one brain two minds

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OneBrain,TwoMinds

APeekIntotheBilingualBrain

EmmanuelSoriano

Linguistics16

PetraLott,PhD

30November2012



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TableofContents

I. Introduction 3

II. TheHumanBrain 3

A. TheGiftofLanguage 4

B. TheGoldenAgeandBrainPlasticity 4

C. ABilingual'sBuild 5

III. TheAnatomyofaBilingualBrain 5

A. DifferentLanguageOverlaps 6

B. SimultaneousVersusSequentialBilingualism 7

C. OtherInfluencesonLanguageAreas 7

IV. TheBilingualMovement 8

A. ObsoleteConcernsRegardingBilingualism 8

B. SocialandCulturalInfluences 9

C. TheBilingualBenefits 9

V. Conclusion 10

References 11



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I. Introduction

Itissafetosaythat,today,manypeopleallovertheworldliveinamultilingual

andmulticulturalenvironment.Thatisnotonlytosaythatthewholeworldinits

entirety is both multilingual and multicultural, but that individuals live their

everyday lives encountering people from different cultures and languages. As

humans,wearegiftedwiththeabilitytocommunicatebymeansoflanguage,andas

individuals,wearenotlimitedtoknowingjustone.Thisresearchpapershalldelve

intobilingualism:howandwhyweareabletobebilingual,howitisevenconceived

inthefirstplace,whatitslimitsare,andwhatitsadvantagesare(Grosjean,2010).

II. TheHumanBrain

The human brain has an incredibly complex anatomy that allows it to

undertakeseveraltasksatthesametime,rangingfromvoluntaryactions,suchas

playinganinstrumentorwalkinginthedirectiononewantstogo,toinvoluntary

actions that one does not even have to think about, such as breathing and

controlling the release of hormones that influence bodily functions. While the

humanbrainand the brains ofothermammals sharemanydifferent qualities in

bothfunctionandstructureatthecellularandmolecularlevel,onlytheformerhas

thehundredbillionneuronsthatallowhumanstoacquireuniqueskillsandexhibit

behaviorsthatareuniquetothem.Eachsingleneuroniselectrochemicallylinkedto

tensofthousandsofotherneurons.Becauseofthiscomplexity,humansareableto

associatecopiousamountsofsensoryinformationwithintelligenceretrievedfrom

memorytoproduceanideaorperception(Allen,2009)andtocommunicatethese

ideasthroughtheuseoflanguage.



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IIA. TheGiftofLanguage

Thecomplexityofthehumanbrainallowshumanstoengageindifferenttasks,

skills, and abilities, and itwouldonlybeexpected that somepeoplewill excelat

certainundertakingswhile otherswillexcelindifferentactivities.No twohuman

beings are exactly identical - not even identical twins. Everyone is bound to be

differentfromeveryoneelse,andeverythingapersonlearnstodoisdispersedona

common curveof aptitudeandskill. Thereis,however,one thingthatthehuman

brainuniversallyguaranteestodeliverinandtoeverysingleperson:theabilityto

be a capable speaker and communicator of a language that is accessible in the

environment,withnearly nofurther effort (Bialystok,2010). The humanbrain is

neurologicallyengineeredfortheuseoflanguage,whetheritisasinglelanguageor

multiple languages simultaneously. Language is a free gift, and the capability to

harnessitsutilityandpowerisinnateinallhumans.

IIB. TheGoldenAgeandBrainPlasticity

Thereisa certainperiod in thelifeofevery humanbeingwherethe brain's

capabilitytolearnlanguageandanyotherskillandfunctionisatitsoptimalpeak.

Such is the assumption claimedbythe critical-age hypothesis,alsoknownas the

goldenage.Thetheorysuggeststhatlanguage-learningisbiologicallybasedandthat

the capability to learn a language with everything that is of and within native

intuition cultivateswithina setperiod ranging frombirth topuberty.During this

critical period, the brain is at its peak plastic condition, that is to say, it is very

flexibleandabsorbsinformationveryexpeditiouslyandeffortlessly.Humanbeings

exposed to language after the golden age has passed show abnormal brain



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lateralizationpatterns(Fromkin, 2011). It ishighly preferable that both a child's

firstand second (andnth, ifapplicable) languages are introduced simultaneously

andasearlyaspossibletoensureprimelanguageacquisition.

IIC. ABilingual'sBuild

There are many speculations that attempt to validate what really makes a

personbilingual.Somepeoplesaythatapersonshouldbeabsolutelyfluentinthe

twolanguagesinvolved,whilesomearguethatthepersonalsoshouldhavegrown

up surroundedby both languages. The truth is that neither of this is true, for a

personwhoknowstwolanguagesfluentlybutalmostneverusesorhavetouseone

ofthemdoesnotmakehimorherlessofabilingual.Inthesamelight,apersonwho

doesnotknowbothlanguageswiththesameleveloffamiliarityandproficiencybut

speaksbothregularlyalsoisnotanythinglessofabilingual.Asarguedbypolitical

interpreterChristopheThierry,"true"bilingualsmusthavelearnedbothlanguages

duringthegoldenage,speakbothlanguagesathome,havereceivedinstructionin

bothlanguages,alternatebetweenthetwodifferentlanguagecommunities,andare

acceptedbybothlinguisticcommunitiesatjustaboutthesamelevelculturallyand

socially(Grosjean,2010).

III. TheAnatomyofaBilingualBrain

Thestudyofthebilingualbrain(andthefunctionalandlinguisticanatomyof

thebrainoverall)isactuallysurprisinglynew.Thefascinationofthebilingualand

multilingual brainandhoweach languageis assignedtowhichareasof thebrain

was sparked by a simple incident in 1770, where brain damage patient, Johann

Gesner,maintainedtheabilitytoread,speak,andunderstandhissecondlanguageof



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Latin,butlosthisabilitytoread,speak,orunderstandhisfirstlanguage,German.

Eversincethen,neurologistshavewidelyspeculatedthatfirstandsecondlanguages

differ in location on the brain (Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2008). Although modern

technology allows us to see the general areas for language, it is still difficult to

pinpointthelanguageareasinandonaperson'sbrain,fornotwobrainsarealike

(Allen,2009).

IIIA. DifferentLanguageOverlaps

Besidesthefactthateveryperson'sbraincompositionisuniquefromthenext

person's,thefactalsoreststhatitisimpossibletoexamineandpickonaperson's

brain to pinpoint exactly which linguistic aspect of which language goes where

without severing the brain or keeping him or her alive and in an unharmed

condition.Arecent theory,however,after examiningdamagedmultilingualbrains

foraspanofover200years,suggeststhatlanguagessharesomeareasinthebrain

butnotothers.Such"dual-language"or"overlap"theorycametorealizationafter

havingwitnessedbilingualpatientssufferingfrombraindamageloseonelanguage

butnottheother,inferringthattwolanguagesarestoredindistinctbutoverlapping

regionsofthebrain.Neurologistshavethereforeconcludedthatmultiplelanguages

couldpossiblysharesomeregionsonthebrain,butnotall,astherestdetermined

by various factors influenced by each individual's life experiences. The general

consensus is that although there isnoprecise template for the brain's language

anatomy,therearedefinitelywide-rangingpatternsofmultilingualismontheorgan

(Tokuhama-Espinosa,2008).



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IIIB. SimultaneousVersusSequentialBilingualism

There isnoone correctway to learna second language. A second language

could be sequentially acquired from when a child starts middle school or high

school;orwhenanadultstartsattendingcollegeormigratestoanewcountrythat

speaksadifferentlanguageafterheorshehasalreadyacquiredafirstlanguage.In

othercases,onecouldbebornintoandgrowupinahouseholdandacommunity

that fosters (or requires) the use of a two languages, in which case, the second

language is acquired simultaneously with the first language (Fromkin, 2011).

Whether a person acquires a second language simultaneously or sequentially

directly affects which areas of the brain process the second language. If both

languages are acquired simultaneously, language functionsand linguistic abilities

are controlled by joint areas of the brain, where the centers-of-mass for both

languagesareintegrated.If thesecondlanguageisacquiredsequentially,thebrain

assignsasecond,adjacentregiontoprocessthenewlanguage,wherethecenters-of-

massofthetwolanguagesareentirelyseparatedfromeachother(Allen,2009).Of

course,totakeadvantageofthebrain'smaximizedcapacityduringitsgoldenage,it

is preferable and widely encouraged that bilingual education begins at birth,

adoptingsimultaneousbilingualism(Pearson,2008).

IIIC. OtherInfluencesonLanguageAreas

Modern-day technological advancements such as the fMRI (functional

magnetic resonance imaging) and head CT (computed tomography) scans have

allowedformuchmoreexaminingoflanguagefunctionsintheintacthumanbrain,



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whether it is damaged or not. Researchers have identified that aptitude, age of

acquisition,anddegreeofexposurecanallinfluencethephysicalrepresentationsof

bothlanguages.yetitisstillunknownhoworuptowhichextentthesefactorsaffect

the languages' positions in the brain. For one, the development of the brain's

memorysystemsmaycreatechangesinbothmonolingualandmultilingualbrains.

The level of fluency in any language in a multilingual's brain shows different

intensities on different brain locations. When it comes to language typology

(historicalroots),varyinglinguisticstructurescancausedifferentlanguagestobe

located indifferent regions on the brain. For instance, because Chinese ispartly

foundedonpictographs,thewrittenlanguageprocessingforitislocatedintheright

hemisphere,whileEnglish,whichhailsfromaLatinalphabet,isprocessedintheleft

hemisphere. Gender and genetics could also play a role in the localization of

languageareasonthebrain(Tokuhama-Espinosa,2008).

IV. TheBilingualMovement

IttookquitesometimeforAmericanstocometoacceptbilingualism,despite

theexamplessetbyothernationsandcountries.Thankfully,withtherecentinflux

ofmorestudiesandexperimentsgeneratedbyneurologistsandlinguists,withthe

help of modern technological innovations, the human brain and its bi- and

multilingualaptitudearebeinglessandlessofamysteryandtaboo.

IVA. ObsoleteConcernsRegardingBilingualism

Bilingualismhasn'talwaysbeenawidely-acceptedphenomenon.About20to

30yearsago,theAmericansocietyitselfattachedanegativestigmaonthenotionof

bilingualism,notonlybecausemanyconsidereditasalackofpatriotism,butalso



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because they thought that it actually stunts a child's language and cognitive

developmentcompletely(Bialystok,2010).Parentsalsousedtobeconcernedwith

their children possibly having the tendencyofmixing up the two languages and

confusing themselves with the different syntaxes and morphologies, or whether

bilingualdevelopmenttakesmuchlongerthanmonolingualdevelopment,whichis

simply not the case. As mentioned earlier, the human brain, under normal

circumstances, is neurologically engineered to learn how to use language, as

supportedbyNoamChomksy'sinnatenesshypothesis(Fromkin,2011).

IVB. SocialandCulturalInfluences

Socialandculturalsettingscandeterminewhichlanguageabilingualchooses

touse.Abilingualmay choose toswitchasameansto establishsocial statureor

cultural affiliation. For instance, a person in Kenyamight switch from Swahili to

Englishtoshowthatheorsheiseducated,astheabilitytospeakEnglishisastatus

symbol.Hypothetically,thisalsopresentsthepossibilityofapersontocompletely

abandononeofthelanguagesheorshespeaks,tocompletelyidentifywithacertain

culturalgroup(Tokuhama-Espinosa,2008).

IVC. TheBilingualBenefits

Thebenefitsofbilingualismextendfarbeyondtheabilitytocommunicateand

perceivewithtwolanguagesandtheopportunitiestheypresentintheworkingand

academicworld.Bilingualstendtoperformbetteratproblem-solvingsituationsand

demonstratebettercognitiveperformancecomparedtomonolinguals.Theytendto

havebetter focusandmultitaskingexpertiseasbilingualismexercises thebrain's

executive control system. Bilinguals tend to be better drivers as they can stay



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focusedontheroaddespitenumerousdistractions.Theyalsoperformeffortlessly

whensubjectedtotheStroopTest,wherethesubjectsareaskedtoobservenames

ofcolorsthatarecoloredinacontrastingcolor("RED"inbluetext),butsayoutloud

the color the text is in instead of reading the actual text. When it comes to

psychological and mental health, elderly bilinguals tend to show signs of

Alzheimer'sanddementia4-5yearslaterthanmonolinguals.(Bialystok,2010).

V. Conclusion

Thehumanbrainanditslanguagecapabilitytrulyisamarveltowitness.The

vastsuperiorityof the humanspecie torestofthe animal kingdomisprovennot

onlybyitsnaturalgiftoflanguage,butthegiftofbeingabletouseseverallanguages.

Itwouldnotonlyberevolutionary,butalsoextremelybeneficial,foreveryhumanto

exercisethebraininallofitsprowess.



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References

Allen, JohnS. 2009.TheLivesof theBrain:HumanEvolutionand theOrganof the

Mind .1sted.Cambridge,MA:BelknapPressofHarvardUniversityPress.

Bialystok,Ellen,Laura-AnnPettito."LanguageandLearning."InterviewwithCheryl

Jackson.YourVoice.27January2010.YouTube.23November2012.

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams, 2011. An Introduction to

Language.9thed.Boston,MA:WadsworthofCengageLearning.

Grosjean,François.2010.Bilingual:LifeandReality .1sted.Cambridge,MA:Harvard

UniversityPress.

Pearson, Barbara Zurer. 2008.Raising a Bilingual Child: A Step-By-Step Guide for

Parents.1sted.NewYork,NY:LivingLanguageofRandomHouse,Inc.

Romaine, Suzanne. 2000.Bilingualism:Language inSociety. 2nd ed. Malden,MA:

BlackwellPublishers,Ltd.

Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey. 2008. Living Languages: Multilingualism Across the

Lifespan.1sted.Westport,CT:PraegerPublishers.

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