Bilingual Spanish–English speakers use the same brain mechanisms to speak each language, according to a study published on Jun. 15 by Xuanyi Chen and Esti Blanco-Elorrieta from New York University.
The researchers employed a noninvasive neuroimaging technique as participants spoke singular and plural forms of nouns in both Spanish and English. The study found that bilingual speakers activated the same group of brain areas when adjusting words to fit grammatical context, such as changing "boat" to "boats." This network remained active even when participants applied grammar rules to entirely novel, made-up words they had never encountered before.
Esti Blanco-Elorrieta said, "What's exciting is that we found evidence that the brain may reuse the same underlying mechanism across languages, rather than building separate systems for each one." He further said, "From the perspective of language learning, if it is true that there is one universal mechanism for language, then it follows that it may be easier for you to learn new languages [if you already know one language]."
The findings suggest potential implications for understanding how people acquire additional languages and how linguistic knowledge might transfer between different tongues.
