2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
On an application of brain science to L1/L2 linguistic information processing mechanism : A brain-imaging-technique approach
| Project/Area Number |
16300269
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Educational technology
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| Research Institution | Nagoya University |
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Principal Investigator |
KINOSHITA Toru Nagoya University, Graduate School of International Development, Professor (90177890)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SAITO Hironori Nagoya University, Graduate School of International Science, Professor (40178504)
SUGIURA Masatoshi Nagoya University, Graduate School of International Development, Professor (80216308)
OOISHI Harumi Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University, School of Economics and Information Science, Associate Professor (50387479)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | brain science / near infrared light / second language acquisition / applied linguistics / bilingual / proficiency / Indo-European language family |
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| Research Abstract |
We spent the former half of the academic year 2004 for preparation of research experiments, including the selection of a new model of fNIRS (functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy). We adjusted the initial research design and research questions to the actually allocated research grant and focused on asymmetrical bilinguals and learners who started their acquisition/learning after passing traditional critical periods. With the help of those participants, we used the latter half of the year to monitor the relative change of participants' blood concentration patterns of frontal and lateral lobes, paying attention to task types, task difficulties, and the linguistic distance between participants'Ll and the target language. At the same time, we started to explore the possibility of simultaneous use of fNIRS and eye-movement recording system.
As in the latter half of the previous academic year, we primarily conducted experiments to examine the relationships among the linguistic distances betwe
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en participants'Ll and the target language, the relative difficulties of the tasks regarding participants' target language proficiencies, and the onset age of learning. We found that participants whose LI belonged to Indo-European language families and participants with non-Indo-European linguistic background showed different blood concentration patterns engaging in ESL tasks even if their proficiency levels looked virtually equal when estimated by traditional paper tests. We also obtained some supporting evidence for our previous finding that the strength of the cortical activation and the participants' proficiency would form an inverted U-shape.
In academic year 2006, we used fNIRS and eye-mark recorder simultaneously to monitor participants' blood concentration patterns and eye-movements when they engaged in ESL reading tasks provided by a multimedia system. We also obtained data concerning learners' strategies to use multimedia material. The results indicated that there seems to be a clear relationship among the eye-movements including the diameter of participants' pupilla, the activation level of some parts of frontal lobe, and the situation-coping strategies.
As another extension of fNIRS and its application to language science, Saito, et al. conducted a series of experiments on Kanji (Chinese characters) and obtained noteworthy results. Focusing on Chinese characters in Chinese language and their tonal aspect, Leung also investigated the relationship between participants'L1 difference and the blood concentration patterns of the left frontal lobe. Less
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