Second Language Acquisition and Neuro-linguistics Flashcards

Flashcards covering key concepts from Second Language Acquisition, Language Processing, and Neuro-linguistics. Includes definitions and explanations of terms.

What is a foreign language?

A language learned in a context where it is not spoken in the surrounding community.

What is a second language?

A language learned in an environment where it is commonly used and spoken in daily life.

What is language acquisition?

The gradual development of language ability through natural communication with speakers of the language.

What is language learning?

The conscious process of gaining knowledge about a language, such as its grammar and vocabulary, typically in an academic setting.

What are affective factors in second language acquisition?

Emotional influences—like motivation, anxiety, self- consciousness, or empathy—that can positively or negatively impact language learning.

What is the grammar–translation method?

A traditional approach to language learning that emphasizes memorization of vocabulary and grammar rules, focusing mainly on written language

What is language attrition?

The gradual loss or weakening of a language that an individual once knew but no longer actively uses.

Who is a heritage language learner?

Someone who was raised with a strong cultural connection to a language through family interaction.

What elements determine whether a person retains their heritage language?

The length and manner of exposure, the critical period, and the parents’ attitude towards the home language and culture.

What is a Critical Period?

It is a period during someone's development in which a particular skill or characteristic is believed to be most readily acquired.

What is input?

The linguistic data that an L2 learner receives through listening or reading. For it to facilitate learning, it must be comprehensible and meaningful.

What is output?

The language that the learner produces in L2. Engaging in meaningful interaction enhances language skills and communicative ability.

What is Task-Based Learning?

A learning approach where students use the L2 to complete real-life tasks, promoting natural language use and interaction rather than isolated grammar exercises.

What is Sociolinguistic Competence?

The ability to use language appropriately according to the social context.

What is Strategic Competence?

The skill of handling communication problems in an L2 by finding alternative ways to express ideas.

What is Psycholinguistics?

Psycholinguistics studies how we use our linguistic competence in real-time speech production and comprehension.

What is involved in Speech processing?

Speech processing involves segmenting sounds into linguistic units, retrieving words from the lexicon, and assembling them into structured sentences.

What is Comprehension?

Comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret information

What is the main difference between the speech signal and speech perception, and why are both essential for understanding spoken language?

The speech signal is the physical sound produced when we speak. Speech perception is how the brain interprets that sound to understand the message. Both are necessary in order that one delivers the sound, the other gives it meaning.

How does the brain manage to recognize the same phoneme even when it sounds different across speakers, words, or contexts?

The brain can ignore variations in sound and focus on key features. That way, it recognizes the same phoneme even if it sounds different depending on the speaker or word.

Why do adults often struggle to hear or pronounce certain sounds in a second language, and what does this reveal about how speech perception develops?

Because during infancy, the brain tunes into the sounds of the native language and loses sensitivity to unfamiliar ones. As a result, adults have a harder time distinguishing or producing new phonemes.

What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up processing models?

The bottom-up model processes information from sensory stimuli without relying on context, whereas the top-down model uses prior knowledge and context to anticipate meanings and facilitate comprehension.

What is lexical access and why is it important for word recognition?

Lexical access is the process by which the brain retrieves information about a word stored in memory and it is because it allows us to understand and produce words quickly and efficiently, facilitating reading, writing and verbal communication.

How does context help us recognize words faster in reading or in conversation?

Context provides clues that allow us to anticipate words before we read or hear them. This reduces cognitive effort and speeds up language processing.

What is syntactic processing and how does it relate to language comprehension?

Syntactic processing is the brain's ability to organize words into understandable grammatical structures. It is essential for language comprehension, as it helps speakers identify the relationships between words and construct meaning from the structure of a sentence.

What are the main stages involved in speech production?

Conceptualization, Formulation, and Articulation

How does lexical selection influence language production?

Lexical selection is the process by which a speaker selects the correct word from their mental vocabulary to express an idea and influences the speed and accuracy of speech production.

What do spontaneous speech errors reveal about the rules of morphology and syntax?

Spontaneous errors reveal that the rules of morphology and syntax are applied or misapplied during speech production, showing how regular rules combine morphemes to form possible yet nonexistent words

What is a 'spoonerism'?

A spoonerism is an error in which sounds or entire words are interchanged.

How does linguistic comprehension and production depend on cognitive abilities other than linguistic knowledge?

It depends on specific processing principles and cognitive abilities such as memory, which work together with linguistic knowledge to encode and decode messages

What is the Brain?

The brain is the most complex organ of the body. The surface of the brain is the cortex, often called “gray matter,” consisting of billions of neurons (nerve cells) and glial cells (which support and protect the neurons).

What is the gray matter?

Gray matter contains most of the brain's neuronal cell bodies and is found in brain regions involved in muscle control and sensory perception, memory, emotions, speech, decision-making, and self-control.

What is Aphasia?

Aphasia is the neurologi-cal term for any language disorder that results from acquired brain damage caused by disease or trauma.

How do different types of aphasia affect linguistic components such as syntax, semantics, and phonology?

Different types of aphasia impact linguistic components in specific ways such as Broca's aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia, Conduction aphasia, and anomic aphasia.

What role does functional MRI play in understanding language recovery in aphasic patients?

Functional MRI (fMRI) helps researchers and clinicians observe brain activity related to language tasks and reveals how language networks reorganize after brain damage.

How can brain imaging techniques help differentiate between Broca’s aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia?

Brain imaging techniques like MRI and CT scans identify the location of brain lesions. Broca’s aphasia is associated with damage to the left inferior frontal gyrus, while Wernicke’s aphasia involves the left superior temporal gyrus.

What happens when split-brain surgery is performed?

When split-brain surgery is performed, the corpus callosum is severed, preventing communication between the two hemispheres. This causes each hemisphere to function independently.

How does the “Dichotic Listening” experiment work, and what does it reveal about brain lateralization?

In the Dichotic Listening experiment, subjects hear different sounds in each ear simultaneously. Results show that words or linguistic stimuli are better recognized when heard in the right ear because they go directly to the left hemisphere, which specializes in language.

Why can’t a split-brain patient name an image projected in their left visual field?

In a split-brain patient, an image projected in the left visual field is processed by the right hemisphere. Since the right hemisphere does not control language and the connection to the left hemisphere has been severed, the person cannot verbally name the image.

What are Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)?

Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are electrical signals from the brain in response to stimuli and help study how the brain processes language.

What does neural evidence reveal about grammatical phenomena?

Neural evidence shows that language processing happens in specific areas of the left hemisphere and that the brain has automatic responses to linguistic categories, such as distinguishing sounds, words, and grammar.

How does the brain recognize allowed and not allowed sound patterns?

The brain reacts faster and differently to sound combinations that follow the rules of a language like ¨blick¨ sounds good in English, but 'bnick' doesn't sound right because in English there are no words that start with “bn”

What evidence have neuro linguistic studies found about how the brain processes sentences with interrogative words (wh-words)?

Brain response times are longer when the object is moving compared to the subject.

Which result demonstrates that the brain's Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responds to grammatical errors and not just to uncommon sentences?

Both common and rare grammatical combinations generate similar responses, while agrammatical combinations produce a strong MMN.

Which discovery suggests that lateralization of language to the left hemisphere occurs from an early stage of development?

At three months, infants show brain patterns of language response that are similar to those of adults.

What is brain plasticity?

Brain plasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize its functions, especially during early development or after injury.

How does the brain show plasticity in children who undergo left hemispherectomy?

The right hemisphere can take over language functions, allowing near-normal language development.

Why is language recovery after left hemisphere damage more limited in adults?

Because adults have reduced brain plasticity and more specialized brain regions.

What is the critical-age hypothesis?

The critical-age hypothesis asserts that the ability to acquire a native language is biologically based and limited to a fixed period from birth to middle childhood.

How did Genie’s case demonstrate the effects of missing the critical period for language acquisition?

Genie, isolated from language until nearly age 14, was able to learn many words but never developed full grammatical competence. This suggests that without early language input, the brain’s normal language areas do not develop properly.

What distinction does the text make between vocabulary acquisition and grammatical development?

The text suggests that vocabulary learning may occur beyond the critical period, but grammatical development requires early linguistic input during a biologically sensitive window.

What are some of the extraordinary language abilities that linguistic savants may possess?

They may be able to rapidly learn and speak multiple languages, have exceptional memory for linguistic details, or possess an advanced understanding of complex grammatical rules.

How do the abilities of linguistic savants like Laura and Christopher contrast with their nonlinguistic skills?

Despite having very low nonverbal IQs and struggling with everyday tasks, both Laura and Christopher demonstrate remarkable linguistic abilities, such as producing complex sentences or translating multiple languages fluently.

What makes linguistic savants different from other types of savants like human calculators?

Linguistic savants have extraordinary language abilities, while other savants, such as human calculators, excel in mathematical or calendrical skills but are often linguistically limited.

What is Specific Language Impairment?

Specific Language Impairment is a condition that affects a person's ability to understand, process, or produce spoken or written language.

What are some characteristics of SLI?

Problems with function words, Trouble with inflectional morphology, Reduced use of grammatical markers.

What is the biggest difference between SLI and agrammatical aphasia?

SLI is a developmental language disorder whereas agrammatical aphasia is an acquired condition.

What part of the brain is mainly responsible for language processing?

The left hemisphere of the brain is mainly responsible for language processing.

What does developmental dyslexia affect?

It affects reading and word recognition, especially phonological processing, making it hard to decode and recognize words.

What is neuro-linguistics?

Neuro-linguistics is the study of how the brain processes language, including how we acquire, understand, and use it.

What is Sound Segment?

Sound segments are the individual sounds that make up spoken words.

What are Boundary Misperceptions?

Boundary Misperceptions Refers to misunderstandings in identifying the boundaries between different linguistic units.

What is Identity of Speech Sound?

Refers to the unique characteristics that allow us to recognize and distinguish one sound from another in spoken language

When and by whom was the phonetic alphabet developed?

In 1888 by members of the International Phonetic Association.

What is the difference between the regular alphabet and the phonetic alphabet?

The regular alphabet represents the letters used to write words, whereas the phonetic alphabet represents the precise sounds produced in speech.

Why is it said that it is difficult to include all the phonetic symbols needed to represent all differences in English?

Because there are many varieties of English and these differences depend on the region, the community, and even the individual speaker.

What is articulatory phonetics?

It is the study of how the vocal tract produces speech sounds.

Name the main components of the vocal tract:

Lungs, larynx (vocal cords), pharynx, oral cavity (mouth), nasal cavity (nose), tongue, lips.

What are consonants in phonetics?

They are speech sounds produced with some restriction or closure in the vocal tract.

Name the parts of the Places and Manner of Articulation:

Place of Articulation: bilabials, labiodentals, interdentals, alveolars, palatals, velars and glottals. Manner of Articulation: stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals liquids and glides.

What is the primary difference between stop consonants and fricative consonants in terms of how the airflow is managed?

For stop consonants, the air flow is completely blocked for a very brief period and then released suddenly. In contrast, Fricative consonants involve the air stream being nearly blocked, forcing the air to pass through a narrow opening and creating a sound characterized by friction.

What is an example of a bilabial sound and how is it produced?

An example of a bilabial sound is [p], [b], or [m]. It is produced by bringing both lips together to restrict the airflow.

What are the 2 places that voicing takes? Write the definition of each one.

Voiced: Occur when the vocal cords are closed and forcing de air pass through it, producing vibration in the process. Voiceless: Occur when the vocal cords are open allowing the air flows freely through the vocal track without producing vibration in the process.

What is a nasal sound and what are the phonemes that belong to this category?

Occur when the Uvula (velum) is low while we are producing sounds, allowing the air pass through the nasal cavity instead of the vocal cavity, this is called nasal sounds. (/M/ - /N/ - /ŋ/ are phonemes that belong to this category)

A way to produce voiced sounds as voiceless sounds is:

To whisper.

What is a foreign language?

A language learned where it's not spoken in the surrounding community.

What is a second language?

A language learned where it's commonly used in daily life.

What is language acquisition?

The gradual development of language ability through natural communication.

What is language learning?

The conscious process of gaining knowledge about a language academically.

What are affective factors in second language acquisition?

Emotional influences that impact language learning.

What is the grammar–translation method?

Traditional approach emphasizing memorization of grammar rules and written language.

What is language attrition?

The gradual loss of a language that someone once knew.

Who is a heritage language learner?

Someone raised with a strong cultural connection to a language through family.

What elements determine whether a person retains their heritage language?

Exposure, critical period, and parental attitude toward the home language.

What is a Critical Period?

A period in development when a skill is most readily acquired.

What is input?

Linguistic data an L2 learner receives; must be comprehensible and meaningful.

What is output?

Language the learner produces in L2; enhances language skills.

What is Task-Based Learning?

Students use L2 to complete real-life tasks, promoting natural language use.

What is Sociolinguistic Competence?

The ability to use language appropriately in social contexts.

What is Strategic Competence?

The skill of handling communication problems in an L2.

What is Psycholinguistics?

Psycholinguistics studies how we use our linguistic competence in real-time.

What is involved in Speech processing?

Segmenting sounds, retrieving words, and assembling sentences.

What is Comprehension?

The ability to understand and interpret information.

What is the main difference between the speech signal and speech perception, and why are both essential for understanding spoken language?

Speech signal is the physical sound; speech perception is brain's interpretation. Both are necessary.

How does the brain manage to recognize the same phoneme even when it sounds different across speakers, words, or contexts?

The brain ignores variations, focusing on key features to recognize phonemes.

Why do adults often struggle to hear or pronounce certain sounds in a second language, and what does this reveal about how speech perception develops?

Brain tunes to native language sounds in infancy, losing sensitivity to unfamiliar ones.

What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up processing models?

Bottom-up processes sensory stimuli without context; top-down uses prior knowledge.

What is lexical access and why is it important for word recognition?

Brain retrieves word information from memory, allowing quick understanding and production.

How does context help us recognize words faster in reading or in conversation?

Context provides clues, allowing anticipation and speeding up language processing.

What is syntactic processing and how does it relate to language comprehension?

Brain organizes words into grammatical structures for comprehension.