Washington, July 10 (Inditop.com) A new study sheds light on how first and second languages are represented in the brain of a bilingual person. The research reveals that first and second languages are represented in different places in the brain.
This unique case study was tested by Raphiq Ibrahim, expert on learning disabilities at the University of Haifa, Israel.
The question of how different languages are represented in the human brain is still unclear and, moreover, it is not certain how languages of different and similar linguistic structures are represented.
Many studies have found evidence that all the languages that we acquire in the course of our life are represented in one area of the brain. However, other studies have found evidence that a second language is dissociated from the representation of a mother tongue.
“The examination of such cases carries much significance, since it is rare that we can find people who fluently speak two languages and who have sustained brain damage that has selectively affected one of the languages.”
“Moreover, most of the evidence is derived from clinical observations in English and Indo-European-speaking patients, and few studies have been carried out on individuals who speak Semitic languages (Hebrew and Arabic), until the present study,” he added.
The present case examined a 41-year-old bilingual whose mother tongue was Arabic and who had fluent command of Hebrew as a second language.
The university graduate passed entrance exams in Hebrew and used the language frequently in his professional life.
He suffered brain damage that was expressed in a language disorder (aphasia) that remained after completing a course of rehabilitation.
During rehabilitation, a higher level of improvement in use of the Arabic language was recorded, and less for the use of Hebrew.
After rehabilitation, the patient’s language skills were put through various standardized tests that examined different ranges of language skills in the two languages, alongside other cognitive tests, said a Haifa release.
Most of the tests revealed that damage to the patient’s Hebrew skills was significantly more severe than the damage to his Arabic skills.
These findings were published in Behavioural and Brain Functions.
