New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Learning a second alphabet for a first language

Research challenges theoretical constraints on visual forms that can represent language

Date:
February 11, 2019
Source:
Society for Neuroscience
Summary:
A part of the brain that maps letters to sounds can acquire a second, visually distinct alphabet for the same language, according to a study of English speakers. The research challenges theoretical constraints on the range of visual forms available to represent written language.
Share:
FULL STORY

A part of the brain that maps letters to sounds can acquire a second, visually distinct alphabet for the same language, according to a study of English speakers published in eNeuro. The research challenges theoretical constraints on the range of visual forms available to represent written language.

For adults, becoming fluent in a foreign language, particularly one with a new alphabet, can be challenging. This may be because their brain has been specialized by their first language. It is unclear whether the so-called visual word form area (VWFA) -- a brain region that responds to letters -- is similarly inflexible in adulthood.

Lea Martin, Julie Fiez, and colleagues taught undergraduate university students how to read a fictional writing system called HouseFont, which assigns images of houses to English phonemes. Participants achieved proficiency in this pseudo writing system akin to a first-grade reading level. After the training, the researchers observed increased VWFA activity that predicted participants' reading speed. This effect was not observed in the parahippocampal place area -- a brain region that has been shown to respond selectively to images of houses. These findings suggest HouseFont was acquired as an additional alphabet, and show how learning a new writing system shapes the reading brain.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Society for Neuroscience. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Lea Martin, Corrine Durisko, Michelle W. Moore, Marc N. Coutanche, Deborah Chen, Julie A. Fiez. The VWFA is the home of orthographic learning when houses are used as letters. eneuro, 2019; ENEURO.0425-17.2019 DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0425-17.2019

Cite This Page:

Society for Neuroscience. "Learning a second alphabet for a first language." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 February 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131532.htm>.
Society for Neuroscience. (2019, February 11). Learning a second alphabet for a first language. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131532.htm
Society for Neuroscience. "Learning a second alphabet for a first language." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190211131532.htm (accessed December 1, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES