REPETITIVE EXPOSURE TO NEW WORDS ENABLES LANGUAGE LEARNING

Lilli Kimppa, a researcher from the University of Helsinki has studied and reported the acquisition of language in the brain. She used electroencephalography (EEG) to measure the neural activation of Finnish-speaking volunteers during auditory tasks in which repetitions of Finnish words, and non-Finnish words with both Finnish and non-native phonology, were made.

She found a rapid increase in neural response to even short repetitive exposure to new words, suggesting memory-trace formation. The magnitude of the neural response also coordinated with the memory level of these new words.

She also observed a larger neural response to new non-native words in candidates who had learnt more foreign languages with earlier learning onset. This signifies higher flexibility of brain to achieve speech with new phonology.

She also observed a stronger neural increase to new words with Finnish phonology in those candidates with delayed onset learning of foreign language. Kimpa states "Their brain had apparently become more tuned to the native language.”

She also made a comparative study of rapid neural word learning between normally reading children and 9-12 year-old dyslexic children. She observed that normal children were fast to show neural response than the dyslexics. 

Content: www.sciencedaily.com