. In Sanz, C (ed), Mind and context in adult second language acquisition: Methods, theory, and practice. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, pp. 234–263.Google Scholar
Silva, S, Folia, V, Hagoort, P and Petersson, KM (2017) The P600 in implicit artificial grammar learning. Cognitive Science 41, 137–157. doi:10.1111/cogs.12343Google Scholar
Spada, N and Tomita, Y (2010) Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning 60, 263–308. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00562.xGoogle Scholar
Stafford, CA, Bowden, HW and Sanz, C (2012) Optimizing language instruction: Matters of explicitness, practice, and cue learning. Language Learning 62, 741–768. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2011.00648.xGoogle Scholar
Swaab, TY, Ledoux, K, Camblin, CC and Boudewyn, MA (2012) Language related ERP components. In Luck, SJ and Kappenman, ES (eds), Oxford handbook of event-related potential components. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 397–440. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195374148.013.0197Google Scholar
Tabullo, A, Sevilla, Y, Segura, E, Zanutto, S and Wainselboim, A (2013) An ERP study of structural anomalies in native and semantic free artificial grammar: Evidence for shared processing mechanisms. Brain Research 1527, 149–160. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2013.05.022Google Scholar
Tagarelli, KM, Shattuck, KF, Turkeltaub, PE and Ullman, MT (2019) Language learning in the adult brain: A neuroanatomical meta-analysis of lexical and grammatical learning. NeuroImage 193, 178–200. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.02.061Google Scholar
Tanner, D (2019) Robust neurocognitive individual differences in grammatical agreement processing: A latent variable approach. Cortex 111, 210–237. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2018.10.011Google Scholar
Tanner, D and van Hell, JG (2014) ERPs reveal individual differences in morphosyntactic processing. Neuropsychologia 56, 289–301. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.02.002Google Scholar
Ullman, MT (2006) Language and the brain. In Connor-Linton, J, & Fasold, RW (eds), An introduction to language and linguistics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 235–274. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107707511.008Google Scholar
VanPatten, B (1994) Evaluating the role of consciousness in second language acquisition: Terms, linguistic features, and research methodology. AILA Review 11, 27–36.Google Scholar
Weber, KM, Christiansen, MH, Petersson, KM, Indefrey, P and Hagoort, P (2016) fMRI syntactic and lexical repetition effects reveal the initial stages of learning a new language. The Journal of Neuroscience 36, 6872–6880. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3180-15.2016Google Scholar
Weber-Fox, CM and Neville, HJ (1996) Maturational constraints on functional specializations for language processing: ERP and behavioral evidence in bilingual speakers. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 8, 231–256. doi:10.1162/jocn.1996.8.3.231Google Scholar
White, EJ, Genesee, F and Steinhauer, K (2012) Brain responses before and after intensive second language learning: Proficiency based changes and first language background effects in adult learners. PLoS ONE 7, 1–17. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052318Google Scholar