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Janet N. [email protected]
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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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“Learning is the formation of new synapses and dendrite branching.” Zull, 2002
Janet N. [email protected]
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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. [email protected]
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. [email protected]
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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…..
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. [email protected]
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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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Emotion affects
• Arousal• Intention• What you see and hear• And all the pathways to come…
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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. [email protected]
21SensoryMotor
Language
Reward
Frontal Lobe
Emotion
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. [email protected]
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31 Janet N. [email protected]
You can purchase(and save $ on shipping)
• Multiple Pathways to the Student Brain– Book based on my talks
• Six Weeks to a Brain-Compatible Classroom– Workbook for teachers
• Six Weeks to a Brain Upgrade: A student’s quick start guide to using brain research to boost learning– Workbook for students
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