Brain research and language learning
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Brain research and language learning
- 1. Brain Research and Language Learning Taken from Rochelle Keogh International Language Center 2009
- 4. Dr. Pascale Michelon Words in the brain are not stored randomly. They seemed to be quite organized. Research has shown that words that are often heard together (such as salt and pepper) or words that share some meaning (such as nurse and doctor) are connected or associated in the brain. Once you hear one, the other is activated.
- 5. What is the connecting word? 1. LOCK – PIANO - KEY 2. SHIP – CARD - DECK 3. TREE – CAR - TRUNK 4. SCHOOL – EYE - PUPIL 5. PILLOW – COURT - CASE 6. RIVER – MONEY - BANK 7. BED – PAPER - SHEET 8. ARMY – WATER - TANK 9. TENNIS – NOISE - RACKET 10. EGYPTIAN – MOTHER - MUMMY 11. SMOKER – PLUMBER - PIPE
- 7. Dendrites grow when you learn Evion Commercial
- 8. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load: Cognitive increases with new learning. Make sure you reduce cognitive load until Ss are comfortable using their new skills. ► Stroop Test (PARTNERS) RED PINK RED PINK
- 9. Quick! say aloud what color you see in every word, NOT the word you read. RED GREEN BLUE RED GREEN BLUE PINK PURPLE ORANGE PINK BROWN ORANGE PURPLE BROWN
- 10. Quick! say aloud what color you see in every word, NOT the word you read. RED GREEN BLUE RED GREEN BLUE PINK PURPLE ORANGE PINK BROWN ORANGE PURPLE BROWN
- 11. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load
- 12. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment
- 13. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment Provide Positive Social Interaction
- 14. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment Provide Positive Social Interaction “Use it or lose it!”
- 15. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment Provide Positive Social Interaction “Use it or lose it!” Language Learning Develops Selective Attention Basketball Attention Task
- 16. Watch the video Count the number of times the kids in the white shirts pass the basketball. DO NOT count aloud, use your fingers, talk, laugh, or react to the video at all until it is finished so that everyone can concentrate.
- 17. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment Provide Positive Social Interaction “Use it or lose it!” Language Learning Develops Selective Attention “I know it, but I can’t explain it.”
- 18. Principles for Language Teachers Reduce Cognitive Load Create a Multi-sensory Environment Provide Positive Social Interaction “Use it or lose it!” Language Learning Develops Selective Attention “I know it, but I can’t explain it.” Organize the Chaos
Editor's Notes
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 The BRAIN is what allows us to think and learning. Understanding how the brain works and can help classroom teachers know how best to help their students learn. This presentation will overview current brain research and suggest ideas for applying that research in the language classroom.
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Your brain is divided into three main parts: the cerebrum (left and right sides), the cerebellum , and the brain stem . The CEREBRUM makes up 90% of the brain. It contains areas (colored in the illustration above) for thought, emotion, planning, language, and speech. ► Broca’s area is located in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere, an area important for language processing and speech production . ► The prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe is important for the “higher cognitive functions,” including planning, organization, problem solving , selective attention , personality, and the control of emotional expression. ► Wernicke’s area lies in the temporal lobe and is most typically found in the left hemisphere, as this is where the majority of people have brain areas specialized for language skills . ► There are two temporal lobes , one on each side of the brain, typically located at just about the ear level. The temporal lobes are responsible for hearing, taste, smell, language and short-term memory . The right temporal lobe is mainly involved in visual memory , such as pictures or faces, while the left temporal lobe is mainly involved in verbal memory , such as words and names. So what? Understanding, learning, and using language is complex and uses many parts of the brain.
- Patients with speech problems gave early researchers the first clues about how the brain is involved with language. The loss of the ability to speak is called "aphasia." The ancient Greeks noticed that brain damage could cause aphasia. Centuries later, in 1836, Marc Dax described a group of patients who could not speak properly. Dax reported that all of these patients had damage to the left side of their brain. A quarter century later in 1861, Paul Broca described a patient who could say only one word..."tan." For this reason, Broca called this patient "Tan." When Tan died, Broca examined his brain and found that there was damage to part of the left frontal cortex. This part of the brain has come to be known as "Broca's Area."In 1876, Karl Wernicke found that damage to a different part of the brain also caused language problems. This area of the brain ("Wernicke's Area"), was further back and lower in the brain compared to Broca's area. In fact, Wernicke's area is in the posterior part of the temporal lobe. Broca's area and Wernicke's area are connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called the arcuate fasciculus. Damage to the arcuate fasciculus causes a disorder called conduction aphasia. People with conduction aphasia can understand language, but their speech does not make sense and they cannot repeat words. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lang.html Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Your brain has 100 billion nerve cells called neurons that store information in the form of chemicals. Neurons “store” information that you learn. In order to “think” or access that information, the neurons have to communicate with each other to pass the information to different areas of the brain. The neurons send a chemical message to the dendrites (nerve endings). When it comes to the end of the nerve, the message “jumps” over the gap ( synapse ) between one neuron and the next, passing the information along. “ Thinking” is moving the information through your brain by “firing” it across synapses. The more you “fire” information from one neuron to the next, the easier it gets. Like a shortcut across a grass path, groups of neurons can be trained to work together. They form a path or “wire” for information to travel down easily. So what? This is why “practice makes perfect.” Brain researches like to say, “Fire it until you wire it.”
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Specialized nerve endings on your neurons are responsible for sending and receiving messages. They are called dendrites , and they look like branches of a tree. As you learn, your dendrites actually grow more branches, allowing you to pass information along the nerve pathway easier. After only five minutes of learning something new, dendrites have already started to grow new branches and create new pathways in your brain! So what? Dendrites grow by repetition of the same information (which takes a long time) or by learning something exciting (which takes very little time). Language teachers can help students learn more effectively by making lessons and activities exciting. Show Evion Babies Video
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 “ Brain scans have shown that novice learners performing a new task engage many regions of the brain and use more fuel than after the task has become fluent. Once they have achieve automaticity, they activate less brain area and burn less fuel. Cognitive load is the energy of effort required by the brain for a task.” ( Six Weeks to a Brain-Compatible Classroom , Janet Zadina)
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Say the names of the text color, don’t read the word. So what? Cognitive load in the second task was higher. This cognitive load slows down your processing time and can eventually make it more difficult to learn. See next slide for so what?
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 So what? Reduce the cognitive load of your students by using strategies like staying with a new skill until it’s comfortable before pushing on to the next, ordering activities from less complicated to more complicated, presenting grammar and other structures a little at a time, present new words and ideas orally and in print, link new ideas to previous knowledge.
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 So what? The more pathways that are activated by new information, the easier the information will be to access and use, understand and recall! Create rich, multi-sensory environments for Ss by using activities for multiple intelligences. HANDOUT: Activate Multiple Pathways, pg. 36, 56
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Group work ≠ “discuss what you read.” So what? Try giving Ss a specific task like pre-test on reading or listening passage, make a list of what you learned, solve a problem, report to each other, or interview, etc. PRACTICE: Describe for your partner what “Reduce Cognitive Load” means.
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Just as the dendrites begin to grow quickly when new, exciting knowledge is presented to the brain, the brain can lose ability to retrieve information and perform learned skills. The “use it or lose it” principle is important for Ss to learn. If they don’t practice, they’ll lose what they know. So what? For Ts: review, review, review.
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Learning a language helps your brain develop selective attention. Research shows that bilingual people are better at selective attention to tasks. Test of attention: count the number of times the kids in the white shirts pass the basketball. Very important that you don’t count aloud, talk, laugh, or react to the video at all until it is finished so that everyone can concentrate. SHOW THE BASKETBALL VIDEO. If you didn’t see the gorilla the first time, you have good selective attention. Language learners develop the part of the brain that deals with attention span. So what? Teach your students that learning a language makes them smart!
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Ss often think they “know” something. What they means is that there is knowledge in their brain. However, true “learning” requires being able to access that knowledge and use it. “Knowing” something and explaining use different centers in your brain. “Explaining it” creates stronger (and additional) neural pathways in the brain, enhancing understanding and long term retention. Teaching that focuses on speaking skills develop that area of the brain. Teaching that focuses on reading focuses on a different part of the brain, etc. Combine all the skills whenever possible. So what? Give Ss chances to talk about, explain, and “re-teach” concepts in pairs and groups. DEMONSTRATE: Think-Pair-Share (Think about one interesting thing you learned today. Tell your partner. Find a new partner and tell them what your partner told you. Go back and report the new information to your first partner.)
- Twelve Principles of Language Learning Presentation by Rochelle Keogh, Spring International Language Center 2009 Language learning can be a messy process of learned and forgotten vocabulary, structures, and grammar rules. Help Ss organize what they learn and reinforce knowledge in patterns—the natural way the brain is organized. “Seeing patterns also activates the reward pathway in the brain, giving pleasure.” (pg. 75) HANDOUT: Graphic Organizers, pg. 76.