Janet N. Zadina jzadina@uno.edu 1 Janet Zadina, Ph.D. Tulane Univ. School of Medicine USING BRAIN...

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Janet Zadina, Ph.D.

Tulane Univ. School of Medicine

USING BRAIN RESEARCH TO ORCHESTRATE LANGUAGE LEARNING:

BUILDING A BETTER BRAIN

This Power Point contains selected slides of important

information• Omitted slides were for purposes of

presentation– Pictures– Activities– Background explanation behind important

points

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I. Existing State of the Student Affects Learning …

even before instruction• We need to address this with our students

– As a group, not individually– Not in response to a particular issue– As part of our teaching students how to learn

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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“Learning is the formation of new synapses and dendrite branching.” Zull, 2002

Learning Means Making Connections

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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What is important about making connections:

• time• frequency(Diamond, et al., Journal of Comparative Neurology,

123, 1964, p. 111)• importance of information to learner

Diagnosis?

• It might not be poor comprehension, lack of effort, or learning disability.

• It might be inadequate neural network-lack of prior knowledge

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Address weak existing neural network – lack of prior knowledge

a) Show movie or youtube video

for background

b) Provide information with material approximately 2-4 grade levels below current material

c) Then assign the textbook reading

d) Use lots of visuals 8

The Multiple Pathways ModelInvisible Pathways• Sensorymotor:

– Visual– Auditory– Speech/Writing– Motor

• Emotion • Reward/Survival • Attention/Memory

Visible Processes• Language• Frontal Lobe• Social• Exceptional

Pathways• Big picture =

diversify!

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

9SensoryMotor

Language

Reward

Frontal Lobe

Emotion ExceptionalAttentionMemory

Social

Text and oral information much less well remembered

• Oral recall after 72 hours?– 10%– If you add a picture?– 65%

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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What we hear depends upon our experience

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By approximately 14 months of age the brain loses much of the ability to discriminate all

possible sounds in all languages and develops a more sensitive ability for phonetic units in

the first language

A newborn baby can hear all sounds, but…..

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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It may be more difficult to articulate and distinguish some

sounds.

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Early exposure is important but it is never too late!

Implications for 2nd Language Learning: Developing a New Pathway (Map)

Exaggerating the foreign language contrasts McClelland, JL, et al (1999) Brain, Behavioral, and Cognitive Disorders: The Neurocomputational Perspective

Providing listeners with multiple instances spoken by many talkers Pisoni, DB, et al. (1992) Speech Perception, Production and Linguistic Structure

Extensive speaking and listening experience

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Strategies

• Have them speak to you frequently– Fill in blanks– Restate what you said

• Put formulas, rules, info to music or find music

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Emotion is critical to learning.

Emotion affects

• Arousal• Intention• What you see and hear• And all the pathways to come…

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Threat and high stress impair learning

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Second-language learners need a rich, meaningful learning

environment.

The Multiple Pathways ModelInvisible Pathways• Sensorymotor:

– Visual– Auditory– Speech/Writing– Motor

• Emotion • Reward/Survival • Attention/Memory

Visible Processes• Language• Frontal Lobe• Social• Exceptional

Pathways• Big picture =

diversify!

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

21SensoryMotor

Language

Reward

Frontal Lobe

Emotion

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu22

Infants detect patterns in languages that they hear.

Learning language involves creating maps in the brain

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Infants create a second map for a second language

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Age of Acquisition

Before age 5• Optimal for dual language

mastery• Achieve linguistic milestones in

each language at same time

Exposed between 2-9 years• To achieve mastery within first

year of exposure requires – Extensive and systematic

exposure– Across multiple contexts:

community and home– Less optimal mastery if

exposure comes only from classroom

• “stage-like”: language development comparable to 1st language development

Educational Implications

• Children from monolingual homes in bilingual schools had better reading skills than monolinguals in monolingual schools

• Monlinguals from English homes in 50/50 bilingual program had better phoneme awareness than those in English only

26Petitto & Dunbar, MBE/Harvard, October 6-8, 2004

More effort is required for:

• Learning a new task• Performing higher order tasks when

stressed• When pathways compete

– Using alternative pathways, such as in learning differences

– Speaking a second language

Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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An important goal is automaticity

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An Important Goal is to Reduce Cognitive Load

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Janet N. Zadinajzadina@uno.edu

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