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Second language learning success revealed by brain networks*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2015

PING LI  and
ANGELA GRANT
PING LI*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
ANGELA GRANT
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
*
Address for correspondence: Ping Li, Department of Psychology and Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802USApul8@psu.edu
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Abstract

A recent movement in cognitive neuroscience is the study of brain networks through functional and effective connectivity. The brain networks approach has already found its influences in the study of the neurobiology of language, but has yet to impact research in the neurocognition of bilingualism and second language. In this article, we briefly review some preliminary evidence in this emerging field and suggest that the understanding of the dynamic changes in brain networks enables us to capture second language learning success, thereby providing new insights into the neural bases of individual differences, neuroplasticity, and bilingualism.

Keywords

second language acquisitionindividual differencesconnectivity patternsbrain networks
Type
Perspective
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 657 - 664
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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Footnotes

*

We thank Jubin Abutalebi, Shin-Yi Fang, Jennifer Legault, Jing Yang, and members of the Brain, Language, and Computation Lab for comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (BCS-1157220, BCS-1338946).

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