This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
Chinese speakers have an advantage in developing bilingual habits
Most people know that Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world, but you may not know that the brains of Chinese speakers work “differently from other people”! According to research published by the US National Academy of Sciences, the type of native language affects the way neural signals are transmitted and connected in the brain, and thereby indirectly affects one’s sensitivity in learning languages. Experiments show that neural transmission in the brains of Chinese speakers is more complex, which is an important element in developing bilingual habits.
In infancy, even though brain function is not yet fully developed, the auditory association area that controls language (Wernicke’s area) and the premotor area (Broca’s area) have already begun to function. They are responsible respectively for storing and interpreting incoming language, memory of words and the use of grammatical rules, and for coordinating the muscles needed for speech, converting perception into motor form and thereby producing the content of language. Contemporary linguistic theory regards the interaction between neuroscience and brain regions as an important basis for the production of language.
Infants of 6 to 10 months have already developed the ability to perceive basic sounds, but the developmental patterns of different languages have similarities and differences. Take Chinese: Chinese is a “tonal language,” in which changes of tone express different meanings; English is a “non-tonal language,” in which changes of tone can only express different moods and emotions but do not change the meaning of words.
In one experiment, a group of 30 Chinese speakers and 30 English speakers of similar age, sex and handedness listened to speeches, and differences were found in how the brains of Chinese and English speakers worked.
English speakers showed dense neural transmission and connections between the auditory association area and the premotor area, because English speakers rely more on phonology to obtain information, rather than on tone. The strong neural connections used by Chinese speakers when listening, on the other hand, were located mainly in the anterior superior temporal gyrus of the right hemisphere, an important language centre of the brain. This phenomenon can be interpreted as meaning that Chinese speakers, or speakers of tonal languages, are stronger in integrating sound and meaning than speakers of non-tonal languages (in this case English).
Another difference is that the Chinese speakers in the experiment showed strong and active neural transmission in the right hemisphere while listening, which may indicate that the language networks in the left and right hemispheres of Chinese speakers can function independently. In other words, regardless of cultural and economic background, Chinese speakers have an advantage over English speakers in developing bilingual habits.
