What happens in the brain when you learn a language?

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所要时间: 7 minutes

Whether you’re picking up Spanish for travel, Mandarin for business or French just for fun, you’re not only expanding your communication skills, you’re also giving your brain a powerful workout. But what actually happens inside your brain when you learn a language??

The brain’s language centers

Your brain is made up of many parts and two areas are significant for language:

  • : Located in the frontal lobe, this region helps you produce speech and form sentences.
  • : Found in the temporal lobe, this area helps you understand spoken and written language.

When you start learning a new language, these areas get busy. They work together to help you listen, speak, read and write in your new language (Friederici, 2011).

What happens in the brain when you learn a language?
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How learning a language changes your brain

Building new connections

Every time you learn a new word or grammar rule, your brain forms new connections between its cells, called neurons. This process is known as . The more you practice, the stronger these connections become. Think of it like building a path in a forest – the more you walk it, the clearer and easier it gets to follow (Kuhl, 2010).

Memory and practice

Learning a language involves two types of memory:

  • Short-term memory:?Helps you remember new words or phrases for a few seconds or minutes
  • Long-term memory:?Stores vocabulary and grammar rules for the future

Repetition is key. When you practice speaking, listening, reading and writing, your brain moves information from short-term to long-term memory. This is why regular practice is so important for language learners (Baddeley, 2003).

Listening and speaking

When you listen to a new language, your brain works hard to recognize sounds and patterns. At first, everything might sound fast or confusing. But with practice, your brain gets better at picking out familiar words and phrases. This process is called (Kuhl, 2004).

Speaking a new language is even more challenging. Your brain must remember words, put them in the right order and control your mouth and tongue to make the correct sounds. This takes time but gets easier with practice.

Reading and writing

Reading in a new language involves recognizing letters and words, understanding grammar and making sense of sentences. Your brain uses both language areas and visual processing centers to do this. Writing helps reinforce what you’ve learned and improves your memory (Dehaene et al., 2015).

What happens to your brain when you learn a language for a long time?

If you keep learning and using a language over months and years, your brain continues to change and adapt in remarkable ways. Long-term language learning doesn’t just make you more fluent: it can actually reshape your brain.

Structural changes:?Research using brain scans shows that people who speak more than one language for a long time often have more gray matter in areas linked to language, memory, and attention (Mechelli et al., 2004). Gray matter is made up of brain cells that process information, so having more of it can make your brain work more efficiently.

Stronger connections:?The pathways between different parts of your brain become stronger and faster. This means you can switch between languages more easily and understand complex ideas better (Luk et al., 2011).

Cognitive flexibility:?Long-term language learners are often better at multitasking and problem-solving. Their brains get used to switching between different ways of thinking, which helps in many areas of life, not just language (Bialystok et al., 2012).?

Lifelong benefits: The positive effects of long-term language learning can last into old age. Bilingual and multilingual people often show slower cognitive decline and are less likely to develop dementia (Craik et al., 2010).??

Emotional and social growth:?Using a language for a long time helps you connect with new cultures and people. This can boost your confidence, empathy and understanding of the world around you.

How long does your brain retain a new language?

One of the most common questions learners ask is: “If I stop using my new language, will I forget it?” The answer depends on several factors, but the good news is that your brain is built to remember languages for a surprisingly long time.

1. Long-term retention: Once a language is stored in your long-term memory, it can stay there for years, even decades. Many people find that even after years of not speaking a language, they can still understand or remember words and phrases when they hear them again (Bahrick, 1984).

2. The “Use it or lose it” principle: While your brain retains the basics, regular use helps keep your skills sharp. If you don’t practice, you might forget vocabulary or grammar, but relearning is usually much faster than starting from scratch. This is because the neural pathways you built are still there, just waiting to be reactivated (DeKeyser, 2007).

3. Age and retention: Children often retain languages learned early in life, even if they stop using them. Adults can also retain new languages, especially if they reach a high level of fluency or use the language regularly (Montrul, 2008).

4. Emotional connection: If you learned a language in a meaningful or emotional context – like living abroad or having close relationships, your brain is even more likely to retain it. Emotional experiences help strengthen memory (Schwabe et al., 2012).

5. Relearning: If you feel you’ve forgotten a language, not to worry. Relearning is much easier than learning for the first time. Your brain “remembers” the pathways and connections, so skills often come back quickly with a little practice.

Read our blog posts 'Being bilingual can help keep your brain in good condition' and 'Using language learning as a form of self-care for wellbeing'.

References

  • Baddeley, A. (2003).?Working memory: Looking back and looking forward. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 4(10), 829-839. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1201
  • Bahrick, H. P. (1984).?Semantic memory content in permastore: Fifty years of memory for Spanish learned in school. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.113.1.1
  • Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Luk, G. (2012).?Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2012.03.001
  • Craik, F. I. M., Bialystok, E., & Freedman, M. (2010).?Delaying the onset of Alzheimer disease: Bilingualism as a form of cognitive reserve. Neurology, 75(19), 1726-1729. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181fc2a1c
  • Dehaene, S., Cohen, L., Morais, J., & Kolinsky, R. (2015).?Illiterate to literate: Behavioural and cerebral changes induced by reading acquisition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 234-244. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3924
  • DeKeyser, R. M. (2007).?Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology. Cambridge University Press.
  • Friederici, A. D. (2011).?The brain basis of language processing: From structure to function. Physiological Reviews, 91(4), 1357-1392. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00006.2011
  • Kuhl, P. K. (2004).?Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11), 831-843. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1533
  • Kuhl, P. K. (2010).?Brain mechanisms in early language acquisition. Neuron, 67(5), 713-727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.038
  • Luk, G., Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Grady, C. L. (2011).?Lifelong bilingualism maintains white matter integrity in older adults. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(46), 16808-16813. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4563-11.2011
  • Mechelli, A., Crinion, J. T., Noppeney, U., O'Doherty, J., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S. J., & Price, C. J. (2004).?Structural plasticity in the bilingual brain. Nature, 431(7010), 757.?https://doi.org/10.1038/431757a
  • Montrul, S. (2008).?Incomplete acquisition in bilingualism: Re-examining the age factor. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(2), 253-281. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263108080323
  • Schwabe, L., Jo?ls, M., Roozendaal, B., Wolf, O. T., & Oitzl, M. S. (2012).?Stress effects on memory: An update and integration. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(7), 1740-1749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.07.002

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    教育における础滨の伦理的课题

    投稿者 Billie Jago
    所要时间: 5分间

    AIはあらゆる業界に革命をもたらしており、語学学習も例外ではありません。AIツールは、リアルタイムのフィードバック、即時翻訳、AI生成の文章など、前例のない形で学习者に利用機会を提供することができます。

    AIは、単に学習の成果を「示す」ために学习者が使用するのではなく、学习者の学習プロセスを強化することで、語学教育に非常に有益です。しかし、これは言うほど簡単なことではありません。AIが教室での革新的なツールであることを踏まえると、教育者が学习者の成果物の真正性を保ち、AIを活用した「不正行為」を防ぐ手助けをすることが極めて重要です。このことを踏まえると、AIの導入と学問的誠実性との間でバランスを取ることが極めて重要です。

    础滨が语学学习に与える影响

    ChatGPTやGeminiなどの生成AIツールにより、学习者はこれまで以上に簡単に文章に磨きをかけ、発展させることができるようになりました。しかし、これらのツールは、提出された文章が学习者によって作成されたものかどうか、もしそうならどの程度まで作成されているかについての懸念も引き起こします。もし学习者たちが自分の力ではなく文章生成ツールに頼るようになると、私たちが把握している学生の能力は、彼らの本当の実力を正確に反映しない可能性があります。

    もう一つの问题は、学生が自分でできるスキルに対して础滨を使い続けると、そのスキルをいずれ失ってしまったり、着しく低下してしまったりする可能性があるということです。

    これらの点は、重大な伦理的ジレンマを生み出します。

    • 础滨はどのように学习を支援するのか？それとも、（将来的に）学习プロセスそのものを置き换える可能性があるのか？
    • 教育者は、学习者の本来の能力とAIによる支援を受けた回答とを、どのように見分けることができるのか？

    础滨导入のための戦略

    教育者がAIを責任を持って取り入れる方法は数多くあり、それを学习者にも実践させることが重要です。

    1.?础滨を使って简単に解けないように课题を工夫する

    完全に础滨を使って简単に解けない「础滨耐性」のある课题を作ることはできませんが、教科书の课题を工夫したり、アクティビティから着想を得たりすることで、础滨を使って简単にこなされにくい课题にする方法はあります。

    例えば：

    • ライティング課題を、非常に地域密着した内容や文脈に特化したものに適応させます。生成AIは、特定の状況や背景に依存する内容の文章を生成するのが難しい傾向にあります。地域の課題や動向、さらには学校や教室に関連するトピックに焦点を当てます。良い例としては、学习者に現在の教室設備についてのレポートを書かせ、学習環境を改善するための提案をさせることが挙げられます。
    • 最终的な成果物ではなく、文章を书く过程に焦点を当てましょう。学生には、文章の构成を考えるためにマインドマップを使わせ、その中から実际に文章に活用したメモに印をつけさせ、文章を书き终えたあとには、自分がどのような手顺で书いたかを振り返らせるようにします。
    • マルチモーダル学習を取り入れましょう。ライティング課題の導入として、クラスでアンケート、ディベート、またはディスカッションを行い、その後に学习者に調査結果をレポート、エッセイ、記事、または他の形式でまとめさせます。
    • スキルの育成を中心に据えた課題を設計しましょう。学习者には、AIが生成した内容を批判的に分析し、そこで得たアウトプットを創造的に応用し、AI生成テキストの事実確認を通じて問題解決に取り組ませます。

    2. AIを活用して、「教育者もAIを使いこなしている」と理解させる

    所属機関の方針にもよりますが、もし教室で学习者と一緒にAIを使用できるのであれば、学习者はあなたがさまざまなAIツールやその生成内容について理解していることを認識するでしょう。効果的なアイデアとしては、クラス全体でAIに文章を生成させ、それを学生に批判的に分析させるという方法があります。例えば、「このAIが生成した文章の中で、どの部分がよくできていると思いますか？」「改善できそうな点はどこでしょうか？」「もし自分が書くとしたら、どのように違うアプローチをとりますか？」と問いかけてみましょう。

    また、教育（および他の業界）におけるAIの倫理的な影響について学习者と話し合うことで、AIに対する彼らの考えを理解し、どのような状況でAIが助けになるのか、あるいは妨げになるのかをよりよく把握することができます。

    3.? GSEの学習目標を活用して、語学能力に対する自信を育てる

    学习者は、課題への取りかかり方がわからなかったり、自分の語学能力に自信がなかったりすると、AIに頼ることがあります。こうしたことを踏まえると、学习者が自分の語学能力の現状を理解し、どこを目指して学習しているのかを明確にし、学習の成果を具体的に示すことが大切です。ここで役立つのが、GSEの学習目標です。

    Global Scale of English (GSE) は、10から90までのすべての習熟度レベルで、スキル別に詳細な目標を提供します。これらを活用すると、複雑なスキルを達成可能なステップに分割できるため、学习者は自分の語学能力を向上させるために何をする必要があるかを細かいレベルで正確に把握することができます。

    • 授業の始めにGSEの学習目標を学生と共有することで、学习者が「その日は何を学ぶのか」「その日の目標は何か」をしっかり理解することができます。授業の最後には、学习者にその日の学びを振り帰ってもらい、授業中に取り組んだことや成果物から、自分の成長を実感できるようにしましょう
    • 4つの主要なスキル（スピーキング、リスニング、リーディング、ライティング）の短期的なGSEの学習目標を設定します。それにより、学习者は自分が何に向かって取り組んでいるのかを理解し、語学力の進歩を明確に把握できるようになります。
  • A teachet stood in front of a class in front of a board, smiling at his students.

    How to assess your learners using the GSE Assessment Frameworks

    投稿者 Billie Jago
    所要时间: 4 minutes

    With language learning, assessing both the quality and the quantity of language use is crucial for accurate proficiency evaluation. While evaluating quantity (for example the number of words written or the duration of spoken production) can provide insights into a learner's fluency and engagement in a task, it doesn’t show a full picture of a learner’s language competence. For this, they would also need to be evaluated on the quality of what they produce (such as the appropriateness, accuracy and complexity of language use). The quality also considers factors such as grammatical accuracy, lexical choice, coherence and the ability to convey meaning effectively.

    In order to measure the quality of different language skills, you can use the Global Scale of English (GSE) assessment frameworks.

    Developed in collaboration with assessment experts, the GSE Assessment Frameworks are intended to be used alongside the GSE Learning Objectives to help you assess the proficiency of your learners.

    There are two GSE Assessment Frameworks: one for adults and one for young learners.

    What are the GSE Assessment Frameworks?

    • The GSE Assessment Frameworks are intended to be used alongside the GSE Learning Objectives to help teachers assess their learners’ proficiency of all four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing).
    • The GSE Learning Objectives focus on the things a learner can do, while the GSE Assessment Frameworks focus on how well a learner can do these things.
    • It can help provide you with examples of what proficiencies your learners should be demonstrating.??
    • It can help teachers pinpoint students' specific areas of strength and weakness more accurately, facilitating targeted instruction and personalized learning plans.
    • It can also help to motivate your learners, as their progress is evidenced and they can see a clear path for improvement.

    An example of the GSE Assessment Frameworks

    This example is from the Adult Assessment Framework for speaking.

    As you can see, there are sub-skills within speaking (and?for the other three main overarching skills – writing, listening and reading). Within speaking, these are?production?and?fluency, spoken interaction, language range and?accuracy.

    The GSE range (and corresponding CEFR level) is shown at the top of each column, and there are descriptors that students should ideally demonstrate at that level.

    However, it is important to note that students may sit across different ranges, depending on the sub-skill. For example, your student may show evidence of GSE 43-50 production and fluency and spoken interaction, but they may need to improve their language range and accuracy, and therefore sit in a range of GSE 36-42 for these sub-skills.