Neural Mechanism of Second Language Processing in Korean-English Bilingual Children
Purpose To evaluate the neural mechanism of second language processing in Korean-English bilingual children using functional MRI (fMRI). Materials and Methods The study was conducted on 20 Korean elementary school children who were learning English as a foreign language. fMRI was performed during...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Korean Society of Radiology
2019-11-01
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Series: | 대한영상의학회지 |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2019.80.6.1160 |
Summary: | Purpose To evaluate the neural mechanism of second language processing in Korean-English
bilingual children using functional MRI (fMRI).
Materials and Methods The study was conducted on 20 Korean elementary school children
who were learning English as a foreign language. fMRI was performed during short-passage
comprehension tasks in Korean and English languages. We analyzed which brain areas were activated
according to the language, English proficiency, and task difficulty.
Results Higher activities were observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary
motor area, precentral gyrus, left basal ganglia, and left temporoparietal and occipital lobes during
English comprehension than during Korean comprehension. The low English proficiency
group showed higher activities than the high English proficiency group in the frontotemporal
cortex, including the prefrontal cortex. Higher activities were observed in the right inferior frontal
gyrus and right temporoparietal lobe during the English comprehension task of intermediate
difficulty compared to that of low difficulty. However, the brain activities significantly decreased
while performing a high-difficulty English task.
Conclusion Brain activities significantly increased during English comprehension in the lower
English proficiency group while performing an intermediate-difficulty task. However, brain activation
decreased when the task difficulty exceeded the moderate comprehension level. These
results suggest that a proper level of education is important to learn a second language. |
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ISSN: | 1738-2637 2288-2928 |