The document discusses language acquisition and development in the brain. It notes that the brain undergoes several critical periods of synaptogenesis, especially between ages 3-8, where environmental experiences strongly influence synaptic density. Children can most easily learn a second language during this window through immersive approaches. While bilingual children may initially have smaller vocabularies in each language, their total vocabulary and cognitive benefits make bilingualism advantageous.

1. Language in the brain:
The effectiveness of learning
language
Based on:
Fabbro, F. (2004). Neuropedagogia delle lingue. Roma: Astrolabio.

2. Main concepts about
brain’s development
and brain’s growth

3. The neuron

4. Synapses: points of contact among
neuron cells

5. Synapses
The total amount of synapses changes
with age and it is affected by genetic factors
and environmental stimulation.

6. The dendrites (structures that receive neural
information from other neurons) make
adjustments in several places in order to
increase or to decrease their surface
depending on environmental stimulation and
on learning.

7. Brain’s growth indexes
The neuronal density
The dendrites development
The synaptic density
3 synaptogenesis steps:
The fourth synaptogenesis step goes from the 3rd to the 8th year of life.
In this period the number of synapses is very high (about 600-900
millions per mm3) and it strongly depends on environmental
experiences.
The fifth synaptogenesis step starts before puberty. In this period the
number of synapses gradually decreases. In the old age there is a strong
reduction of synapses density.

8. Language acquisition and development of the brain
1)The phase of BABBLING: at about 5-6 months
old.
2) The phase of the firsts words: at about 1 year
old.
3) The grammatical phase: at about 20-37 months
old the kid starts to produce sentences and
makes morphological regularizations.

9. Language in the brain
Language contains:
- “Opened Class” words (these words increase
constantly their number): nouns, verbs and
adjectives.
- “Closed class” words (these words do not
increase): articles, pronouns, conjunctions,
prepositions, auxiliary verbs, possessive and
demonstrative adjectives.

10. Language in the brain
To know a language
means be able to properly
and automatically use
CLOSED CLASS WORDS

11. Conclusions
Children can become bilingual if
they implicitly learn a foreign
language (e.g. through
“Narrative Format” approach),
before 8 years of age.

12. WHAT IS BILINGUALISM AND WHAT
DOES IT ENTAIL?
 Bilingualism should not be regarded as special: it is very
common in many parts of the world. Children learn to speak
without any effort, very much like learning to walk. The human
brain is able to cope very well with more than one language
and early childhood is the best period for becoming bilingual,
because the brain is highly flexible and children are very
interested in learning language.
 Children can learn two or more languages if they have enough
input and they have enough motivation and enjoyment.
 Bilingual children are able to recognise their two languages and
differentiate them from a very young age.

13. Advantages of bilingualism
 Bilingual children have an early/precocious knowledge of the
words, structures and sounds of their languages.
 Bilingual children often learn to read earlier than others,
especially if both are alphabetic languages, and have an
enhanced ability to learn other languages.
 Bilingual children are better able to focus attention, they are
less likely to be distracted by irrelevant information and are
better able to switch between tasks.
 Many of these benefits of bilingualism have been also found in
adults who were raised with two languages from childhood.

14. Disadvantages
 Some bilingual children start to speak a bit later than
monolinguals, but they soon make up for it.
 Bilingual children may initially have a reduced vocabulary in
each of their languages, although their total vocabulary may be
larger than the vocabulary of a monolingual child.
 Bilingual children sometimes mix both languages together, but
not randomly: the use of words from the other language is often
motivated by the wish to communicate in a more fluent or
effective way and occurs in situations where the child knows
that he/she will be understood, for example when addressing
another bilingual speaker.