Page 15 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464

NEWS

Minds synch in L2, but mind the empathy gap

By Gillian Ragsdale by a screen. They were
When two people talk to each given topics and question
other, their brain activities prompts: 3 in English
synchronise. However, a new only and 3 in Spanish DANY JACK MERCIER
study by Perez et al at the Basque only. Throughout their
Centre on Cognition, Brain conversations, their brain
and Language, in Donostia, activity was measured
Spain, has found that two brains (as the distribution and
synchronise differently, depending amplitude of alpha, beta
on the language being used, and theta waves).
and regardless of non-verbal As expected, the speakers’
communication. brains’ activity synchronised
Synchrony between two people as they conversed – but the
engaged in communicating synchronisation was not
operates at several levels. The only less, but also showed
verbal and non-verbal signals a different pattern, when
interact with emotional cues to talking in English rather
facilitate bonding between the than Spanish. The decreased
communicators, whether they are level of synchronisation
well-known to each other, such as was not unexpected and is Conversation piece: research suggests we synchronise our brains
parent and child – or in this case likely due to the increased differently when we talk to each other in a second language.
– complete strangers. attention required to track
Perez focussed on purely speech in a second language. language system in use. For when one or both are conversing
verbal communication with no The different pattern of example, the phonological and or negotiating using a second
visual input and measured the brain activity depending on physical processes that produce language?’
pattern and amplitude of the the language spoken is a novel or comprehend the English word Perez’s findings also have
speaker’s brain waves. Generally, finding that adds to the debate ‘snake’ will be different to the potential practical implications for
as speakers converse, their brains’ on whether neural correlates of Spanish word ‘serpiente’, despite developing methods to assess the
activity becomes synchronised. language use are more general or the two being semantically quality of communication in many
This both allows and more specific. equivalent. situations, including language
reflects increasing mutual Follow-up questions revealed Consequently, different parts practice, for example by using
comprehension, and so Perez no apparent differences in general of the brain will be activated feedback from speech and brain
tested whether conversing in a intelligibility, and Perez suggests depending on which language is activity sensors in headphones.
second language (which might that it may be more specific being spoken or heard.
decrease understanding) might differences in, for example, Brain synchronisation relates REFRENCE
affect the way the two interacting phonetic, phonological, lexical, not only to mutual comprehension ■ Perez, A., Dumas, G., Karadag,
brains synchronise with each syntactic or semantic tracking but also to empathy, and Perez’s M. and Duñabeita, J. A. (2019)
other. that leads to different patterns of study prompts the question, ‘Differential brain-to-brain
Perez put 60 native Spanish brain activity. ‘Can two people ever reach entrainment while speaking and
speakers with basic fluency in It may be that neural activation their full potential for mutual listening in native and foreign
English into pairs, separated patterns depend on the specific understanding and empathy languages.’ Cortex, 111: 303-315.

Say that again? Translanguaging in Chinese Universities

By Gillian Ragsdale Currently, around 5-10 were often presented in it should be properly recognised,
percent of the contents of English and then elicited in facilitated and studied, rather
Several translanguaging processes selected degree courses are Chinese. than focussing on an unrealistic
are common in bilingual Chinese- offered in English – especially • Cross-language recapping: ideal of monolingualism in the
English university classes, in subjects where much of the chunks of content (not just academic classroom.
according to a recent study by content is being drawn from key words or phrases) were Translanguaging may particularly
Weihong Wang, China university English sources. Wang and taught in one language then facilitate understanding in subjects
of Geosciences, Wuhan, China Curdt-Christiansen chose one again in the other. drawing on content originally
and Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, such degree programme for their • Simultaneous code-mixing: written in English by helping to
University of Bath, UK. study: Business Management. speakers shuttled rapidly minimise content being lost in
In 2001, to prepare Chinese They found that students and between both languages translation.
students for an increasingly lecturers were routinely using with parts of the overall
global job market, the Chinese translanguaging techniques meaning expressed in each REFRENCE
government promoted English to facilitate understanding of language. ■ Wang, W. and Curdt-
Medium Instruction in Chinese content and meaning, i.e. they • Dual-language substantiation: Christiansen, A. L. (2019)
Universities. Over the next were accessing and using both content was taught in English ‘Translanguaging in a Chinese–
five years some caveats were languages. These techniques fell then Chinese examples and English bilingual education
introduced as it became clear that into four camps. context was given in Chinese. programme: a university-classroom
studying at degree level in English • Bilingual label quests: key The authors suggest that this ethnography.’ International Journal of
was very challenging for both concepts (e.g. variables, kind of flexible bilingualism is so Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
students and lecturers. price level, unemployment) natural and commonplace that 22(3): 322-337.

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