Summary: language "locations" in the bilingual brain

[Bella Kotik]

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