An Investigation of L1 Use in Foreign Language Classrooms: Evidence from Brain Research

Öz

First language acquisition (L1) proceeds quickly and effortlessly. The acquisition of a second language (L2) - later in life, however, poses some difficulties. Age and context of acquisition determine the extent of success of ultimate attainment in the later-learned language. Extensive research into what lies behind this difficulty has led to many views aiming to facilitate the learning process. One view, the use of mother tongue has always been a matter of controversy during the learning process. There has been a range of views, both for and against, particularly in the context of teaching a foreign language in formal education. This article assesses the consequences of the views that favor target-language-only approach in teaching in the light of brain research. It puts forward an argument based on the data obtained from affective, cognitive and psycholinguistic/neurolinguistic literature that banishing L1 from the classroom is not only impossible for practical reasons, but also acts as a deterrent to successful language learning. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Foreign language teaching,Mother tongue,Emotions,Psycholinguistics,Neurolinguistics

Beyin Araştırmaları Işığında Yabancı Dil Sınıflarında Anadili Kullanımı

Öz

Anadili edinimi hızlı ve zahmetsiz ilerleyen bir süreç olmasına rağmen, sonradan öğrenilen dil, birçok birey için birtakım zorluklar teşkil etmektedir. Özellikle, geç yaşta öğrenilen dilde iletişim kurabilmek bireyler için son derece uzun ve yorucu olabilmektedir. Sınıf ortamında bu zorlukları ortadan kaldırmayı amaçlayan görüşler, özellikle teknoloji ve bilgi paylaşımının ilerlemesiyle önemli ölçüde başarılı olmuşlardır. Ancak, bu süreçte anadilinin rolü tartışma konusu olmuştur. Bu makalede, öğrencilere öğrendikleri yabancı dilde iletişim kurabilmelerini sağlamak için sadece hedef dilin kullanılmasını öngören görüşlerin dil öğrenimi üzerindeki etkilerinin beyin ve dil açısından değerlendirilmesi yapılmıştır. Duygusal (afektif), bilişsel ve psikodilbilimsel ve beyindilbilimsel çalışmalardan elde edilen verilere dayanarak, anadili kullanımının dil eğitiminin her aşamasında tamamen kısıtlanması olası görülmemekte ve dil öğrenme başarısını da olumsuz yönde etkileyeceği düşünülmektedir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yabancı dil eğitimi,anadili,duygular,psikodilbilim,beyindilbilim

Kaynakça

1. Altarriba, J. ve Bauer, L. M. (2004). The distinctiveness of emotion concepts: A comparison between emotion, abstract and concrete words. American Journal of Psychology, 117 (3): 389-410.
2. Anooshian, L. ve Hertel, P. (1994). Emotionality in free recall: language specificity in bilingual memory. Cognition and Emotion, 8: 503-514.
3. Abutalebi, J. (2008). Neural aspects of second language representation and language control. Acta Psychologia, 128: 466-478.
4. Brysbaert, M. ve Dijkstra, V. H. (2006). Changing views on word recognition in bilinguals. (Çevrim-içi https://bibliougent.be/input/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=685459&fileOId=685554.) Erişim Tarihi: 29.01.2013.
5. Caldwell-Harris, C.L. ve Ayçiçeği-Dinn, A. (2009). Emotion and lying in a non-native language. International Journal of Psychophysiology. 71 (3): 193-204.
6. Clahsen, H. ve Felser, C. (2006). How native-like is non-native language processing ? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 10 (12): 564-570.
7. Dewaele J. M. ve Furnhamb, A. (1999). Extraversion: The unloved variable in applied linguistic research, Language Learning, 49 (3): 509-544.
8. Dewaele J. M. ve Furnhamb, A. (2000). Personality and speech production: a pilot study of second language learners, Personality and Individual Differences, 28: 355-365.

9. Dewaele, J. M. (2004a). The emotional force of swear words and taboo words in the speech of multilinguals. Journal of Multilingualism and Multicultural Development, 25 (2-3): 204-222.
10. Dewaele, J. M. (2004b). Blistering barnacles! What languages do multilinguals swear in? Estudios de Sociolinguistica, 5 (1): 83 -105.
11. Dewaele, J. M. (2005). Investigating the psychological and emotional dimensions in instructed language learning: obstacles and possibilities. The Modern Language Journal, 89, 367-380.
12. Dewaele, J. M. (2008). The emotional weight of I love you in multilinguals’ languages. Journal of Pragmatics, 40 (10): 1753-1780.
13. Dewaele, J. ve Pavlenko, A. (2002). Emotion vocabulary in interlanguage. Language Learning, 52 (2): 263-322.
14. Dewaele, J. ve Ip, T., S. (2013).The link between foreign language classroom anxiety, second language tolerance of ambiguity and self-rated English proficiency among Chinese learners. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 3 (1): 47-66.
15. Dewaele, J. ve Nakano, S. (2013). Multilinguals’ perceptions of feeling different when switching languages, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 34 (2): 107-120.
16. Dijkstra, T. ve van Heuven, W. T. B. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: from identification to decision. Bilingualism: Brain and Cognition, 5 (3): 175 - 197.
17. Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 78: 273-283.
18. Duyck, W.,Vanderelst, D., Desmet, T. ve Hartsuiker, R. J. (2008). The frequency effect in second-language visual word recognition. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 15 (4): 850-855.
19. Ehrman, M. E., Leaver, B. L. ve Oxford, R. L. (2003). A brief overview of individual differences in second language learning, System, 31: 313-330.
20. Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6 (3-4): 169-200.
21. Ellis, R. (2005). Principles of instructed learning. System, 33: 209-224.
22. Felser, C. ve Clahsen, H. (2009). Grammatical processing of spoken language in child and adult language learner. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 38: 305-319.
23. Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. İ, Cera, C. ve Sandoval, T. C. (2008). More use almost always a means a smaller frequency effect: Aging, bilingualism and the weaker links hypothesis, Journal of Memory and Language, 58(3): 787-814.
24. Guo, J., Guo T., Yan Y., Jiang N., ve Peng, D. (2009). ERP evidence for different strategies employed by native speakers and L2 learners in sentence processing. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 22: 123-134.
25. Harris, C. L. (2004). Bilingual speakers in the lab: psychophysiological measures of emotional reactivity. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25 (2): 223-247.
26. Harris, C. L., Ayçiçeği, A. ve Gleason, J. B. (2003). Taboo words and reprimands elicit greater autonomic reactivity in a first language than in a second language, Applied Psycholinguistics, 24: 561–579.
27. Hasegawa, M., Carpenter, P. A. ve Just, M. A. (2002). An fMRI study of bilingual sentence comprehension and workload, NeuroImage, 15: 647-660.
28. Indefrey, P. (2006). A metaanalysis of hemodynamic studies on first and second language processing: Which suggested differences can we trust and what do they mean? Language Learning, 56: 279-304.
29. Kissler, J., Herbert, C., Winkler, I. ve Junghofer, M. (2009). Emotion and attention in visual word processing – an ERP study. Biological Psychology, 80 (1): 75-83.
30. Kissler, J. ve Koessler, S. (2011). Emotionally positive stimuli facilitate lexical decisions – an ERP study. Biological Psychology, 86 (3): 254-264.
31. Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. (Çevrim-içi http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf), Erişim Tarihi: 11.03.2016).
32. Kuchinke, L., Jacobs, A. M., Grubich, G., Vo, M. L., Conrad, M. ve Herrmann, M. (2005). Incidental effects of emotional valence in single word processing: an fMRI study. NeuroImage, 28 (4): 1022-1032.
33. Kuhl, P. (2004).Early language acquisition: Cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews, 5: 831-843.
34. Kuhl, P. (2010). Brain mechanisms in early language acquisition. Neuron, 67: 713-727
35. Lehtonen, M.,Hulten, A., Rodriguez-Fornells, A, Cunillera,T., Tuomainen, J. ve Laine, M. (2012). Differences in Word recognition between early bilinguals and monolinguals: behavioral and ERP evidence. Neuropsychologia, 50 (7): 1362-1371.
36. Lewis, M. (2004) The emergence of human emotions. Lewis, M. ve Haviland-Jones, J (Ed), Handbook of Emotions, (ss. 265-280). New York: The Guilford Press.
37. Littlewood, W. Ve Yu, B. (2011). First language and the target language in the forign language classroom. Language Teacher, 44 (1): 64-77.
38. Lopez, Mariza G. Mendez ve Aguilar, A. P. (2013). Emotions as enhancers of foreign language learning motivation. Profile, 15 (1): 109-124.
39. Macaro, E. (2005). Codeswitching in the L2 classroom: A communication and learning strategy. E. Llurda (Ed.), Non-native language teachers. Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession (ss.63-84). New York: Springer.
40. Marian, V.,Spivey, M. ve Hirsch, J. (2003). Shared and separate systems in bilingual language processing: converging evidence from eye-tracking and brain imaging. Brain and Language, 86 (1): 70-82.
41. McDonald, J. (2006). Beyond the critical period Processing-based explanations for poor grammaticality judgement performance by late second language learners. Journal of Memory and Language, 55: 381–401.
42. Mergen, F. (2010). İkidilli bireylerin anadilinde ve ikinci dilde dilbilgisel ve anlambilimsel işlemlemelerinin nörodilbilimsel açıdan incelenmesi. İzmir: Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi.
43. Moreno, E. M. ve Kutas, M. (2005). Processing semantic anomalies in two languages: an electrophysiological exploration in both languages of Spanish–English bilinguals. Cognitive Brain Research, 22 (2): 205-220.
44. Opitz, B. ve Degner, J. (2012). Emotionality is a second language: It’s a matter of time. Neuropsychologia, 50 (8): 1961-1967.
45. Paradis, M. (2004). A Neurolinguistic Theory of Bilingualism, Hollanda: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
46. Pavlenko, A. (2004). “Stop doing that, la komu skalaza!”: Language choice and emotions in parent-child communication. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25 (2-3): 179 – 203.
47. Pavlenko, A. ve Driagina, V. (2007). Russian emotion vocabulary in American learners’ narratives. The Modern Language Journal, 91:213-234.
48. Perani, D. ve Abutalebi, J. (2005). The neural basis of first and second language processing. Current Opinion on Neurobiology, 15: 202-206.
49. Sakai, K. L. (2005). Language acquisition and brain development. Science, 3: 815-819.
50. Saur, D., Baumgaertner, A., Moehring, A. Büchel, C., Bonnesen, M., Rose ve diğerleri (2009). Word order processing in the bilingual brain. Neuropsychologica, 47 (1) : 158 - 168.
51. Segalowitz, N.,Trofimovich, P., Gatbonton, E., ve Sokolovskaya, A. (2008). Feeling affect in a second language. The role of w ord recognition automaticity. The Mental Lexicon, 3 (1): 47-71.
52. Suh, S., Yoon, H. W., Lee, S., Chung, J. Y., Cho, Z. H. ve Park, H. (2007). Effects of syntactic complexity in L1 and L2: An fMRI study of Korean-English bilinguals. Brain Research, 1136: 178-189.
53. Spalek, K., , Hoshino, N., Wu, Y. J., Damian, M. ve Thierry, G. (2014). Speaking two languages at once: Unconscious native word form access in second language production. Cognition, 133: 226-231.
54. Taylor, S. E. (1991). Asymmetrical effects of positive and negative events: The mobilization-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110 (1): 67-85.
55. Ullman, M. T. (2001). The neural basis of lexicon and grammar in first and second language: the declarative/procedural model. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,4 (2): 105-122.
56. Ullman, M. T. (2004). Contributions of memory circuits to language: the declarative / procedural model. Cognition, 92: 231-270.
57. Ullman, M. T. (2015). The declarative / procedural model: A neurobiologically motivated theory of first and second language. Vanpatten, B. ve Williams, J. (Ed), Theories in Second Language Acquisition, (ss. 135-159. 2015) New York: Routledge. (Çevrim-içi:
58. https://books.google.com.tr/books?hl=tr&lr=&id=2Q8hBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA135&dq=ullman+declarative+procedural+model&ots=jz_0HjQscM&sig=Frva2dKXEY6YVprIRdnF5pa1eYk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ullman%20declarative%20procedural%20model&f=false), Erişim Tarihi: 11.03.2016.
59. Van Heuven, W. J. B. ve Dijkstra, T. (2010). Language comprehension in the bilingual brain: fMRI and ERP support for psycholinguistic models. Brain Research Reviews, 64 (1): 104-122.
60. Wartenburger, I.,Heekeren, H. R., Abutalebi, J., Cappa,S., F., Villringer, A. ve Perani, D. (2003). Early Setting of grammatical processing in the bilingual brain, Neuron, 37:159–170.
61. Weber-Fox C. M. ve Neville, H. J. (1996). Maturational constraints on functional specialization for language processing: ERP and behavioral evidence in bilingual speakers. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 8 (3): 231-256.
62. Weber, K. ve Lavric, A. (2008). Syntactic anomaly elicits a lexico-semantic (N400) ERP effect in the second language but not the first. Psychophysiology, 45: 920-925.
63. Wu, Y. J. ve Thierry, G. (2012). Unconscious translation during incidental foreign language processing. NeuroImage, 59: 3468-3473.