From ocls at IPA.NET Wed Oct 1 13:43:01 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 08:43:01 -0500 Subject: language "locations" in the brain Message-ID: A number of you have responded very helpfully to my query about whether or not consciousness might be different in monolinguals versus bi/multilinguals. I want to thank you, and to assure you that I was not being deliberately obscure; rather, I was trying to keep my query broad enough (vague enough, if you like) so that it would not exclude anyone on terminological grounds alone. I will try now to clarify matters, very briefly, and will again appreciate your comments. In the course of research on multilingualism, I have been investigating the phenomenon whereby some mlinguals have a perception that they are "a different person" when using one or more of their languages than the person they are when using others. (I myself fall into that group, by the way.) Responses to a question about whether they have that perception split in a fashion that I find interesting; either they say "Of course! Why would you need to ask?" or they say "Of course not! What a stupid question!" There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. Add to this two other scraps of information. (1) That psychoanalysts offer a good deal of evidence for the "separate personality" in mlinguals (with the obvious caveat that they're referring to individuals with problems severe enough to require therapy) and (2) the recent research (see Nature, 7/10/97) indicating that second or nth languages acquired after puberty appear to establish separate Broca's area storage in the brain, while those acquired in early childhood do not do so. It's an intriguing mix, and I'm searching for additional ideas and data that may point me in the proper direction -- including, of course, the conclusion that none of it fits together other than coincidentally. Thank you for your help. Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net From dcyr at YORKU.CA Wed Oct 1 14:06:56 1997 From: dcyr at YORKU.CA (Danielle Cyr) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 14:06:56 +0000 Subject: language "locations" in the brain Message-ID: Dear Suzette, As an additional idea (or I'm perhaps simply reinventing the wheel...), did you look into eye movement for mlinguals retrieving memorized texts in one of their non-native languages? I suggest that, because recently, as I was reciting a poem in Swedish, then my own French translation of it, for a friend who is a psychologist, she made the comment that my eye movements were different in the different languages. She said that when reciting in Swedish I seemed to be searching in the right brain, while when reciting in French (my mother tongue) I seemed to be searching in the left brain. I'm not at all a specialist of those questions and I don't know if my friend is either, so you judge by yourself. Best, Danielle Cyr From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Oct 1 20:10:03 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 15:10:03 -0500 Subject: multilingualism and multiple personalities Message-ID: I suspect that social factors might play a greater role than neurological factors in accounting for why some people feel like "a different person" when speaking their second language(s) I learned the second languages in which I became fluent (Nepali, Spanish and Portuguese) all after the age of 21, and in each case, I learned by immersion (the first time supplemented by intensive instruction, the other times not). I definitely did not learn by "translation", but by experiencing the languages in context, picking up meanings by inference and example, learning appropriate usage by imitation and trial and error (i.e. mostly "natural" language learning, parallel to how first languages are learned). I have commented several times over the years how I feel "different" when speaking a second language. Some differences could plausibly be linked to neurology (as Brian suggested), by assuming that the first language has already fully optimized its use of the space it occupies, requiring you to look elsewhere for storage for new ideas. Such things might be the nuances of lexical semantics, which often cannot translate easily (e.g. even something as concrete and apparently simple as 'plate' have a very different set of referents in America versus Nepal, as well as different location and manner of use, etc. -- they hence could reasonably be expected to be stored in different cognitive spaces). You might also throw in the processing required for changing your expectations about what sorts of meanings come in what order, e.g. adjective-Noun versus noun-adjective, or more complex discourse patterns / information structuring, like putting 'if' and 'then' at the ENDS of their respective clauses (as in SOV language Nepali). These things might require additional storage and pattern recognition strategies, which might thereby account for the neurological differences, but I don't see these things as necessarily making me feel like "a different person". Where I feel the difference myself is in the domain of personal interaction, where your dialogic turn-taking behaviors might be radically different, including also the grunts and interjections you use to maintain connection during conversation (not just the sounds themselves, but when to use them). And taking a step further away from "pure" language, but still sticking firmly in the context where language is used, some will notice how different your body language might be when speaking different languages in different cultural contexts -- not just conventionalized gestures, but your intuitive sense of how much personal space to give your interlocutor, or whether to look them in the eye, etc. And then take the step into attitudes and expectations, and you find that the presuppositions you make about what is acceptable / expected / appropriate vary tremendously with cultural context, shaping again your freedom to express many of the things you might want to express; the more aware you are of these things, and the more you take them into account when speaking, the more you will feel like a "different person". You need a different set of "appropriateness filters" in each situation, and to the extent that speaking a foreign language correlates with immersion into a foreign culture (and ADOPTION of different "filters"), it would not be surprising for someone to feel like a different person while speaking different languages. These things are all associated with becoming an insider in a foreign culture, and I'm sure the list could be extended greatly with just a little bit of brainstorming. There is a pretty good body of literature on the phenomenon of "culture shock", in which people who have been away from their native culture for a period of time experience distress because they no longer fit neatly into the cultural (and sometimes even linguistic) patterns of their native culture when they return. The difference between fluent second language speakers might have to do with degree of acculturation -- the more acculturated (i.e. the more you "go native"), the more you might be prone to feel like a different person. So how might we account for the difference between native bilinguals and fluent second-language/second-culture people? My naive hypothesis would be that children who grow up bicultural would feel much less shock of transition, since they don't have to "unlearn" primary socialization in order to transfer to a new set of "filters" -- their primary socialization already includes multiple filters. What do you think? Spike P.S. I am reminded of the New Yorker cartoon in which a dismayed-looking couple is looking across the street, where they see themselves, except animated and happy, maybe already a bit tipsy, heading for a party just up the street. Caption: "Oh no, here come our other selves!" From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Oct 1 20:26:56 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 15:26:56 -0500 Subject: Double messages Message-ID: A number of people have told me that they would like to receive copies of the e-mail messages they send in to FUNKNET, not least so they would know that the message had actually been posted to the list. The uncertainty has led some to send double and even triple copies of messages. I apparently can't set this parameter for the entire list (I would prefer the default to be that everyone receive copies of their own postings), but those who prefer to do so can set the parameter individually. To set or change parameters, send commands to: LISTSERV at rice.edu To recieve copies of your postings, you need to send the the following command: SET FUNKNET REPRO To receive acknowledgement of your posting (presumably without a copy): SET FUNKNET ACK To toggle receipt of mail without signing off the list (e.g. to go on vacation): SET MAIL / NOMAIL Happy October! Spike From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Thu Oct 2 15:40:05 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 10:40:05 -0500 Subject: funknet commands on web Message-ID: As a follow-up to Spike's msg. on acknowledgments of Funknet postings, I'd like to make it known that Funknet info is posted on a link to our Department's homepage. The Funknet URL is: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/funknet.html . From there you click on "Funknet Commands" ; options for various levels of acknowledgment are several sections down, under "Extra Options" . Funknet Commands includes descriptions of the most useful tasks that people want to do with Funknet, including accessing the Funknet address list. --Suzanne Kemmer From bfox at SPOT.COLORADO.EDU Thu Oct 2 17:51:56 1997 From: bfox at SPOT.COLORADO.EDU (Fox Barbara) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 11:51:56 -0600 Subject: tenure-track position at the University of Colorado, Boulder Message-ID: The Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado, Boulder seeks candidates for an Assistant Professor position in syntax. The successful candidate will demonstrate original contributions to syntactic theory, and will have thorough grounding in functional and formal approaches to syntax, including those that study interactions among semantics, pragmatics and syntax. Broad teaching interests and proven successful teaching are also required. Strong research in one or more non-Indo-European languages, and interest in other areas of linguistics are highly desirable. Send application letter, resume and names and addresses of three references to Barbara Fox, Chair, Search Committee, Dept of Linguistics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0295, by December 1, 1997. Informal interviews at the LSA can be arranged. We strongly support the principle of diversity. Applications from women, ethnic minorities, disabled persons, veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era are appreciated. From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Thu Oct 2 22:58:37 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 17:58:37 -0500 Subject: test Message-ID: testing for mailer daemons... ;> From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Oct 6 03:51:43 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 22:51:43 -0500 Subject: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain Message-ID: I've been asked to post the following on Funknet. --S.K. --------------------------------------------------------------- >>From ocls at ipa.net Sat Oct 4 10:44 CDT 1997 Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 10:51:24 -0600 From: ocls at ipa.net (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) I would very much appreciate hearing something from knowledgeable members of the list about their reaction to the July 1997 report in *Nature* (and media worldwide) that persons who learn more than one language as infants store them in a single Broca's area location in the brain while those who learn additional languages as adults store them in separate Broca's area locations in the brain. (Brutal summary, I know, but enough to identify the topic in question.) Could I have some reactions? And a reaction to the claim that no matter how many separate areas of this sort are established, the "semantics" of all languages acquired is stored in a single Wernicke's area site? The research, done with functional MRIs, is also reported in an Internet news release from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Thanks for your help.... Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net *** From griffith at KULA.USP.AC.FJ Mon Oct 6 05:04:39 1997 From: griffith at KULA.USP.AC.FJ (Patrick Griffiths) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 17:04:39 +1200 Subject: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain In-Reply-To: <199710060351.WAA07702@ruf.rice.edu> Message-ID: Suzette Hadin Elgin and others interested might like to know that Info-CHILDES, the list of the Child Language Data Exchange System, recently carried a short discussion of the July 1997 NATURE article on bilingual brain localization. I found it informative. Info-CHILDES discussions are archived at http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/childes/index.html Applications to SUBSCRIBE to Info-CHILDES should, I believe, go to info-childes-request at andrew.cmu.edu On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Suzanne E Kemmer wrote: > I've been asked to post the following on Funknet. --S.K. > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >From ocls at ipa.net Sat Oct 4 10:44 CDT 1997 > Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 10:51:24 -0600 > From: ocls at ipa.net (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) > > I would very much appreciate hearing something from knowledgeable > members of the list about their reaction to the July 1997 report in > *Nature* (and media worldwide) that persons who learn more than one > language as infants store them in a single Broca's area location in > the brain while those who learn additional languages as adults store > them in separate Broca's area locations in the brain. (Brutal summary, > I know, but enough to identify the topic in question.) Could I have > some reactions? And a reaction to the claim that no matter how many > separate areas of this sort are established, the "semantics" of all > languages acquired is stored in a single Wernicke's area site? The > research, done with functional MRIs, is also reported in an Internet > news release from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Thanks for your help.... > > > Suzette Haden Elgin > ocls at ipa.net > > *** ======================================================================= Dr Patrick Griffiths Department of Literature & Language University of the South Pacific P O Box 1168 Suva Fiji Telephone: (+679) 212314 Fax: (+679) 305053 (must bear my name to be sure of reaching me) _______________________________________________________________________ The University of the South Pacific is the university of twelve island countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa. The main campus is located in Suva, the capital of Fiji (on Vitilevu, the largest of Fiji's 300+ islands), but there are regional centres in all but one of the countries served. There are on-campus students as well as large numbers enrolled for distance learning. From rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU Mon Oct 6 18:06:24 1997 From: rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Ron Kuzar) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:06:24 -0400 Subject: Discourse on Ebonics Message-ID: Does anybody know of work on the recent Ebonics controversy? I am interested in a description of the evolution of the debate, and the socio-cultural arguments used in it, coming from fields such as folklinguistic beliefs, policies on mono/bilingualism, English as the official language of the US, etc. The context of this request is a course I am giving next semester on 'Language and Nation-Building'. I have been reading some of the contributions on the linguist list. Some interesting documents also show up upon searching the net for 'ebonics'. What I am looking for is a text-book level summary of the issues that may be assigned as reading. Other contributions, more theoretical ones, are also highly welcome. Thanks Roni ======================================================================== | Dr. Ron Kuzar | | (Dept. of English, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel) | | During the academic year 1997/8 Visiting Professor at: | | Office Address: Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University,| | 9 West Packer Avenue | | Bethlehem, PA 18015-3082 | | Office phone: (610) 758-4857 | | Office fax: (610) 758-4858 | | Home Phone: (610) 395-3210 | | Email: rok2 at cs1.cc.lehigh.edu | ======================================================================== From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Oct 6 20:17:22 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 15:17:22 -0500 Subject: Liz Bates' response from Italy Message-ID: Sorry for reposting a msg that did in fact get posted earlier (despite error msgs to sender). But the repost was useful in provoking the following response from Liz Bates. --Suzanne ------------------------------------------------------------ >>From bates at kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it Mon Oct 6 05:45 CDT 1997 Received: from kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it (kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it [150.146.7.5]) by ruf.rice.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id FAA29518 for ; Mon, 6 Oct 1997 05:45:38 -0500 (CDT) From: bates at kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:38:20 GMT To: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Subject: Re: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain I'm on sabbatical in Rome, on a steam-driven email system that precludes easy distribution -- but feel free to forward this to Funknet if you think it would be useful.... I believe that the article in Nature on differential localization for Language 1 and Language 2 represents the kind of gross over-interpretation of neural imaging data that has become all too common in the last few years. Let's be clear about exactly what this paper (like many others before it -- this is not the first paper on neural imaging in bilinguals) has really shown: (1) patterns of activation associated with covert speech in L1 and L2 are largely very similar, but (2) there are some reliable differences in the center and extent of activation in the Broca region. None of this has anything necessarily to do with STORAGE of L1 vs. L2! Presumably (although very very little subject information was provided) these are people who are less fluent in their second language. Hence, in essence, covert speech in L2 is a somewhat different task, with somewhat different demands. In fact, I myself fit their description of these biliguals fairly well, and I can assure you that I am less articulate and fluent in Italian, even though I have spoken it for 31 years (including a semester-long course taught in Italian). Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are discussing right now. Aside from this serious problem of confusing patterns of slightly non-overlapping activity with separate modules, separate mechanisms, separate storage of knowledge, there are other problems here as well. For example, the assumption that Broca's area mediates grammar while Wernicke's area mediates semantics is HIGHLY controversial, and in my view, probably dead wrong. Both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics have severe grammatical problems, but they take a somewhat different form (e.g. omission in the former case, substitution in the latter). And those studies that have tried to find a 'grammar area' through neural imaging of normals have generally found EITHER that grammar and lexical semantics activate the same areas, OR they have found differences that vary markedly from study to study, and even from one individual patient to another -- consistent with a "task demand" interpretation of the data. Another problem lies in the assumption that any area which mediates language is a "language area." In fact, a number of recent neural imaging studies have shown that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of the Broca's area complex (and, by the way, even the boundaries of Broca's area of controversial, varying from study to study) is activated by one or more covert motor tasks involving non-linguistic motor activities, of the hands or tongue or both. So it is possible that ALL we are seeing in this study in Nature is an effect in which bilinguals set their mouths a little differently (covertly, of course) while speaking their second language -- possibly reflecting greater difficulty in L2 in this case. I hope this is useful. -liz bates From ocls at IPA.NET Tue Oct 7 02:36:34 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:36:34 -0600 Subject: duplicate posting Message-ID: Suzanne Kemmer wrote: Sorry for reposting a msg that did in fact get posted earlier (despite error msgs to sender). But the repost was useful.... The fault here is mine; not only am I impatient, I also believe what I am told by machines. When I tried to subscribe I got an immediate rejection from the server saying that I had the wrong address -- and I leaped to the conclusion that it could be trusted and appealed to Suzanne to forward my message. I apologize. Suzette Haden Elgin From metzlutz at NEUROCHEM.U-STRASBG.FR Thu Oct 9 12:14:50 1997 From: metzlutz at NEUROCHEM.U-STRASBG.FR (Marie-Noelle Metz-Lutz) Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 14:14:50 +0200 Subject: "SIGNOFF FUNKNET" Message-ID: "SIGNOFF FUNKNET" Dr Marie Noelle Metz-Lutz INSERM U398 Clinique Neurologique Hopitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg 67091 STRASBOURG Cedex-France Tel: (33) 03 88 11 68 92 or 03 88 11 66 62 From Christer.Platzack at NORDLUND.LU.SE Fri Oct 10 07:53:30 1997 From: Christer.Platzack at NORDLUND.LU.SE (Christer Platzack) Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:53:30 +0200 Subject: pin processor etc Message-ID: Liz Bates wrote: "Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are discussing right now." This is an inadequate metaphor! The adjustment of the hand when picking up a pin or a pen is more like what we do when we accomodate a message to context (the choice of topic and focus and similar things). Maybe a better metaphor for different languages would have been to consider icking up a pen with the hand or with the mouth (or the foot). > Christer Platzack Institutionen for nordiska sprak Helgonabacken 14 S-223 62 Lund Sweden From lmenn at CLIPR.COLORADO.EDU Fri Oct 10 18:00:40 1997 From: lmenn at CLIPR.COLORADO.EDU (Lise Menn, Linguistics, CU Boulder) Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 11:00:40 -0700 Subject: pin processor etc In-Reply-To: <971010.095330.47490@macpost.lu.se> Message-ID: What are the criteria for adequacy of a metaphor? I think one can ask if it's misleading or not; and in the present instance, I don't see data to support an argument as to whether either of these metaphors is appropriate, though both of them are appealing. Lise Menn On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Christer Platzack wrote: > Liz Bates wrote: > > "Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily > configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does > that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from > and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply > the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task > demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the > case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. > Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are > discussing right now." > > This is an inadequate metaphor! The adjustment of the hand when picking up a pin > or a pen is more like what we do when we accomodate a message to context (the > choice of topic and focus and similar things). > Maybe a better metaphor for different languages would have been to consider > icking up a pen with the hand or with the mouth (or the foot). > > > Christer Platzack > Institutionen for nordiska sprak > Helgonabacken 14 > S-223 62 Lund > Sweden > From ocls at IPA.NET Sun Oct 12 19:38:10 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 14:38:10 -0500 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: Recently I posted a request on this list (and several others) for reactions to the 7/10/97 article by Kim and Hirsch in *Nature* reporting functional MRI research showing a difference between bilinguals acquiring both languages as infants or young children, and bilinguals acquiring their second language as adults. A Memorial Sloan-Kettering news release had the following quotation attributed to Dr. Joy Hirsch: "A second language acquired during the teenage years, which is late in developmental life, is represented in the brain in a separate location from the native language. But when both languages are learned at the same time early in life, they are represented in areas that have a considerable amount of overlap." ("Bilinguals Devote Distinct Areas of Brain to Native and Second Languages," MSKCC: Press Releases, online.) The NY Times for 7/15/97 ran a story titled "When an Adult Adds a Language, It's One Brain, Two Systems"; the Wall Street Journal's story on 7/10/97 had two headlines -- "How Language Is Stored in Brain Depends on Age" and "Where Languages Are Stored in Brain Depends on Your Age." I immediately began receiving phone calls and mail with questions about this research. I am not a neuroscientist and did not feel competent to answer the questions with even minimal accuracy; I am very unwilling to add to the usual confusion created by such media reports. I wrote the authors requesting clarification, and got no response; I did an online search and found nothing that I felt I could trust; I then asked for help from the lists. (Depending on the precise wording, a search on "language locations in the brain in bilinguals/multilinguals" on Neuroscience Web Search gets roughly 3000 hits, through which I have been doggedly working my way.) My sincere thanks to all who responded. The majority of responses were from individuals expressing interest and asking that I share whatever information came my way. A number of responses can be summarized as "This research is nothing new, nor is it especially significant." (Medical professionals responding, who rely on information of this kind in order to do neurosurgery without catastrophic effects on language capacity in patients, disagreed with that judgment.) A number of bilingual or monolingual responders wrote with accounts of personal experiences that were extremely useful and interesting. Excerpts from responses that strike me as of general interest follow; they are taken from very lengthy postings and should be understood *only* as excerpts. From Joe Hilferty: "Kim et al. ...just investigated neural activation in Wernicke's and Broca's areas, because the two sites are well known from the long tradition of aphasia studies. Their findings do not mean, however, that language is only processed in these areas of the brain." References suggested: ** Bates 1994, "Modularity, Domain Specificity and the Development of Language," Discussions in Neuroscience 10:1-2;136-149. **Maratsos and Matheny 1994, "Language Specificity and Elasticity," Annual Review of Psychology 45: 487-516. From Brian MacWhinney: "I have argued that early bilinguals project the input linguistic data to a single space, because that space is not yet saturated by weights on synaptic connections and the two systems can be learned together in a computationally reasonable sense without worrying about catastrophic interference. In adult L2 learning, the optimal area for an ability has already been occupied and new learning must either use the old territory in a new way or else coopt adjacent 'new' territory. ... A lot of what is at issue here is exactly what the role of Broca's area in language processing might be. ... I would like to think of Broca's as controlling high level sequential planning for language and related abilities." From Liz Bates: "I believe that the article in Nature on differential localization for Language 1 and Language 2 represents the kind of gross over-interpretation of neural imaging data that has become all too common in the last few years. Let's be clear about exactly what this paper (like many others before it -- this is not the first paper on neural imaging in bilinguals) has really shown: (1) patterns of activation associated with covert speech in L1 and L2 are largely very similar, but (2) there are some reliable differences in the center and extent of activation in the Broca region. None of this has anything necessarily to do with STORAGE of L1 vs. L2! ... Aside from this serious problem of confusing patterns of slightly non-overlapping activity with separate modules, separate mechanisms, separate storage of knowledge, there are other problems here as well. For example, the assumption that Broca's area mediates grammar while Wernicke's area mediates semantics is HIGHLY controversial, and in my view, probably dead wrong. Both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics have severe grammatical problems, but they take a somewhat different form (e.g. omission in the former case, substitution in the latter). And those studies that have tried to find a 'grammar area' through neural imaging of normals have generally found EITHER that grammar and lexical semantics activate the same areas, OR they have found differences that vary markedly from study to study, and even from one individual patient to another -- consistent with a "task demand" interpretation of the data. Another problem lies in the assumption that any area which mediates language is a "language area." In fact, a number of recent neural imaging studies have shown that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of the Broca's area complex (and, by the way, even the boundaries of Broca's area of controversial, varying from study to study) is activated by one or more covert motor tasks involving non-linguistic motor activities, of the hands or tongue or both. So it is possible that ALL we are seeing in this study in Nature is an effect in which bilinguals set their mouths a little differently (covertly, of course) while speaking their second language -- possibly reflecting greater difficulty in L2 in this case." >>From Lise Menn: "It's not an unreasonable result given earlier indications that late bilinguals had a more bilateral representation of language than early bilinguals (using one-hand motor tasks as indicators of hemispheric involvement), and given Damasio's claims that meaning of words with concrete referents is represented in a way that is linked to our sensory expereince of those referents (hence, language independent). Additional references that were suggested to me by a number of list members: Hull, Philip, 1990. UC Berkeley Psych. Dept. dissertation . "Bilingualism: Two languages, two personalities." Bain, Bruce, 1996. Pathways to the peak of Mount Piaget and Vygotsky: Speaking and cognizing monolingually and bilingually. Rome: Bulzoni Editore. Mollica, Anthony and Marcel Danesi, 1995. "The Foray into the Neurosciences: Have We Learned Anything Useful Yet?" Mosaic 2:4;12-20. Danesi, Marcel, 1994. "The Neuroscientific Perspective in Second Language Acquisition Research: A Critical Synopsis. International Review of Applied Linguistics 32:3;201-228. In addition to my desire not to answer questions about this matter stupidly and/or ignorantly, I was interested in this research because I have been investigating the perception in many bilinguals/multilinguals that they are "a different person" when they use different languages. (I won't bore you with an account of this; I mention it just to provide context.) I became interested in this when Diana Cook sent me "The Bilingual Self: Duet in Two Voices," by RoseMarie Perez Foster, "Cultural and Conceptual Dissonance in Theoretical Practice," by Carla Massey (a response to the previous item), and "The Bilingual Self--Thoughts from a Scientific Positivist or Pragmatic Psychoanalyst, by Perez Foster (a reply to Massey). All are from Psychoanalysitc Dialogues 6:1, 1996, pp. 99 ff. (Sample from Perez Foster's article, page 101: "Thus the bilingual person presents a packaging puzzle, as it were, in which two language-bounded experiential systems are housed in the confines of a single mind." And from page 100, "Bilinguals may possess different experiences of the self, which are organized around their respective languages.") It would have been extremely interesting if the individuals in my database who report this "different person" perception and those who do not correlated in some fashion with the "different storage locations in the brain" research; they do not. I found especially helpful, and thorough, and informative, the article "Brain evolution and neurolinguistic preconditions," by Wendy K. Wilkins and Jennie Wakefield, in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1995) 18:161-226, together with the many pages of commentary on their target article in the same and subsequent issues and their responses to those comments. Wilkins and Wakefield (page 170) propose that Broca's area is "a processing module whose inherent specialization is the hierarchical structuring of information in a format consistent with a temporally ordered linear sequence reflective of that structure." Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net From hannay at LET.VU.NL Tue Oct 14 12:12:28 1997 From: hannay at LET.VU.NL (M. Hannay) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 12:12:28 MET Subject: 8th functional grammar conference, call for papers Message-ID: Eighth International Conference on Functional Grammar Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 6-9 July 1998 Correspondence address: ICFG8, Faculteit der Letteren, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fax: +31-20-444 6500. E-mail enquiries to: ICFG8 at let.vu.nl Since 1984, there has been a highly successful biennial series of International Conferences on Functional Grammar: Amsterdam (1984), Antwerp (1986), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (1988), Copenhagen (1990), Antwerp (1992), York (1994), and C+rdoba (1996). Each of these conferences has helped advance the theory of Functional Grammar and create an ever-growing international community of researchers. It is now time to announce the eighth in this series. CALL FOR PAPERS The Eighth International Conference on Functional Grammar (ICFG8) will be held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 6 to 9 July 1998 and will be organized by Mike Hannay, Caroline Kroon, Lachlan Mackenzie and Lourens de Vries. The Conference will be held in English and will be devoted to Functional Grammar (FG) as set out by the late Simon Dik. His The theory of Functional Grammar, Parts 1 and 2 has appeared posthumously with Mouton de Gruyter (Berlin). Papers are invited that address matters arising from that book and more generally from the tradition of work in FG. Extensive information on FG, including a bibliography of FG, can be found at the following web-site: http://www.mis.coventry.ac.uk/FGIS/ On Saturday 4 July 1998, there will be a one-day Colloquium on the Predicate in Functional Grammar at the Vrije Universiteit, organized jointly by the Institute for Functional Research into Language and Language Use (Amsterdam-Leiden) and the CNRS Nancy 2 (France) and funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research NWO. Participants in ICFG8 are cordially invited to attend this Colloquium, free of charge. ABSTRACTS If you wish present a paper , you are requested to send an abstract of your presentation, preferably by e-mail to ICFG8 at let.vu.nl, or by "snail mail" to: ICFG8 Organizing Committee Faculteit der Letteren, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands to arrive no later than 15 January 1998. Please note that this deadline MUST be met. Please make sure that your abstract is: - no longer than 300 words - written in good English Your abstract should include the following: 1. Title of the presentation 2. Your name, postal address, institutional affiliation and (where applicable) your e-mail address and/or fax number 3. Text of the abstract 4. References, if necessary 5. An indication whether special audio-visual equipment is required All abstracts will be assessed by the Organizing Committee, which will put together a programme that is thematically coherent. If there are sufficient papers on (a) Predicate Formation and/or (b) the relation between Functional Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics, special workshops will be incorporated into the programme, to be led by Casper de Groot and Dik Bakker respectively. FEES All participants will be asked to pay a Conference fee of NLG 175. The fee, to be paid in full and in Dutch currency (cash) at the beginning of the Conference, will cover participation in the conference itself, the book of abstracts, the opening reception, tea and coffee during breaks, as well as an excursion on Wednesday afternoon 8 July. There will also be a banquet in the evening after the excursion, for which all participants in the Conference will be invited to sign up (for an extra charge). [Participants whose abstract has been selected for presentation or who register as non-presenters will be informed how they can, if they wish, pay in advance by credit card.] TRAVEL TO AND FROM AMSTERDAM Participants will be expected to make their own arrangements for travel to and from Amsterdam. Their attention is drawn to the possibility of arriving by Saturday 4 July 1998 and thereby benefiting from APEX air travel rates; the Saturday can be spent at the Colloquium on the Predicate, and the Sunday devoted to tourism - there will be an opening reception on Sunday evening, 5 July. EATING The university restaurants will be open to participants throughout the day and in the evening. Participants will also be provided with a list of recommended restaurants in Amsterdam. PARTICIPANTS WITH NO PRESENTATION Participants wishing to attend without presenting a paper should provide the following information to the ICFG8 Organizing Committee: - name - postal address - affiliation - if available, e-mail and/or fax number ACCOMMODATION Participants whose abstract has been accepted or who have registered as a non-presenter will be sent an overview of accommodation in Amsterdam, across the full price range, from very cheap upwards; they will be expected to make their own arrangements with the hotels, hostels, etc. From annes at HTDC.ORG Tue Oct 14 21:34:31 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:34:31 -1000 Subject: Grants for NLP Message-ID: Besides NIST and the NSF can readers tell me where I might look for grants for work in NLP and MT? I would be interested in names, web sites, addresses, whatever there is. I will post a summary to the list (unless NIST and NSF is all there is). Phil Bralich Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From lin76mma at STUDENT1.LU.SE Wed Oct 15 07:29:29 1997 From: lin76mma at STUDENT1.LU.SE (mario marcolin) Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 08:29:29 +0100 Subject: No subject Message-ID: FILE FUNKNET From annes at HTDC.ORG Fri Oct 17 21:02:42 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:02:42 -1000 Subject: Summary of Info on Grants for NLP Message-ID: Based on my posting of last week, I have received these sources from individuals concerning sources for grants for work in NLP other than NIST and NSF. >The LSA publishes a booklet on grant sources for linguistic research. >have a look at >http://www2.echo.lu/telematics/langeng/le.html and more generally >http://www.cordis.lu/cordis/site_map.html >http://web.fie.com/ Thanks very much to everyone who responded (privately or otherwise), it is important in my work that I consider both academic and commercial sources before what I do is considered complete or thoroughly researched. Phil Bralich Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From dever at VERB.LINGUIST.PITT.EDU Fri Oct 17 21:48:36 1997 From: dever at VERB.LINGUIST.PITT.EDU (Daniel L. Everett) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 17:48:36 -0400 Subject: Givon's Novel Message-ID: Was there anything posted on this list yet about Tom Givon's new HarperCollins Novel, _Running through the tall grass_? I was out of the country all summer, so might have missed a posting on it when it appeared in June. If so, forgive the redundancy of this posting. The book has nothing to do with linguistics, except the author. But given that it is an interesting book by a leading functionalist, it seems worth a mention here. It can be ordered via www.amazon.com for $16.10. I recommend it. -- Dan ****************************** ****************************** Daniel L. Everett Department of Linguistics University of Pittsburgh 2816 CL Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Phone: 412-624-8101; Fax: 412-624-6130 http://verb.linguist.pitt.edu/~dever From annes at HTDC.ORG Wed Oct 22 01:39:14 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 15:39:14 -1000 Subject: NLP at Staford Message-ID: I just noticed that the Stanford web site has a parser on-line under the acronym "ERGO" which stands for English Resource Grammar Online." This parser is at http://eoan.stanford.edu/ergo/parser.html. (n.b. there is no "www" in the address). Please do not confuse that very basic parser with that of Ergo Linguistic Technoglogies. We do not mean to imply that a university of that stature would be so threatened by our parser that it needs to create a decoy, but we need to point out to those who are looking for our web site to see what we can do that our web site is at www.ergo-ling.com and it can do far more than the Stanford site. We are sure that the Stanford site represents the state of the art for parsing OUTSIDE of our offices and for that reason Stanford is not underselling itself, but we do not want to be confused with that rudimentary art. Again the very basic site is at: www.eoan.stanford.edu/ergo/parser.html and the Ergo Linguistics Technology site is at http://ergo-ling.com. Try both if you'd like to have some fun. Phil Bralich President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:808-539-3920 fax:808-539-3924 Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Fri Oct 24 01:19:55 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 20:19:55 -0500 Subject: XVI Aesla Conference (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 12:32:32 PDT From: lorena perez To: spikeg at owlnet.rice.edu Subject: XVI Aesla Conference I wonder if you could forward the following call for papers to all the members of Funknet. I think it will be of interest to them. Thanks, Lorena Perez 16th AESLA CONFERENCE UNIVERSITY OF LA RIOJA, LOGRONO, SPAIN 22-25 April, 1998 CALL FOR PAPERS AND CONFERENCE DETAILS The University of La Rioja will host the 16th AESLA (Spanish Association of Applied Linguistics) Conference. The Conference topic is "Applied Perspectives on Knowledge Organization and Language Processing and Language Use". It will consist of nine Theme Sections, which are listed below. There is an organizer for each section. Hard copies of the full text of communication proposals should be submitted before 30 November, 1997 to the corresponding Theme Section Organizer. Communications should not exceed 10 A4 or US letter size pages, typed double-spaced and with reasonably wide margins. The Conference will feature the following PLENARY LECTURES: -Craig Chaudron (University of Hawaii): "Contrasting approaches to classroom research: quantitative and qualitative analysis of language use and learning". -Louis Goossens (University of Antwerp): "Metaphor, metonymy and modal shifts". -Arthur Graesser (University of Memphis): "The construction of multiple agents during the comprehension of discourse and literary short stories". -Joaqun Garrido Medina (Complutense University, Madrid): "El analisis del uso: desde la pragmatica y la sociolinguistica hacia una nueva concepcion de la gramatica". (The analysis of usage: from pragmatics and sociolinguistics to a new conception of grammar) -Nanda Poulisse (University of Amsterdam): "Slips of the tongue and second language processing". The Conference will host several WORKSHOPS and ROUND TABLES, which will be simultaneous with other conference events. THEME SECTION ORGANIZERS (plus submittal address): LANGUAGE ACQUISITION & LEARNING Rosa Maria Manchon Ruiz Universidad de Murcia Departamento de Filologia Inglesa Plaza de la Universidad 30071- Murcia Tel: (34) (68) 363187 Fax: (34) (68) 363185/363417 E-mail: manchon at fcu.um.es SYLLABUS DESIGN & LANGUAGE TEACHING Aquilino Sanchez Perez Universidad de Murcia Departamento de Filologia Inglesa Plaza de la Universidad 30071- Murcia Tel: (34) (68) 363175/191 Fax: (34) (68) 363185 E-mail: asanchez at fcu.um.esa LANGUAGE FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES Guadalupe Aguado de Cea Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Facultad de Informatica Campus de Montegancedo Boadilla del Monte 28660- Madrid Tel: (34) (1) 715 84 11 Fax: (34) (1) 336 74 12 E-mail: lupe at fi.upm.es LANGUAGE PSYCHOLOGY, CHILD LANGUAGE AND PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Mercedes Belinchon Carmona Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Departamento de Psicologia Basica Facultad de Psicologia 28049-Madrid Tel: 91-3975201 Fax: 91-3975215 E-mail: mercedes.belinchon at uam.es SOCIOLINGUISTICS Francisco Moreno Fernandez Universidad de Alcala Departamento de Filologia Edificio de San Jose de Caracciolos c/Trinidad 5 28801- Alcala de Henares, Madrid. Tel: 91-8854481 (despacho) 91-8855037 (laboratorio) Fax: 91- 8854413 E-mail: fmoreno at filo.alcala.es PRAGMATICS, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS & COMMUNICATION Juana Marin Arrese UNED Departamento de Filologias Extranjeras Facultad de Filologia c/Senda del Rey s/n 28040 Madrid Tel. 3986842 Fax:: 3986830 E-mail: jmarin at sr.uned.es CORPUS LINGUISTICS & COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS Mara Antonia Marti Antonin Universidad de Barcelona Departamento de Filologia Romanica Seccion de Linguistica General Gran Via 585 08007-Barcelona Tel.: 93-4035671 Fax: 93-3189822 E-mail: amarti at lingua.fil.ub.es LEXICOLOGY & LEXICOGRAPHY Jesus M. Sanchez Garcia Universidad de Cordoba Departamento de Filologia Francesa e Inglesa Facultad de Filosofia y Letras Plaza del Cardenal Salazar, 3 14071-Cordoba Tel: (957) 218135 Fax: (957) 218789 E-mail: ff1sagaj at lucano.uco.es TRANSLATION & INTERPRETATION Pamela Faber Universidad de Granada Departamento de Traduccion e Interpretacion Facultad de Traduccion e Interpretacion c/Puentezuelas 55 18002-Granada Tel: (958) 246261 Fax.: (958) 244104 E-mail: pfaber at REDESTB.ES For registration, hotel and excursion reservation, and any other enquiries concerning AESLA or the Conference, contact: 16th AESLA CONFERENCE Javier Martin Arista (Secretary) Departamento de Filologias Modernas Edificio Quintiliano c/ Ciguena 60 26004, Logrono (La Rioja) Tel.: (941) 299425/299433 Fax: (941) 299419 e-mail: javier.martin at dfm.unirioja.es or visit the following webpages: http://www.unirioja.es/dptos/dep_frame.html http://www2.uji.es/aesla ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From darnell at CSD.UWM.EDU Sun Oct 26 18:05:04 1997 From: darnell at CSD.UWM.EDU (Michael Darnell) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 12:05:04 -0600 Subject: Call for Papers Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline for submission of abstracts is February 2, 1998 DISCOURSE ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES 24TH UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE LINGUISTICS SYMPOSIUM SEPTEMBER 10-12, 1998 We are seeking papers that discuss written, spoken, or signed discourse from a cross-linguistic and/or cross-cultural perspective. It is part of the purpose of this symposium to initiate a dialogue among the various disciplines and sub-disciplines that are involved in this study and we are seek abstracts from scholars representing any of the following fields of study where the focus of the paper is on cross-linguistics and/or cross-cultural comparison. discourse analysis text linguistics contrastive rhetoric rhetorical typology translation studies genre studies The list of invited speakers, which we will announce shortly, will include representatives from all these fields. Papers will be 20 minutes long, with a 10 minute discussion period to follow. Please send 9 copies of an anonymous abstract and a 3x5 inch card containing the title of the paper and your name, affiliation, mailing address, and email address. The abstract may be up to one typed page, with figures and references allowed on a second page. the typeface can be no smaller than 10 points; allow one inch [2cm] margins on all sides of the paper. If your abstract is accepted, it will be included in the meeting handbook: we therefore prefer submission by regular mail over submission by email or fax. A selection of the conference papers, supplemented with some invited contributions, will be published by John Benjamins in a volume [or set of volumes] edited by Michael Darnell, Carol Lynn Moder, and Michael Noonan SEND YOUR ABSTRACT TO: '98 UWM Symposium Committee Department of English University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 USA ABSTRACT DEADLINE: February 2, 1998 For further information in the future, visit our website: http://www.uwm.edu:80/Dept/English/98Symp.html or contact Michael Darnell Dept. of English University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 USA phone: 414-962-1943; fax: 414-229-2643; messages: 414-229-4511; email: darnell at csd.uwm.edu From mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL Mon Oct 27 08:37:41 1997 From: mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL (Bella Kotik) Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:37:41 +0200 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: Dear collegues! Sorry for late reply, but I only recently joined the funknet and Israeli hollydays are pretty long... The topic of the discussion provocated by 'Nature" report is really interesting in several aspects.First, I agree with Liz Bates, that the tendency to simplification sometimes may change the whole thing: in the original paper they use term "representation" and you used "starage", which is not the same thing.To speak of storage is just to solve a pseudoproblem. As a pupil of Alexander Luria, I see the problem from Systemic Dinamic point of view.The language functions even in a monolingual subjects are result of cooperation of a system of concertedly working zones, each of them has a specific input in the whole. It should be stressed, that acquisition of a new language is a result of cooperation of several factors, the nain are: age, way of asquisition (formal learning vs acquisition and hence dominant input modality), linguistic characteristics of L1 and L2(script, degree of sound-letter correspondence etc.), affective complex, individuality of the learner, proficiency, recency, usage. Each of the factors may influence the resulting pattern in every specific situation. Thus, the absence of differences in Wernike area might be just result of task specificity: this zone is involved primarily in phonemic perception and be the task not a productive, but perceptive, the difference would be most pronounced here. We do not know much about language anamnesis of each subject, but the dynamic if changes in brain organisation in bilinguals is rather pronounced first five years as was evident from my investigation of the changes in laterality effects in foreign students(native speakers of French, Spanish and Vietnameese) actively who acquired Russian (Kotik B. On the Role of the Right Hemisphere in the Speech of Bilinguals. in:A.Ardila and F.Ostrosky-Solis "The Right Hemisphere, Neurology and Neuropsychology", Gordon and Breach,New-York, 1984 pp.227-240.) There are many more questions that might be askes about influence of Dinamic factors, such as vigilance and resource recruitment in L1 and L2, which might be responsible for a wider area active in L2. Just an example of my own threelingual experience: when I am very tired I begin to experience different problems in understanding and producing in English and Hebrew, and even speaking Russian which is my mothertongue, but not understanding. Thus not only age is an important factor in SLA.And I wish success to all who does research in the field. Sincerely dr.Bella Kotik-Friedgut The NSJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, School of Education The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905,Israel tel. 972-2-5882177 (office), 972-2-6713964(home), Fax 972-2-5882174 mskotik at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il From mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL Tue Oct 28 07:56:18 1997 From: mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL (Bella Kotik) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:56:18 +0200 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: > > >Dear collegues! Sorry for late reply, but I only recently joined the >funknet >and Israeli hollydays are pretty long... >The topic of the discussion provocated by 'Nature" report is really >interesting in several aspects.First, I agree with Liz Bates, that the >tendency to simplification sometimes may change the whole thing: in the >original paper they use term "representation" and you used "starage", >which >is not the same thing.To speak of storage is just to solve a >pseudoproblem. > As a pupil of Alexander Luria, I see the problem from Systemic Dinamic >point of view.The language functions even in a monolingual subjects are >result of cooperation of a system of concertedly working zones, each of >them >has a specific input in the whole. > It should be stressed, that acquisition of a new language is a result >of >cooperation of several factors, the nain are: age, way of asquisition >(formal learning vs acquisition and hence dominant input modality), >linguistic characteristics of L1 and L2(script, degree of sound-letter >correspondence etc.), affective complex, individuality of the learner, >proficiency, recency, usage. Each of the factors may influence the >resulting >pattern in every specific situation. > Thus, the absence of differences in Wernike area might be just result >of >task specificity: this zone is involved primarily in phonemic perception >and >be the task not a productive, but perceptive, the difference would be >most >pronounced here. > We do not know much about language anamnesis of each subject, but the >dynamic if changes in brain organisation in bilinguals is rather >pronounced >first five years as was evident from my investigation of the changes in >laterality effects in foreign students(native speakers of French, >Spanish >and Vietnameese) actively who acquired Russian (Kotik B. On the Role of >the >Right Hemisphere in the Speech of Bilinguals. in:A.Ardila and >F.Ostrosky-Solis "The Right Hemisphere, Neurology and Neuropsychology", >Gordon and Breach,New-York, 1984 pp.227-240.) > There are many more questions that might be askes about influence of >Dinamic factors, such as vigilance and resource recruitment in L1 and >L2, >which might be responsible for a wider area active in L2. > Just an example of my own threelingual experience: when I am very >tired I >begin to experience different problems in understanding and producing in >English and Hebrew, and even speaking Russian which is my mothertongue, >but >not understanding. > Thus not only age is an important factor in SLA.And I wish success to >all >who does research in the field. > >Sincerely >dr.Bella Kotik-Friedgut >The NSJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, >School of Education >The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, >Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905,Israel >tel. 972-2-5882177 (office), 972-2-6713964(home), >Fax 972-2-5882174 >mskotik at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il > > From rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU Tue Oct 28 19:27:17 1997 From: rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Ron Kuzar) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:27:17 -0500 Subject: Ebonics Message-ID: On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 I posted a query re Discourse on Ebonics: Does anybody know of work on the recent Ebonics controversy? I am interested in a description of the evolution of the debate, and the socio-cultural arguments used in it, coming from fields such as folklinguistic beliefs, policies on mono/bilingualism, English as the official language of the US, etc. The context of this request is a course I am giving next semester on 'Language and Nation-Building'. I have been reading some of the contributions on the linguist list. Some interesting documents also show up upon searching the net for 'ebonics'. What I am looking for is a text-book level summary of the issues that may be assigned as reading. Other contributions, more theoretical ones, are also highly welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Most responses pointed out to me that there are internet resources, which I in fact mentioned in my question. The following was the only really relevant answer I received, and I find it to be an excellent one. The article by Jaquelyne Jackson is a very good overview, and other articles in that issue, including McWhorter's contribution, can be used to expand the treatment of the topic in many ways. ======================================================================== >>From johnmcw at socrates.Berkeley.EDU Tue Oct 28 12:26:27 1997 Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 13:12:14 -0700 (PDT) From: "John H. McWhorter" To: rok2 at CS1.CC.Lehigh.EDU Subject: Ebonics For a readable treatment (several, actually) on the Ebonics CONTROVERSY and its larger meanings, try the recent issue of THE BLACK SCHOLAR (27:1) which solicited various contributions. One piece (by Jacqueline Jackson, I think) was particularly good in describing the whole thing. Best, John McWhorter ---------------------------------------------------------------- If anybody has any new ideas re the above, let them please be heard. Thanks Ron Kuzar ======================================================================== | Dr. Ron Kuzar | | (Dept. of English, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel) | | During the academic year 1997/8 Visiting Professor at: | | Office Address: Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University,| | 9 West Packer Avenue | | Bethlehem, PA 18015-3082 | | Office phone: (610) 758-4857 | | Office fax: (610) 758-4858 | | Home Phone: (610) 395-3210 | | Email: rok2 at cs1.cc.lehigh.edu | ======================================================================== From ocls at IPA.NET Wed Oct 1 13:43:01 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 08:43:01 -0500 Subject: language "locations" in the brain Message-ID: A number of you have responded very helpfully to my query about whether or not consciousness might be different in monolinguals versus bi/multilinguals. I want to thank you, and to assure you that I was not being deliberately obscure; rather, I was trying to keep my query broad enough (vague enough, if you like) so that it would not exclude anyone on terminological grounds alone. I will try now to clarify matters, very briefly, and will again appreciate your comments. In the course of research on multilingualism, I have been investigating the phenomenon whereby some mlinguals have a perception that they are "a different person" when using one or more of their languages than the person they are when using others. (I myself fall into that group, by the way.) Responses to a question about whether they have that perception split in a fashion that I find interesting; either they say "Of course! Why would you need to ask?" or they say "Of course not! What a stupid question!" There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. Add to this two other scraps of information. (1) That psychoanalysts offer a good deal of evidence for the "separate personality" in mlinguals (with the obvious caveat that they're referring to individuals with problems severe enough to require therapy) and (2) the recent research (see Nature, 7/10/97) indicating that second or nth languages acquired after puberty appear to establish separate Broca's area storage in the brain, while those acquired in early childhood do not do so. It's an intriguing mix, and I'm searching for additional ideas and data that may point me in the proper direction -- including, of course, the conclusion that none of it fits together other than coincidentally. Thank you for your help. Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net From dcyr at YORKU.CA Wed Oct 1 14:06:56 1997 From: dcyr at YORKU.CA (Danielle Cyr) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 14:06:56 +0000 Subject: language "locations" in the brain Message-ID: Dear Suzette, As an additional idea (or I'm perhaps simply reinventing the wheel...), did you look into eye movement for mlinguals retrieving memorized texts in one of their non-native languages? I suggest that, because recently, as I was reciting a poem in Swedish, then my own French translation of it, for a friend who is a psychologist, she made the comment that my eye movements were different in the different languages. She said that when reciting in Swedish I seemed to be searching in the right brain, while when reciting in French (my mother tongue) I seemed to be searching in the left brain. I'm not at all a specialist of those questions and I don't know if my friend is either, so you judge by yourself. Best, Danielle Cyr From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Oct 1 20:10:03 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 15:10:03 -0500 Subject: multilingualism and multiple personalities Message-ID: I suspect that social factors might play a greater role than neurological factors in accounting for why some people feel like "a different person" when speaking their second language(s) I learned the second languages in which I became fluent (Nepali, Spanish and Portuguese) all after the age of 21, and in each case, I learned by immersion (the first time supplemented by intensive instruction, the other times not). I definitely did not learn by "translation", but by experiencing the languages in context, picking up meanings by inference and example, learning appropriate usage by imitation and trial and error (i.e. mostly "natural" language learning, parallel to how first languages are learned). I have commented several times over the years how I feel "different" when speaking a second language. Some differences could plausibly be linked to neurology (as Brian suggested), by assuming that the first language has already fully optimized its use of the space it occupies, requiring you to look elsewhere for storage for new ideas. Such things might be the nuances of lexical semantics, which often cannot translate easily (e.g. even something as concrete and apparently simple as 'plate' have a very different set of referents in America versus Nepal, as well as different location and manner of use, etc. -- they hence could reasonably be expected to be stored in different cognitive spaces). You might also throw in the processing required for changing your expectations about what sorts of meanings come in what order, e.g. adjective-Noun versus noun-adjective, or more complex discourse patterns / information structuring, like putting 'if' and 'then' at the ENDS of their respective clauses (as in SOV language Nepali). These things might require additional storage and pattern recognition strategies, which might thereby account for the neurological differences, but I don't see these things as necessarily making me feel like "a different person". Where I feel the difference myself is in the domain of personal interaction, where your dialogic turn-taking behaviors might be radically different, including also the grunts and interjections you use to maintain connection during conversation (not just the sounds themselves, but when to use them). And taking a step further away from "pure" language, but still sticking firmly in the context where language is used, some will notice how different your body language might be when speaking different languages in different cultural contexts -- not just conventionalized gestures, but your intuitive sense of how much personal space to give your interlocutor, or whether to look them in the eye, etc. And then take the step into attitudes and expectations, and you find that the presuppositions you make about what is acceptable / expected / appropriate vary tremendously with cultural context, shaping again your freedom to express many of the things you might want to express; the more aware you are of these things, and the more you take them into account when speaking, the more you will feel like a "different person". You need a different set of "appropriateness filters" in each situation, and to the extent that speaking a foreign language correlates with immersion into a foreign culture (and ADOPTION of different "filters"), it would not be surprising for someone to feel like a different person while speaking different languages. These things are all associated with becoming an insider in a foreign culture, and I'm sure the list could be extended greatly with just a little bit of brainstorming. There is a pretty good body of literature on the phenomenon of "culture shock", in which people who have been away from their native culture for a period of time experience distress because they no longer fit neatly into the cultural (and sometimes even linguistic) patterns of their native culture when they return. The difference between fluent second language speakers might have to do with degree of acculturation -- the more acculturated (i.e. the more you "go native"), the more you might be prone to feel like a different person. So how might we account for the difference between native bilinguals and fluent second-language/second-culture people? My naive hypothesis would be that children who grow up bicultural would feel much less shock of transition, since they don't have to "unlearn" primary socialization in order to transfer to a new set of "filters" -- their primary socialization already includes multiple filters. What do you think? Spike P.S. I am reminded of the New Yorker cartoon in which a dismayed-looking couple is looking across the street, where they see themselves, except animated and happy, maybe already a bit tipsy, heading for a party just up the street. Caption: "Oh no, here come our other selves!" From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Wed Oct 1 20:26:56 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 15:26:56 -0500 Subject: Double messages Message-ID: A number of people have told me that they would like to receive copies of the e-mail messages they send in to FUNKNET, not least so they would know that the message had actually been posted to the list. The uncertainty has led some to send double and even triple copies of messages. I apparently can't set this parameter for the entire list (I would prefer the default to be that everyone receive copies of their own postings), but those who prefer to do so can set the parameter individually. To set or change parameters, send commands to: LISTSERV at rice.edu To recieve copies of your postings, you need to send the the following command: SET FUNKNET REPRO To receive acknowledgement of your posting (presumably without a copy): SET FUNKNET ACK To toggle receipt of mail without signing off the list (e.g. to go on vacation): SET MAIL / NOMAIL Happy October! Spike From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Thu Oct 2 15:40:05 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 10:40:05 -0500 Subject: funknet commands on web Message-ID: As a follow-up to Spike's msg. on acknowledgments of Funknet postings, I'd like to make it known that Funknet info is posted on a link to our Department's homepage. The Funknet URL is: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ling/funknet.html . From there you click on "Funknet Commands" ; options for various levels of acknowledgment are several sections down, under "Extra Options" . Funknet Commands includes descriptions of the most useful tasks that people want to do with Funknet, including accessing the Funknet address list. --Suzanne Kemmer From bfox at SPOT.COLORADO.EDU Thu Oct 2 17:51:56 1997 From: bfox at SPOT.COLORADO.EDU (Fox Barbara) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 11:51:56 -0600 Subject: tenure-track position at the University of Colorado, Boulder Message-ID: The Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado, Boulder seeks candidates for an Assistant Professor position in syntax. The successful candidate will demonstrate original contributions to syntactic theory, and will have thorough grounding in functional and formal approaches to syntax, including those that study interactions among semantics, pragmatics and syntax. Broad teaching interests and proven successful teaching are also required. Strong research in one or more non-Indo-European languages, and interest in other areas of linguistics are highly desirable. Send application letter, resume and names and addresses of three references to Barbara Fox, Chair, Search Committee, Dept of Linguistics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0295, by December 1, 1997. Informal interviews at the LSA can be arranged. We strongly support the principle of diversity. Applications from women, ethnic minorities, disabled persons, veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era are appreciated. From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Thu Oct 2 22:58:37 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike Gildea) Date: Thu, 2 Oct 1997 17:58:37 -0500 Subject: test Message-ID: testing for mailer daemons... ;> From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Oct 6 03:51:43 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 22:51:43 -0500 Subject: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain Message-ID: I've been asked to post the following on Funknet. --S.K. --------------------------------------------------------------- >>From ocls at ipa.net Sat Oct 4 10:44 CDT 1997 Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 10:51:24 -0600 From: ocls at ipa.net (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) I would very much appreciate hearing something from knowledgeable members of the list about their reaction to the July 1997 report in *Nature* (and media worldwide) that persons who learn more than one language as infants store them in a single Broca's area location in the brain while those who learn additional languages as adults store them in separate Broca's area locations in the brain. (Brutal summary, I know, but enough to identify the topic in question.) Could I have some reactions? And a reaction to the claim that no matter how many separate areas of this sort are established, the "semantics" of all languages acquired is stored in a single Wernicke's area site? The research, done with functional MRIs, is also reported in an Internet news release from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Thanks for your help.... Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net *** From griffith at KULA.USP.AC.FJ Mon Oct 6 05:04:39 1997 From: griffith at KULA.USP.AC.FJ (Patrick Griffiths) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 17:04:39 +1200 Subject: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain In-Reply-To: <199710060351.WAA07702@ruf.rice.edu> Message-ID: Suzette Hadin Elgin and others interested might like to know that Info-CHILDES, the list of the Child Language Data Exchange System, recently carried a short discussion of the July 1997 NATURE article on bilingual brain localization. I found it informative. Info-CHILDES discussions are archived at http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/childes/index.html Applications to SUBSCRIBE to Info-CHILDES should, I believe, go to info-childes-request at andrew.cmu.edu On Sun, 5 Oct 1997, Suzanne E Kemmer wrote: > I've been asked to post the following on Funknet. --S.K. > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > > >From ocls at ipa.net Sat Oct 4 10:44 CDT 1997 > Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 10:51:24 -0600 > From: ocls at ipa.net (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) > > I would very much appreciate hearing something from knowledgeable > members of the list about their reaction to the July 1997 report in > *Nature* (and media worldwide) that persons who learn more than one > language as infants store them in a single Broca's area location in > the brain while those who learn additional languages as adults store > them in separate Broca's area locations in the brain. (Brutal summary, > I know, but enough to identify the topic in question.) Could I have > some reactions? And a reaction to the claim that no matter how many > separate areas of this sort are established, the "semantics" of all > languages acquired is stored in a single Wernicke's area site? The > research, done with functional MRIs, is also reported in an Internet > news release from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Thanks for your help.... > > > Suzette Haden Elgin > ocls at ipa.net > > *** ======================================================================= Dr Patrick Griffiths Department of Literature & Language University of the South Pacific P O Box 1168 Suva Fiji Telephone: (+679) 212314 Fax: (+679) 305053 (must bear my name to be sure of reaching me) _______________________________________________________________________ The University of the South Pacific is the university of twelve island countries: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa. The main campus is located in Suva, the capital of Fiji (on Vitilevu, the largest of Fiji's 300+ islands), but there are regional centres in all but one of the countries served. There are on-campus students as well as large numbers enrolled for distance learning. From rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU Mon Oct 6 18:06:24 1997 From: rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Ron Kuzar) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 14:06:24 -0400 Subject: Discourse on Ebonics Message-ID: Does anybody know of work on the recent Ebonics controversy? I am interested in a description of the evolution of the debate, and the socio-cultural arguments used in it, coming from fields such as folklinguistic beliefs, policies on mono/bilingualism, English as the official language of the US, etc. The context of this request is a course I am giving next semester on 'Language and Nation-Building'. I have been reading some of the contributions on the linguist list. Some interesting documents also show up upon searching the net for 'ebonics'. What I am looking for is a text-book level summary of the issues that may be assigned as reading. Other contributions, more theoretical ones, are also highly welcome. Thanks Roni ======================================================================== | Dr. Ron Kuzar | | (Dept. of English, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel) | | During the academic year 1997/8 Visiting Professor at: | | Office Address: Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University,| | 9 West Packer Avenue | | Bethlehem, PA 18015-3082 | | Office phone: (610) 758-4857 | | Office fax: (610) 758-4858 | | Home Phone: (610) 395-3210 | | Email: rok2 at cs1.cc.lehigh.edu | ======================================================================== From kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Mon Oct 6 20:17:22 1997 From: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU (Suzanne E Kemmer) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 15:17:22 -0500 Subject: Liz Bates' response from Italy Message-ID: Sorry for reposting a msg that did in fact get posted earlier (despite error msgs to sender). But the repost was useful in provoking the following response from Liz Bates. --Suzanne ------------------------------------------------------------ >>From bates at kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it Mon Oct 6 05:45 CDT 1997 Received: from kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it (kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it [150.146.7.5]) by ruf.rice.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id FAA29518 for ; Mon, 6 Oct 1997 05:45:38 -0500 (CDT) From: bates at kant.irmkant.rm.cnr.it Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:38:20 GMT To: kemmer at RUF.RICE.EDU Subject: Re: forwarded re: lg. localization in brain I'm on sabbatical in Rome, on a steam-driven email system that precludes easy distribution -- but feel free to forward this to Funknet if you think it would be useful.... I believe that the article in Nature on differential localization for Language 1 and Language 2 represents the kind of gross over-interpretation of neural imaging data that has become all too common in the last few years. Let's be clear about exactly what this paper (like many others before it -- this is not the first paper on neural imaging in bilinguals) has really shown: (1) patterns of activation associated with covert speech in L1 and L2 are largely very similar, but (2) there are some reliable differences in the center and extent of activation in the Broca region. None of this has anything necessarily to do with STORAGE of L1 vs. L2! Presumably (although very very little subject information was provided) these are people who are less fluent in their second language. Hence, in essence, covert speech in L2 is a somewhat different task, with somewhat different demands. In fact, I myself fit their description of these biliguals fairly well, and I can assure you that I am less articulate and fluent in Italian, even though I have spoken it for 31 years (including a semester-long course taught in Italian). Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are discussing right now. Aside from this serious problem of confusing patterns of slightly non-overlapping activity with separate modules, separate mechanisms, separate storage of knowledge, there are other problems here as well. For example, the assumption that Broca's area mediates grammar while Wernicke's area mediates semantics is HIGHLY controversial, and in my view, probably dead wrong. Both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics have severe grammatical problems, but they take a somewhat different form (e.g. omission in the former case, substitution in the latter). And those studies that have tried to find a 'grammar area' through neural imaging of normals have generally found EITHER that grammar and lexical semantics activate the same areas, OR they have found differences that vary markedly from study to study, and even from one individual patient to another -- consistent with a "task demand" interpretation of the data. Another problem lies in the assumption that any area which mediates language is a "language area." In fact, a number of recent neural imaging studies have shown that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of the Broca's area complex (and, by the way, even the boundaries of Broca's area of controversial, varying from study to study) is activated by one or more covert motor tasks involving non-linguistic motor activities, of the hands or tongue or both. So it is possible that ALL we are seeing in this study in Nature is an effect in which bilinguals set their mouths a little differently (covertly, of course) while speaking their second language -- possibly reflecting greater difficulty in L2 in this case. I hope this is useful. -liz bates From ocls at IPA.NET Tue Oct 7 02:36:34 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 20:36:34 -0600 Subject: duplicate posting Message-ID: Suzanne Kemmer wrote: Sorry for reposting a msg that did in fact get posted earlier (despite error msgs to sender). But the repost was useful.... The fault here is mine; not only am I impatient, I also believe what I am told by machines. When I tried to subscribe I got an immediate rejection from the server saying that I had the wrong address -- and I leaped to the conclusion that it could be trusted and appealed to Suzanne to forward my message. I apologize. Suzette Haden Elgin From metzlutz at NEUROCHEM.U-STRASBG.FR Thu Oct 9 12:14:50 1997 From: metzlutz at NEUROCHEM.U-STRASBG.FR (Marie-Noelle Metz-Lutz) Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 14:14:50 +0200 Subject: "SIGNOFF FUNKNET" Message-ID: "SIGNOFF FUNKNET" Dr Marie Noelle Metz-Lutz INSERM U398 Clinique Neurologique Hopitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg 67091 STRASBOURG Cedex-France Tel: (33) 03 88 11 68 92 or 03 88 11 66 62 From Christer.Platzack at NORDLUND.LU.SE Fri Oct 10 07:53:30 1997 From: Christer.Platzack at NORDLUND.LU.SE (Christer Platzack) Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 09:53:30 +0200 Subject: pin processor etc Message-ID: Liz Bates wrote: "Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are discussing right now." This is an inadequate metaphor! The adjustment of the hand when picking up a pin or a pen is more like what we do when we accomodate a message to context (the choice of topic and focus and similar things). Maybe a better metaphor for different languages would have been to consider icking up a pen with the hand or with the mouth (or the foot). > Christer Platzack Institutionen for nordiska sprak Helgonabacken 14 S-223 62 Lund Sweden From lmenn at CLIPR.COLORADO.EDU Fri Oct 10 18:00:40 1997 From: lmenn at CLIPR.COLORADO.EDU (Lise Menn, Linguistics, CU Boulder) Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 11:00:40 -0700 Subject: pin processor etc In-Reply-To: <971010.095330.47490@macpost.lu.se> Message-ID: What are the criteria for adequacy of a metaphor? I think one can ask if it's misleading or not; and in the present instance, I don't see data to support an argument as to whether either of these metaphors is appropriate, though both of them are appealing. Lise Menn On Fri, 10 Oct 1997, Christer Platzack wrote: > Liz Bates wrote: > > "Now: if I pick up a pin, and then pick up a pen, I will necessarily > configure my hand slightly differently for these two tasks. Does > that mean that I have a "pin processor" that is distinct from > and located separately from my "pen processor"? Or is this simply > the dynamic (and transient) result of somewhat different task > demands? In the case of the hand, we assume the latter. In the > case of brain activation studies, we typically assume the former. > Neither one is justified, in and of itself, by the data we are > discussing right now." > > This is an inadequate metaphor! The adjustment of the hand when picking up a pin > or a pen is more like what we do when we accomodate a message to context (the > choice of topic and focus and similar things). > Maybe a better metaphor for different languages would have been to consider > icking up a pen with the hand or with the mouth (or the foot). > > > Christer Platzack > Institutionen for nordiska sprak > Helgonabacken 14 > S-223 62 Lund > Sweden > From ocls at IPA.NET Sun Oct 12 19:38:10 1997 From: ocls at IPA.NET (George Elgin, Suzette Haden Elgin) Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 14:38:10 -0500 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: Recently I posted a request on this list (and several others) for reactions to the 7/10/97 article by Kim and Hirsch in *Nature* reporting functional MRI research showing a difference between bilinguals acquiring both languages as infants or young children, and bilinguals acquiring their second language as adults. A Memorial Sloan-Kettering news release had the following quotation attributed to Dr. Joy Hirsch: "A second language acquired during the teenage years, which is late in developmental life, is represented in the brain in a separate location from the native language. But when both languages are learned at the same time early in life, they are represented in areas that have a considerable amount of overlap." ("Bilinguals Devote Distinct Areas of Brain to Native and Second Languages," MSKCC: Press Releases, online.) The NY Times for 7/15/97 ran a story titled "When an Adult Adds a Language, It's One Brain, Two Systems"; the Wall Street Journal's story on 7/10/97 had two headlines -- "How Language Is Stored in Brain Depends on Age" and "Where Languages Are Stored in Brain Depends on Your Age." I immediately began receiving phone calls and mail with questions about this research. I am not a neuroscientist and did not feel competent to answer the questions with even minimal accuracy; I am very unwilling to add to the usual confusion created by such media reports. I wrote the authors requesting clarification, and got no response; I did an online search and found nothing that I felt I could trust; I then asked for help from the lists. (Depending on the precise wording, a search on "language locations in the brain in bilinguals/multilinguals" on Neuroscience Web Search gets roughly 3000 hits, through which I have been doggedly working my way.) My sincere thanks to all who responded. The majority of responses were from individuals expressing interest and asking that I share whatever information came my way. A number of responses can be summarized as "This research is nothing new, nor is it especially significant." (Medical professionals responding, who rely on information of this kind in order to do neurosurgery without catastrophic effects on language capacity in patients, disagreed with that judgment.) A number of bilingual or monolingual responders wrote with accounts of personal experiences that were extremely useful and interesting. Excerpts from responses that strike me as of general interest follow; they are taken from very lengthy postings and should be understood *only* as excerpts. From Joe Hilferty: "Kim et al. ...just investigated neural activation in Wernicke's and Broca's areas, because the two sites are well known from the long tradition of aphasia studies. Their findings do not mean, however, that language is only processed in these areas of the brain." References suggested: ** Bates 1994, "Modularity, Domain Specificity and the Development of Language," Discussions in Neuroscience 10:1-2;136-149. **Maratsos and Matheny 1994, "Language Specificity and Elasticity," Annual Review of Psychology 45: 487-516. From Brian MacWhinney: "I have argued that early bilinguals project the input linguistic data to a single space, because that space is not yet saturated by weights on synaptic connections and the two systems can be learned together in a computationally reasonable sense without worrying about catastrophic interference. In adult L2 learning, the optimal area for an ability has already been occupied and new learning must either use the old territory in a new way or else coopt adjacent 'new' territory. ... A lot of what is at issue here is exactly what the role of Broca's area in language processing might be. ... I would like to think of Broca's as controlling high level sequential planning for language and related abilities." From Liz Bates: "I believe that the article in Nature on differential localization for Language 1 and Language 2 represents the kind of gross over-interpretation of neural imaging data that has become all too common in the last few years. Let's be clear about exactly what this paper (like many others before it -- this is not the first paper on neural imaging in bilinguals) has really shown: (1) patterns of activation associated with covert speech in L1 and L2 are largely very similar, but (2) there are some reliable differences in the center and extent of activation in the Broca region. None of this has anything necessarily to do with STORAGE of L1 vs. L2! ... Aside from this serious problem of confusing patterns of slightly non-overlapping activity with separate modules, separate mechanisms, separate storage of knowledge, there are other problems here as well. For example, the assumption that Broca's area mediates grammar while Wernicke's area mediates semantics is HIGHLY controversial, and in my view, probably dead wrong. Both Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics have severe grammatical problems, but they take a somewhat different form (e.g. omission in the former case, substitution in the latter). And those studies that have tried to find a 'grammar area' through neural imaging of normals have generally found EITHER that grammar and lexical semantics activate the same areas, OR they have found differences that vary markedly from study to study, and even from one individual patient to another -- consistent with a "task demand" interpretation of the data. Another problem lies in the assumption that any area which mediates language is a "language area." In fact, a number of recent neural imaging studies have shown that EVERY SINGLE PIECE of the Broca's area complex (and, by the way, even the boundaries of Broca's area of controversial, varying from study to study) is activated by one or more covert motor tasks involving non-linguistic motor activities, of the hands or tongue or both. So it is possible that ALL we are seeing in this study in Nature is an effect in which bilinguals set their mouths a little differently (covertly, of course) while speaking their second language -- possibly reflecting greater difficulty in L2 in this case." >>From Lise Menn: "It's not an unreasonable result given earlier indications that late bilinguals had a more bilateral representation of language than early bilinguals (using one-hand motor tasks as indicators of hemispheric involvement), and given Damasio's claims that meaning of words with concrete referents is represented in a way that is linked to our sensory expereince of those referents (hence, language independent). Additional references that were suggested to me by a number of list members: Hull, Philip, 1990. UC Berkeley Psych. Dept. dissertation . "Bilingualism: Two languages, two personalities." Bain, Bruce, 1996. Pathways to the peak of Mount Piaget and Vygotsky: Speaking and cognizing monolingually and bilingually. Rome: Bulzoni Editore. Mollica, Anthony and Marcel Danesi, 1995. "The Foray into the Neurosciences: Have We Learned Anything Useful Yet?" Mosaic 2:4;12-20. Danesi, Marcel, 1994. "The Neuroscientific Perspective in Second Language Acquisition Research: A Critical Synopsis. International Review of Applied Linguistics 32:3;201-228. In addition to my desire not to answer questions about this matter stupidly and/or ignorantly, I was interested in this research because I have been investigating the perception in many bilinguals/multilinguals that they are "a different person" when they use different languages. (I won't bore you with an account of this; I mention it just to provide context.) I became interested in this when Diana Cook sent me "The Bilingual Self: Duet in Two Voices," by RoseMarie Perez Foster, "Cultural and Conceptual Dissonance in Theoretical Practice," by Carla Massey (a response to the previous item), and "The Bilingual Self--Thoughts from a Scientific Positivist or Pragmatic Psychoanalyst, by Perez Foster (a reply to Massey). All are from Psychoanalysitc Dialogues 6:1, 1996, pp. 99 ff. (Sample from Perez Foster's article, page 101: "Thus the bilingual person presents a packaging puzzle, as it were, in which two language-bounded experiential systems are housed in the confines of a single mind." And from page 100, "Bilinguals may possess different experiences of the self, which are organized around their respective languages.") It would have been extremely interesting if the individuals in my database who report this "different person" perception and those who do not correlated in some fashion with the "different storage locations in the brain" research; they do not. I found especially helpful, and thorough, and informative, the article "Brain evolution and neurolinguistic preconditions," by Wendy K. Wilkins and Jennie Wakefield, in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1995) 18:161-226, together with the many pages of commentary on their target article in the same and subsequent issues and their responses to those comments. Wilkins and Wakefield (page 170) propose that Broca's area is "a processing module whose inherent specialization is the hierarchical structuring of information in a format consistent with a temporally ordered linear sequence reflective of that structure." Suzette Haden Elgin ocls at ipa.net From hannay at LET.VU.NL Tue Oct 14 12:12:28 1997 From: hannay at LET.VU.NL (M. Hannay) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 12:12:28 MET Subject: 8th functional grammar conference, call for papers Message-ID: Eighth International Conference on Functional Grammar Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 6-9 July 1998 Correspondence address: ICFG8, Faculteit der Letteren, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Fax: +31-20-444 6500. E-mail enquiries to: ICFG8 at let.vu.nl Since 1984, there has been a highly successful biennial series of International Conferences on Functional Grammar: Amsterdam (1984), Antwerp (1986), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (1988), Copenhagen (1990), Antwerp (1992), York (1994), and C+rdoba (1996). Each of these conferences has helped advance the theory of Functional Grammar and create an ever-growing international community of researchers. It is now time to announce the eighth in this series. CALL FOR PAPERS The Eighth International Conference on Functional Grammar (ICFG8) will be held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 6 to 9 July 1998 and will be organized by Mike Hannay, Caroline Kroon, Lachlan Mackenzie and Lourens de Vries. The Conference will be held in English and will be devoted to Functional Grammar (FG) as set out by the late Simon Dik. His The theory of Functional Grammar, Parts 1 and 2 has appeared posthumously with Mouton de Gruyter (Berlin). Papers are invited that address matters arising from that book and more generally from the tradition of work in FG. Extensive information on FG, including a bibliography of FG, can be found at the following web-site: http://www.mis.coventry.ac.uk/FGIS/ On Saturday 4 July 1998, there will be a one-day Colloquium on the Predicate in Functional Grammar at the Vrije Universiteit, organized jointly by the Institute for Functional Research into Language and Language Use (Amsterdam-Leiden) and the CNRS Nancy 2 (France) and funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research NWO. Participants in ICFG8 are cordially invited to attend this Colloquium, free of charge. ABSTRACTS If you wish present a paper , you are requested to send an abstract of your presentation, preferably by e-mail to ICFG8 at let.vu.nl, or by "snail mail" to: ICFG8 Organizing Committee Faculteit der Letteren, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands to arrive no later than 15 January 1998. Please note that this deadline MUST be met. Please make sure that your abstract is: - no longer than 300 words - written in good English Your abstract should include the following: 1. Title of the presentation 2. Your name, postal address, institutional affiliation and (where applicable) your e-mail address and/or fax number 3. Text of the abstract 4. References, if necessary 5. An indication whether special audio-visual equipment is required All abstracts will be assessed by the Organizing Committee, which will put together a programme that is thematically coherent. If there are sufficient papers on (a) Predicate Formation and/or (b) the relation between Functional Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics, special workshops will be incorporated into the programme, to be led by Casper de Groot and Dik Bakker respectively. FEES All participants will be asked to pay a Conference fee of NLG 175. The fee, to be paid in full and in Dutch currency (cash) at the beginning of the Conference, will cover participation in the conference itself, the book of abstracts, the opening reception, tea and coffee during breaks, as well as an excursion on Wednesday afternoon 8 July. There will also be a banquet in the evening after the excursion, for which all participants in the Conference will be invited to sign up (for an extra charge). [Participants whose abstract has been selected for presentation or who register as non-presenters will be informed how they can, if they wish, pay in advance by credit card.] TRAVEL TO AND FROM AMSTERDAM Participants will be expected to make their own arrangements for travel to and from Amsterdam. Their attention is drawn to the possibility of arriving by Saturday 4 July 1998 and thereby benefiting from APEX air travel rates; the Saturday can be spent at the Colloquium on the Predicate, and the Sunday devoted to tourism - there will be an opening reception on Sunday evening, 5 July. EATING The university restaurants will be open to participants throughout the day and in the evening. Participants will also be provided with a list of recommended restaurants in Amsterdam. PARTICIPANTS WITH NO PRESENTATION Participants wishing to attend without presenting a paper should provide the following information to the ICFG8 Organizing Committee: - name - postal address - affiliation - if available, e-mail and/or fax number ACCOMMODATION Participants whose abstract has been accepted or who have registered as a non-presenter will be sent an overview of accommodation in Amsterdam, across the full price range, from very cheap upwards; they will be expected to make their own arrangements with the hotels, hostels, etc. From annes at HTDC.ORG Tue Oct 14 21:34:31 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:34:31 -1000 Subject: Grants for NLP Message-ID: Besides NIST and the NSF can readers tell me where I might look for grants for work in NLP and MT? I would be interested in names, web sites, addresses, whatever there is. I will post a summary to the list (unless NIST and NSF is all there is). Phil Bralich Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From lin76mma at STUDENT1.LU.SE Wed Oct 15 07:29:29 1997 From: lin76mma at STUDENT1.LU.SE (mario marcolin) Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 08:29:29 +0100 Subject: No subject Message-ID: FILE FUNKNET From annes at HTDC.ORG Fri Oct 17 21:02:42 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:02:42 -1000 Subject: Summary of Info on Grants for NLP Message-ID: Based on my posting of last week, I have received these sources from individuals concerning sources for grants for work in NLP other than NIST and NSF. >The LSA publishes a booklet on grant sources for linguistic research. >have a look at >http://www2.echo.lu/telematics/langeng/le.html and more generally >http://www.cordis.lu/cordis/site_map.html >http://web.fie.com/ Thanks very much to everyone who responded (privately or otherwise), it is important in my work that I consider both academic and commercial sources before what I do is considered complete or thoroughly researched. Phil Bralich Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From dever at VERB.LINGUIST.PITT.EDU Fri Oct 17 21:48:36 1997 From: dever at VERB.LINGUIST.PITT.EDU (Daniel L. Everett) Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 17:48:36 -0400 Subject: Givon's Novel Message-ID: Was there anything posted on this list yet about Tom Givon's new HarperCollins Novel, _Running through the tall grass_? I was out of the country all summer, so might have missed a posting on it when it appeared in June. If so, forgive the redundancy of this posting. The book has nothing to do with linguistics, except the author. But given that it is an interesting book by a leading functionalist, it seems worth a mention here. It can be ordered via www.amazon.com for $16.10. I recommend it. -- Dan ****************************** ****************************** Daniel L. Everett Department of Linguistics University of Pittsburgh 2816 CL Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Phone: 412-624-8101; Fax: 412-624-6130 http://verb.linguist.pitt.edu/~dever From annes at HTDC.ORG Wed Oct 22 01:39:14 1997 From: annes at HTDC.ORG (Anne Sing) Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 15:39:14 -1000 Subject: NLP at Staford Message-ID: I just noticed that the Stanford web site has a parser on-line under the acronym "ERGO" which stands for English Resource Grammar Online." This parser is at http://eoan.stanford.edu/ergo/parser.html. (n.b. there is no "www" in the address). Please do not confuse that very basic parser with that of Ergo Linguistic Technoglogies. We do not mean to imply that a university of that stature would be so threatened by our parser that it needs to create a decoy, but we need to point out to those who are looking for our web site to see what we can do that our web site is at www.ergo-ling.com and it can do far more than the Stanford site. We are sure that the Stanford site represents the state of the art for parsing OUTSIDE of our offices and for that reason Stanford is not underselling itself, but we do not want to be confused with that rudimentary art. Again the very basic site is at: www.eoan.stanford.edu/ergo/parser.html and the Ergo Linguistics Technology site is at http://ergo-ling.com. Try both if you'd like to have some fun. Phil Bralich President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:808-539-3920 fax:808-539-3924 Philip A. Bralich, President Ergo Linguistic Technologies 2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 175 Honolulu, HI 96822 tel:(808)539-3920 fax:(880)539-3924 From spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU Fri Oct 24 01:19:55 1997 From: spikeg at OWLNET.RICE.EDU (Spike L Gildea) Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 20:19:55 -0500 Subject: XVI Aesla Conference (fwd) Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 12:32:32 PDT From: lorena perez To: spikeg at owlnet.rice.edu Subject: XVI Aesla Conference I wonder if you could forward the following call for papers to all the members of Funknet. I think it will be of interest to them. Thanks, Lorena Perez 16th AESLA CONFERENCE UNIVERSITY OF LA RIOJA, LOGRONO, SPAIN 22-25 April, 1998 CALL FOR PAPERS AND CONFERENCE DETAILS The University of La Rioja will host the 16th AESLA (Spanish Association of Applied Linguistics) Conference. The Conference topic is "Applied Perspectives on Knowledge Organization and Language Processing and Language Use". It will consist of nine Theme Sections, which are listed below. There is an organizer for each section. Hard copies of the full text of communication proposals should be submitted before 30 November, 1997 to the corresponding Theme Section Organizer. Communications should not exceed 10 A4 or US letter size pages, typed double-spaced and with reasonably wide margins. The Conference will feature the following PLENARY LECTURES: -Craig Chaudron (University of Hawaii): "Contrasting approaches to classroom research: quantitative and qualitative analysis of language use and learning". -Louis Goossens (University of Antwerp): "Metaphor, metonymy and modal shifts". -Arthur Graesser (University of Memphis): "The construction of multiple agents during the comprehension of discourse and literary short stories". -Joaqun Garrido Medina (Complutense University, Madrid): "El analisis del uso: desde la pragmatica y la sociolinguistica hacia una nueva concepcion de la gramatica". (The analysis of usage: from pragmatics and sociolinguistics to a new conception of grammar) -Nanda Poulisse (University of Amsterdam): "Slips of the tongue and second language processing". The Conference will host several WORKSHOPS and ROUND TABLES, which will be simultaneous with other conference events. THEME SECTION ORGANIZERS (plus submittal address): LANGUAGE ACQUISITION & LEARNING Rosa Maria Manchon Ruiz Universidad de Murcia Departamento de Filologia Inglesa Plaza de la Universidad 30071- Murcia Tel: (34) (68) 363187 Fax: (34) (68) 363185/363417 E-mail: manchon at fcu.um.es SYLLABUS DESIGN & LANGUAGE TEACHING Aquilino Sanchez Perez Universidad de Murcia Departamento de Filologia Inglesa Plaza de la Universidad 30071- Murcia Tel: (34) (68) 363175/191 Fax: (34) (68) 363185 E-mail: asanchez at fcu.um.esa LANGUAGE FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES Guadalupe Aguado de Cea Universidad Politecnica de Madrid Facultad de Informatica Campus de Montegancedo Boadilla del Monte 28660- Madrid Tel: (34) (1) 715 84 11 Fax: (34) (1) 336 74 12 E-mail: lupe at fi.upm.es LANGUAGE PSYCHOLOGY, CHILD LANGUAGE AND PSYCHOLINGUISTICS Mercedes Belinchon Carmona Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Departamento de Psicologia Basica Facultad de Psicologia 28049-Madrid Tel: 91-3975201 Fax: 91-3975215 E-mail: mercedes.belinchon at uam.es SOCIOLINGUISTICS Francisco Moreno Fernandez Universidad de Alcala Departamento de Filologia Edificio de San Jose de Caracciolos c/Trinidad 5 28801- Alcala de Henares, Madrid. Tel: 91-8854481 (despacho) 91-8855037 (laboratorio) Fax: 91- 8854413 E-mail: fmoreno at filo.alcala.es PRAGMATICS, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS & COMMUNICATION Juana Marin Arrese UNED Departamento de Filologias Extranjeras Facultad de Filologia c/Senda del Rey s/n 28040 Madrid Tel. 3986842 Fax:: 3986830 E-mail: jmarin at sr.uned.es CORPUS LINGUISTICS & COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS Mara Antonia Marti Antonin Universidad de Barcelona Departamento de Filologia Romanica Seccion de Linguistica General Gran Via 585 08007-Barcelona Tel.: 93-4035671 Fax: 93-3189822 E-mail: amarti at lingua.fil.ub.es LEXICOLOGY & LEXICOGRAPHY Jesus M. Sanchez Garcia Universidad de Cordoba Departamento de Filologia Francesa e Inglesa Facultad de Filosofia y Letras Plaza del Cardenal Salazar, 3 14071-Cordoba Tel: (957) 218135 Fax: (957) 218789 E-mail: ff1sagaj at lucano.uco.es TRANSLATION & INTERPRETATION Pamela Faber Universidad de Granada Departamento de Traduccion e Interpretacion Facultad de Traduccion e Interpretacion c/Puentezuelas 55 18002-Granada Tel: (958) 246261 Fax.: (958) 244104 E-mail: pfaber at REDESTB.ES For registration, hotel and excursion reservation, and any other enquiries concerning AESLA or the Conference, contact: 16th AESLA CONFERENCE Javier Martin Arista (Secretary) Departamento de Filologias Modernas Edificio Quintiliano c/ Ciguena 60 26004, Logrono (La Rioja) Tel.: (941) 299425/299433 Fax: (941) 299419 e-mail: javier.martin at dfm.unirioja.es or visit the following webpages: http://www.unirioja.es/dptos/dep_frame.html http://www2.uji.es/aesla ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com From darnell at CSD.UWM.EDU Sun Oct 26 18:05:04 1997 From: darnell at CSD.UWM.EDU (Michael Darnell) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 12:05:04 -0600 Subject: Call for Papers Message-ID: CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline for submission of abstracts is February 2, 1998 DISCOURSE ACROSS LANGUAGES AND CULTURES 24TH UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE LINGUISTICS SYMPOSIUM SEPTEMBER 10-12, 1998 We are seeking papers that discuss written, spoken, or signed discourse from a cross-linguistic and/or cross-cultural perspective. It is part of the purpose of this symposium to initiate a dialogue among the various disciplines and sub-disciplines that are involved in this study and we are seek abstracts from scholars representing any of the following fields of study where the focus of the paper is on cross-linguistics and/or cross-cultural comparison. discourse analysis text linguistics contrastive rhetoric rhetorical typology translation studies genre studies The list of invited speakers, which we will announce shortly, will include representatives from all these fields. Papers will be 20 minutes long, with a 10 minute discussion period to follow. Please send 9 copies of an anonymous abstract and a 3x5 inch card containing the title of the paper and your name, affiliation, mailing address, and email address. The abstract may be up to one typed page, with figures and references allowed on a second page. the typeface can be no smaller than 10 points; allow one inch [2cm] margins on all sides of the paper. If your abstract is accepted, it will be included in the meeting handbook: we therefore prefer submission by regular mail over submission by email or fax. A selection of the conference papers, supplemented with some invited contributions, will be published by John Benjamins in a volume [or set of volumes] edited by Michael Darnell, Carol Lynn Moder, and Michael Noonan SEND YOUR ABSTRACT TO: '98 UWM Symposium Committee Department of English University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 USA ABSTRACT DEADLINE: February 2, 1998 For further information in the future, visit our website: http://www.uwm.edu:80/Dept/English/98Symp.html or contact Michael Darnell Dept. of English University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413 USA phone: 414-962-1943; fax: 414-229-2643; messages: 414-229-4511; email: darnell at csd.uwm.edu From mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL Mon Oct 27 08:37:41 1997 From: mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL (Bella Kotik) Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:37:41 +0200 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: Dear collegues! Sorry for late reply, but I only recently joined the funknet and Israeli hollydays are pretty long... The topic of the discussion provocated by 'Nature" report is really interesting in several aspects.First, I agree with Liz Bates, that the tendency to simplification sometimes may change the whole thing: in the original paper they use term "representation" and you used "starage", which is not the same thing.To speak of storage is just to solve a pseudoproblem. As a pupil of Alexander Luria, I see the problem from Systemic Dinamic point of view.The language functions even in a monolingual subjects are result of cooperation of a system of concertedly working zones, each of them has a specific input in the whole. It should be stressed, that acquisition of a new language is a result of cooperation of several factors, the nain are: age, way of asquisition (formal learning vs acquisition and hence dominant input modality), linguistic characteristics of L1 and L2(script, degree of sound-letter correspondence etc.), affective complex, individuality of the learner, proficiency, recency, usage. Each of the factors may influence the resulting pattern in every specific situation. Thus, the absence of differences in Wernike area might be just result of task specificity: this zone is involved primarily in phonemic perception and be the task not a productive, but perceptive, the difference would be most pronounced here. We do not know much about language anamnesis of each subject, but the dynamic if changes in brain organisation in bilinguals is rather pronounced first five years as was evident from my investigation of the changes in laterality effects in foreign students(native speakers of French, Spanish and Vietnameese) actively who acquired Russian (Kotik B. On the Role of the Right Hemisphere in the Speech of Bilinguals. in:A.Ardila and F.Ostrosky-Solis "The Right Hemisphere, Neurology and Neuropsychology", Gordon and Breach,New-York, 1984 pp.227-240.) There are many more questions that might be askes about influence of Dinamic factors, such as vigilance and resource recruitment in L1 and L2, which might be responsible for a wider area active in L2. Just an example of my own threelingual experience: when I am very tired I begin to experience different problems in understanding and producing in English and Hebrew, and even speaking Russian which is my mothertongue, but not understanding. Thus not only age is an important factor in SLA.And I wish success to all who does research in the field. Sincerely dr.Bella Kotik-Friedgut The NSJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, School of Education The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905,Israel tel. 972-2-5882177 (office), 972-2-6713964(home), Fax 972-2-5882174 mskotik at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il From mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL Tue Oct 28 07:56:18 1997 From: mskotik at PLUTO.MSCC.HUJI.AC.IL (Bella Kotik) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 09:56:18 +0200 Subject: Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain Message-ID: > > >Dear collegues! Sorry for late reply, but I only recently joined the >funknet >and Israeli hollydays are pretty long... >The topic of the discussion provocated by 'Nature" report is really >interesting in several aspects.First, I agree with Liz Bates, that the >tendency to simplification sometimes may change the whole thing: in the >original paper they use term "representation" and you used "starage", >which >is not the same thing.To speak of storage is just to solve a >pseudoproblem. > As a pupil of Alexander Luria, I see the problem from Systemic Dinamic >point of view.The language functions even in a monolingual subjects are >result of cooperation of a system of concertedly working zones, each of >them >has a specific input in the whole. > It should be stressed, that acquisition of a new language is a result >of >cooperation of several factors, the nain are: age, way of asquisition >(formal learning vs acquisition and hence dominant input modality), >linguistic characteristics of L1 and L2(script, degree of sound-letter >correspondence etc.), affective complex, individuality of the learner, >proficiency, recency, usage. Each of the factors may influence the >resulting >pattern in every specific situation. > Thus, the absence of differences in Wernike area might be just result >of >task specificity: this zone is involved primarily in phonemic perception >and >be the task not a productive, but perceptive, the difference would be >most >pronounced here. > We do not know much about language anamnesis of each subject, but the >dynamic if changes in brain organisation in bilinguals is rather >pronounced >first five years as was evident from my investigation of the changes in >laterality effects in foreign students(native speakers of French, >Spanish >and Vietnameese) actively who acquired Russian (Kotik B. On the Role of >the >Right Hemisphere in the Speech of Bilinguals. in:A.Ardila and >F.Ostrosky-Solis "The Right Hemisphere, Neurology and Neuropsychology", >Gordon and Breach,New-York, 1984 pp.227-240.) > There are many more questions that might be askes about influence of >Dinamic factors, such as vigilance and resource recruitment in L1 and >L2, >which might be responsible for a wider area active in L2. > Just an example of my own threelingual experience: when I am very >tired I >begin to experience different problems in understanding and producing in >English and Hebrew, and even speaking Russian which is my mothertongue, >but >not understanding. > Thus not only age is an important factor in SLA.And I wish success to >all >who does research in the field. > >Sincerely >dr.Bella Kotik-Friedgut >The NSJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education, >School of Education >The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, >Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905,Israel >tel. 972-2-5882177 (office), 972-2-6713964(home), >Fax 972-2-5882174 >mskotik at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il > > From rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU Tue Oct 28 19:27:17 1997 From: rok2 at CS1.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (Ron Kuzar) Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:27:17 -0500 Subject: Ebonics Message-ID: On Mon, 6 Oct 1997 I posted a query re Discourse on Ebonics: Does anybody know of work on the recent Ebonics controversy? I am interested in a description of the evolution of the debate, and the socio-cultural arguments used in it, coming from fields such as folklinguistic beliefs, policies on mono/bilingualism, English as the official language of the US, etc. The context of this request is a course I am giving next semester on 'Language and Nation-Building'. I have been reading some of the contributions on the linguist list. Some interesting documents also show up upon searching the net for 'ebonics'. What I am looking for is a text-book level summary of the issues that may be assigned as reading. Other contributions, more theoretical ones, are also highly welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Most responses pointed out to me that there are internet resources, which I in fact mentioned in my question. The following was the only really relevant answer I received, and I find it to be an excellent one. The article by Jaquelyne Jackson is a very good overview, and other articles in that issue, including McWhorter's contribution, can be used to expand the treatment of the topic in many ways. ======================================================================== >>From johnmcw at socrates.Berkeley.EDU Tue Oct 28 12:26:27 1997 Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 13:12:14 -0700 (PDT) From: "John H. McWhorter" To: rok2 at CS1.CC.Lehigh.EDU Subject: Ebonics For a readable treatment (several, actually) on the Ebonics CONTROVERSY and its larger meanings, try the recent issue of THE BLACK SCHOLAR (27:1) which solicited various contributions. One piece (by Jacqueline Jackson, I think) was particularly good in describing the whole thing. Best, John McWhorter ---------------------------------------------------------------- If anybody has any new ideas re the above, let them please be heard. Thanks Ron Kuzar ======================================================================== | Dr. Ron Kuzar | | (Dept. of English, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel) | | During the academic year 1997/8 Visiting Professor at: | | Office Address: Berman Center for Jewish Studies, Lehigh University,| | 9 West Packer Avenue | | Bethlehem, PA 18015-3082 | | Office phone: (610) 758-4857 | | Office fax: (610) 758-4858 | | Home Phone: (610) 395-3210 | | Email: rok2 at cs1.cc.lehigh.edu | ========================================================================