Functional preference of the left inferior parietal lobule to second language reading.

Additional neural substance for reading in a second language has been reported by prior studies. However, to date, there has been little investigation into whether and how the brain's adaptation to a second language is induced by specific linguistic tasks or is a general effect during reading in a new language. To address this issue, our study investigated Chinese children learning English as a second language by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies. We compared brain activation across four reading tasks, orthographic tasks and phonological tasks in Chinese (the first language, L1) and English (the second language, L2). By comparing the activation pattern across languages, we observed greater activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) in English compared to Chinese, suggesting a functional preference of the LIPL to L2. In addition, greater correlation between LIPL-related FC and L2 was mainly observed in the phonological task, indicating that LIPL could be associated with phonological processing. Moreover, a proportion of the children were enrolled in an 8-week phonological-based reading-training program. We observed significant functional plasticity of the LIPL elicited by this training program only in the English phonological task and not in the orthographic task, further substantiating that the additional requirements of the LIPL in L2 are mainly associated with phonological processing. The findings provide new insights into understanding the functional contribution of the LIPL to reading in a second language.

The missing-VP effect in readers of English as a second language.

English sentences with double center-embedded clauses are read faster when they are made ungrammatical by removing one of the required verb phrases. This phenomenon is known as the missing-VP effect. German and Dutch speakers do not experience the missing-VP effect when reading their native language, but they do when reading English as a second language (L2). We investigate whether the missing-VP effect when reading L2 English occurs in native Dutch speakers because their knowledge of English is similar to that of native English speakers (the high exposure account), or because of the difficulty of L2 reading (the low proficiency account). In an eye-tracking study, we compare the size of the missing-VP effect between native Dutch and native English participants, and across native Dutch participants with varying L2 English proficiency and exposure. Results provide evidence for both accounts, suggesting that both native-like knowledge of English and L2 reading difficulty play a role.

Musical experience may help the brain respond to second language reading.

A person's native language background exerts constraints on the brain's automatic responses while learning a second language. It remains unclear, however, whether and how musical experience may help the brain overcome such constraints and meet the requirements of a second language. This study compared native Chinese English learners who were musicians, non-musicians and native English readers on their automatic brain automatic integration of English letter-sounds with an ERP cross-modal audiovisual mismatch negativity paradigm. The results showed that native Chinese-speaking musicians successfully integrated English letters and sounds, but their non-musician peers did not, despite of their comparable English learning experience and proficiency level. However, native Chinese-speaking musicians demonstrated enhanced cross-modal MMN for both synchronized and delayed letter-sound integration, while native English readers only showed enhanced cross-modal MMN for synchronized integration. Moreover, native Chinese-speaking musicians showed stronger theta oscillations when integrating English letters and sounds, suggesting that they had better top-down modulation. In contrast, native English readers showed stronger delta oscillations for synchronized integration, and their cross-modal delta oscillations significantly correlated with English reading performance. These findings suggest that long-term professional musical experience may enhance the top-down modulation, then help the brain efficiently integrating letter-sounds required by the second language. Such benefits from musical experience may be different from those from specific language experience in shaping the brain's automatic responses to reading.

Letter-sound integration in native Chinese speakers learning English: Brain fails in automatic responses but succeeds with more attention.

Both native language background and second-language proficiency may shape brain responses to a second language. Using cross-modal mismatch negativity (MMN) (pre-attentive processing) and audiovisual P300 (attentive processing) paradigms, this study examined how native Chinese speakers with various second-language proficiency responded to English letter-sound integration and what role visual attention may play in this process. The results indicated that native Chinese speakers failed to integrate letters and sounds in pre-attentive stage of reading, regardless of their English proficiency level, in contrast to the successful letter-sound integration shown by native English speakers. With more explicit visual attention resources, native Chinese speakers integrated English letters and sounds just as successfully as native English speakers did. These findings suggest that native language background may exert profound constraints on automatic brain responses to a second language, and attention may help the brain overcome these constraints and respond as required by the second language.

The Relationship between Metacomprehension and Reading Comprehension in Spanish as a Second Language / La relación entre la metacomprensión y la comprensión lectora en español como segunda lengua

The importance of reading proficiency in a second language (L2) is growing worldwide. Reading in a L2 involves many questions about the abilities of reading comprehension, including metacomprehension, a core reading ability in native speakers (L1) that allows them to be aware of their reading comprehension level and to regulate their learning. However, its link to L2 has not been sufficiently researched. This study examines the relationship between the reading comprehension scores of diverse texts and metacomprehension, assessed by the ECOMPLEC test and PROLEC-R reading task, in Portuguese students studying Spanish as a L2. Similar to the results found in L1 research, we found a significant relationship between reading comprehension and metacomprehension in expository and discontinuous texts: students with low reading comprehension scores overestimated their metacomprehension while metacomprehension abilities of students with high reading comprehension abilities were more accurate. These results provide a frame of reference for future studies on metacomprehension in L2.

El dominio de la lectura en una segunda lengua (L2) tiene cada vez más importancia a nivel global. La lectura en una L2 implica muchas cuestiones sobre las capacidades de comprensión lectora, como la metacomprensión, una habilidad de lectura fundamental en hablantes nativos (L1) que les permite ser conscientes de su nivel de comprensión lectora y les ayuda a regular su aprendizaje. Sin embargo, su papel en una L2 no ha sido lo suficientemente investigado. El presente estudio examina la relación entre las puntuaciones de comprensión lectora de varios tipos de textos y la metacomprensión, evaluada a través de la batería ECOMPLEC y la tarea de lectura de la batería PROLEC-R en estudiantes portugueses que estudian español como L2. De manera similar a los resultados encontrados en investigaciones en L1, hemos descubierto una relación significativa entre la comprensión lectora y la metacomprensión en textos expositivos y discontinuos: los estudiantes con bajas puntuaciones de comprensión lectora sobreestimaron su capacidad de metacomprensión, mientras que las habilidades de metacomprensión de los estudiantes con puntuaciones altas en comprensión lectora fueron más adecuadas. Los resultados proporcionan un marco de referencia para futuros estudios sobre metacomprensión en L2.

Cerebral mechanisms for different second language writing systems.

In this fMRI study, we examined the cerebral processing associated with second language (L2) reading in different writing systems in late L2 learners. To examine the impacts of cross-linguistic differences between the first language (L1) and L2 on learning to read in L2, we employed a bidirectional approach and compared brain activation during single word processing in two groups of late L2 readers: (1) L2 readers of English whose L1 was Japanese (Japanese-L1/English-L2) and (2) L2 readers of Japanese (of syllabic Kana only) whose L1 was English (English-L1/Japanese-L2). During English reading, the L2 readers of English (Japanese-L1/English-L2) exhibited stronger activation in the left superior parietal lobule/supramarginal gyrus, relative to the L1 readers of English (English-L1/Japanese-L2). This is a region considered to be involved in phonological processing. The increased activation in the Japanese-L1/English-L2 group likely reflects the increased cognitive load associated with L2 English reading, possibly because L1 readers of Kana, which has an extremely regular orthography, may need to adjust to the greater phonological demands of the irregular L2 English orthography. In contrast, during Kana reading, the L2 readers of Japanese Kana (English-L1/Japanese-L2) exhibited stronger activation in the lingual gyrus in both the left and right hemispheres compared to the L1 readers of Kana (Japaese-L1/English-L2). This additional activation is likely to reflect the lower level of visual familiarity to the L2 symbols in the English-L1/Japanese-L2 group; Kana symbols are uniquely used only in Japan, whereas Roman alphabetic symbols are seen nearly everywhere. These findings, bolstered by significant relationships between the activation of the identified regions and cognitive competence, suggest that the cerebral mechanisms for L2 reading in late learners depends both on which language is their L1 and which language is to be learnt as their L2. Educational implications of these results are discussed.