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Is the brain activated and tuned for language use?

Although children learn their first language in interaction with other people, for adults the learning of a foreign language is often different. A foreign language may be learnt on one¡¯s own, by cramming its vocabulary and grammar, online or from textbooks. 

¡°I am a bit concerned about the point that people may lack the skills to use a language in interaction settings,¡± Astikainen says. ¡°Could it be that if a language has been learnt on one¡¯s own, the skill to use it in social settings may be inadequate?¡±. 

It may be that the brain is not tuned to use the language, she suggests. 

¡°It may be about a lack of courage in interaction settings, which may be increased by pointing out mistakes in learning situations. On the other hand, it may be that if we have learnt a language mainly on our own, the functions that would naturally support social interaction are not activated in our brains.¡±

Another person¡¯s nod of understanding can promote learning

Astikainen¡¯s research team is using brain research methods to investigate learning and information processing mechanisms. Interaction plays a central role in the team¡¯s research. 

From earlier research, we know that in learning a foreign language ¨C like in learning in general ¨C it is important to have a sufficient amount of repetitions. Sleep is also a significant factor for memory consolidation. Perception skills, such as an individual¡¯s ability to recognise sounds and pitches, have an impact on the learning and pronunciation of foreign language words. 

When a learning situation includes interaction, it brings along emotions and social support through nonverbal interaction ¨C and these should enhance learning. 

Positive experiences of the learning situation and environment benefit learning. 

But why is this? 

¡°Things that arouse emotions are learnt best,¡± Astikainen says. 

¡°This applies to negative emotions as well, and we do remember frightening situations well, of course, but also positive things stay with us.¡± 

¡°For this reason alone, it would be good to get positive interaction in learning situations; another person¡¯s understanding nod, smile, or laughing together at mistakes can promote learning.¡±

The team¡¯s hypothesis is, therefore, that in pair work a learner is probably concentrating better and also learning better due to social support and jointly aroused emotions. 

Learning outcomes are measured carefully

The perception of the phonetic features of Chinese and pronunciation of words are measured carefully before and after training. The target of research is particularly the learning of the sounds of this foreign language and also its effect on the learning of pronunciation.

One test group practices the language on their own, while another group does so in pairs. 

The test subjects start learning Chinese from the very beginning: they may not have any prior proficiency in terms of Chinese.

As the subjects repeat words and sounds, the pitches are measured carefully by means of an acceleration sensor set on the throat. Later, correctness of pronunciation is also assessed by research assistants who are native speakers of Chinese. 

The results will show whether the pair-work group learnt the language better, and if they did so, on what kind of mechanisms their enhanced learning is based. 

The multidimensional data will include results for perceptual accuracy, pronunciation accuracy, brain activity and bodily activation during learning. These data will tell the researchers whether, for example, emotional activation or enhanced attentiveness can explain the efficiency of learning. 

One aim of the research project is also to measure whether the brains of the learner and the teacher of the language in this test setting get tuned to the same wavelength. This, too, would indicate the positive effects of interaction.

¡°The synchronisation of brain activation between two persons has been studied earlier in terms of the development of parent¨Cchild interaction and cooperation,¡± Astikainen says. ¡°It has been suggested that the brain areas that relate to the ability to understand other people¡¯s minds as well as the areas pertaining to the reward system in the brain would be activated simultaneously for two persons in interaction.¡±

Whether brain function synchronisation takes place in foreign language learning has not been studied previously.

¡°In interaction, these neural networks could be activated simultaneously in the brains of two different persons, thus enabling empathetic and flexible interaction. In our research setting, the subject pronounces foreign language words after a tutor. It will be interesting to see, for example, whether the verbal areas and neural networks for social interaction get activated simultaneously in the tutor¡¯s and learner¡¯s brains.¡±

The research subjects receive feedback on their progress

The study is now calling for more participants. The eligible group consists of 18- to 40 -year-old native speakers of Finnish who have never learnt any tonal languages, such as Chinese or Thai. 

Postdoctoral Researcher Xueqiao Li, a member of the research team, says the goal is to get 60 participants. 

¡°The study involves four or five visits to the laboratory,¡± Xueqiao Li explains. ¡°The tests are performed mostly within one week. At the first and last visit, we also measure learning outcomes, i.e. the starting level and progress. During the study, the research subjects train the pronunciation of about a hundred different words.¡±

Finding research subjects for the study has not been very easy, as the study involves multiple stages and not all people are eligible for participation. 

For example, only right-handed persons are accepted, and there is a reason for it.

¡°In right-handed people, verbal functions are located mainly in the left hemisphere, whereas in left-handed people this is often organised in a different way,¡± Xueqiao Li explains. ¡°Hence, from the viewpoint of our brain activity analyses it is important not to mix the data for right-handed and left-handed subjects. 

"Of course, it would be possible to study left-handed people as a group of their own, but it would be really difficult to get a sufficient number of left-handed research subjects for this study within a reasonable time.¡± 

After the test week, the research subjects will get information, for instance, on how they managed to develop their accuracy for phonetic distinctions during the training. In the EEG lab, they will also see some electroencephalograms describing their own brain activity.

¡°We hope people would be interested in participating also for the reason that we could investigate this important issue for language learning,¡± Astikainen says. ¡°If social language learning is found to be more efficient than learning on one¡¯s own, I believe it could even have an effect on language teaching.¡± 

Cutting-edge equipment for psychological research in Jyv?skyl?

The tests are performed in the research lab of the Department of Psychology in Mattilanniemi. The measurement apparatus includes an EEG device that measures electric cortical activity, acceleration sensors set on the throat as well as sensors attached to the palms of hands, by which a subject¡¯s physiological changes can be measured. 

The use of the EEG data, in particular, is unique in the study of social learning of a foreign language. As yet, no studies like this have been conducted anywhere else in the world, Astikainen says. An important cooperation partner is Professor Hyeonjeong Jeong¡¯s research team atTohoku University in Japan. 

¡°They are currently studying the social learning of a foreign language, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) by which it is possible to measure activities of the deeper brain areas as well. They study semantic comprehension of words, while here in Jyv?skyl? we are studying the recognition of phonetic features. 

Also in Jyv?skyl?, an EEG-based study on the social learning of foreign language vocabulary will be launched later this spring. 

¡°We are engaged in close cooperation with Tohoku University and get inspiration from each other¡¯s studies,¡± Astikainen says. ¡°They have done pioneering work in the social learning of foreign languages.¡±.

At the University of Jyv?skyl?, brain researchers have high-quality research equipment available. They also make use of the research infrastructure of Jyv?skyl? Centre for Interdisciplinary Brain Research.

¡°Our electrophysiological brain research laboratories, the EEG and MEG labs, are among the best in Europe, I dare to say,¡± says Astikainen.