American Sign Language, or even simple gestures are processed by deaf people in the part of the brain that is used for spoken language, according to a recent international research study headed up by a neuroscientist from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Aaron Newman, Associate Professor with the […]
Continue readingProtests Spark at U.S. Colleges Over Micro-Aggressions
In recent months there have protests at college campuses across the nation calling attention to a previously little-known term: “micro-aggressions,” commonly defined as routine verbal and non-verbal slights and harassment (often based on race and gender but also including age, sexual orientation and disability) that is typically unintentional but nonetheless hurtful. Calls for colleges and […]
Continue readingTalking Toys: Helping or Hurting Young Language Learners?
A new and very interesting study in JAMA Pediatrics discovered that toys marketed as language promoters don’t prove to be so in most cases. In fact, the study found that these toys in fact, hindered the language learning process in young children. Professor Anna Sosa, of Northern Arizona University, led the study and provided participating families three different types […]
Continue readingWill the US Become a Bilingual Country?
In the U.S., speaking more than one language fluently is not very common – except in Los Angeles, California.The city has one of the largest populations in the U.S. of young people between the ages of 18 and 34. This generation is often called millennials. More than half of millennials in Los Angeles are bilingual, which […]
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