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1、 Science of languageThere are many ways to learn a new language.Some people will sign up for a language course while others may set off abroad to learn from native speakers.For some adults it can be daunting and many will claim that they are just no good at languages.Others put it down to their age,
2、and remember the ease with which they picked up language as children.So what does science have to say about the ability to learn language?Does it have a biological basis?Learning a language as a childAny one that has watched a baby learn to talk will agree that its a remarkable feat.Most humans can
3、speak one or more languages completely by the time they are five years old.”We are predisposed to learn language easily as infants,”explains Dr Seven Mattys,an expert in the psychology of language at the university of Bristol.”We are both born with a ticking clock,where we can easily learn language
4、with a minimum of speech input.”Two areas of the brain in the left cerebral cortex(大脑皮层)are responsible for language：Brocas area is thought to be where language is produced while language processing and comprehension takes place in Wernicks area.But many scientists believe that children are born wit
5、h an innate ability for picking up the principles and organization common to all languages,such as word meanings,sentence structures and sounds.This early period of effortless language learning is called the “critical period” and it lasts for about the first ten years of life.So what happens after t
6、his crucial time period?Rare cases of feral children,who are raised by animals in the wild or deprived of human contact when they are very young,show that they are incapable of learning to speak if they are not exposed to language before pubery(青春期).Adults also find it increasingly difficult to lear
7、n a second language as they get older.Too late for a second language?Learning a language is harder as we age because brain cells become more specialized.“As an infant you start with masses and masses of connections and these are refined as you develop,until you are just left with what you need,”says
8、 Professor Sophie Scott from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in London.“When you are an adult your perceptual system（感知系统）is attuned to the language you have learned.”For example,speaks meaning,are thought to develop greater activity in the right cerebral cortex of the brain when listening t
9、o their own language compared with non-tonal language speaks.This area is thought to process the intonation of words,which is so crucial in tonal languages.But adults shouldnt be discouraged.Even after the critical period ,it is still possible to become fluent in a new language.“Because your first l
10、anguage is in place,the core elements of language such as syntax can be transferred from your first to your second language”,says Mattys.“On the other hand,since your dont start with a blank slate(写字用的石板),it can inferere with other levels of language learning.”Bilingual brainYet the brain is remarka
11、ble in being able to distinguish between two languages.Bilingual children may take slightly longer to utter their first word but they quickly learn when to speak which language.A recent study published in Psychological Science by researchers at the University Of Oregon suggests that when an adult fi
12、rst learns a second language,the brain actively inhibits the first one.The researches found that after learning to speak Spanish,native English speakers found it more difficult to recall English words.So if you travel abroad to immerse yourself in another language,you may end up finding it hard to s
13、peak your native tongue when your return.As you become more proficient in your second language,scientists believe that the brain becomes better at preventing interference with your native tongue.Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)(核磁共振成像)studies supports this idea.“It seems that
14、 the words for language one and language two are stored in different areas of the brain,”says Mattys.“The more proficient you are,and the earlier you have been exposed to the second language,then the more separate these areas are.”Learning languages can also boost processing centers in the brain.A s
15、tudy of Italian and Engish natives b researchers at University College London found that bilinguals had a greater amount of grey matter than monolinguals in their parietal cortex(顶叶皮层),the area of the brain that processes verbal information.The amount of grey matter was related to how well bilingual
16、s could speak second language.Also, those who learned their second languge as youngsters had even greater amounts of grey matter than those who learned a language as adults.This supports the theory that young brains are the most flexible and can adapt better to language learning.Language barrierA language is harder to learn if its structure，meaning or basic speech sounds，called phonemes， are difficult from those in your native language.“There are so many ways that languages can var
