Problems with language learning? Blame it on your brain connections!

Are you a frustrated language learner?

Join the crowd.  Most adults I have encountered in my language teaching career suffer from some degree of language learning anxiety.  And oh, the damage language learning does to our self images as bright, competent adults!  Do some people really have an easier time learning language?

Always intrigued by information on how we acquire other languages, I enjoyed reading a recent article entitled "Why some people find learning a language harder than others." (www.telegraph.co.uk)  Researchers found that the manner in which our brains are "wired"  for various areas to communicate with each other may explain why some adults learn languages faster and more successfully.

Thank goodness.  Maybe my failure to become fluent in Irish Gaelic is not all my fault, after all.

When a group of fifteen English speakers were enrolled in a 12 week course to study French,  their language abilities in French were first tested.  Also before the course began, they were given brains scans (fMRI) to determine the strength of the connections between parts of their brains and two important language centers in the brain.  One center deals with verbal fluency; the other with visual word form. Connections in the brain play a large role in learning, especially when the brain is at rest, so strong communication between brain areas is important.

At the end of the course, the participants were asked to display their abilities in French by speaking in response to a verbal cue and by reading aloud in French.  Here is what the researchers found.  The participants who had stronger brain connections showed the greatest improvement in speaking.

So where does this research leave those of us who dream of becoming polyglots?

Researchers suggest that the new findings may help us better understand individual language learning differences and develop teaching methods to respond to differences.  Others state that we may be able to predict who will succeed and who will fail based on information from brain scans.  ( Note:  I really don't want to find out my brain connections are weak- learning languages is too enjoyable a hobby for me!)

And we have to consider the concept of nature vs. nurture.  Perhaps one's brain has an innate tendency to a certain strength of communication, but learning and experience will also play a part in shaping the brain, which is sometimes described as being plastic.

Until more is learned about the role of brain connections in language learning,  I have not yet found a creditable argument for giving up my daily language study sessions.

And I'm secretly delighted.