Do bilinguals have distinct language areas in the brain?
Washington, July 10 (IANS) A new study sheds light on how first and second languages are represented in the brain of a bilingual person. The research reveals that first and second languages are represented in different places in the brain. This unique case study was tested by Raphiq Ibrahim, expert on learning disabilities at the University of Haifa, Israel. The question of how different languages are represented in the human brain is still unclear and, moreover, it is not certain how languages of different and similar linguistic structures are represented. Many studies have found evidence that all the languages that we acquire in the course of our life are represented in one area of the brain. However, other studies have found evidence that a second language is dissociated from the representation of a mother tongue. “The examination of such cases carries much significance, since it is rare that we can find people who fluently speak two languages and who have sustained brain damage tha
