Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
learning language as one gets older is probably due to the fact that, with age, the brain loses its plasticity—that is, its
ability to develop new neural connections.
Figure 9.12English Proficiency in Native Chinese Speakers
Hakuta, Bialystok, and Wiley (2003) found no evidence for critical periods in language learning. Regardless of level
of education, self-reported second-language skills decreased consistently across age of immigration.
Source: Adapted from Hakuta, K., Bialystok, E., & Wiley, E. (2003). Critical evidence: A test of the critical-period
hypothesis for second-language acquisition. Psychological Science, 14(1), 31–38.
For the 90% of people who are right-handed, language is stored and controlled by the left
cerebral cortex, although for some left-handers this pattern is reversed. These differences can
easily be seen in the results of neuroimaging studies that show that listening to and producing
language creates greater activity in the left hemisphere than in the right. Broca’s area, an area in
front of the left hemisphere near the motor cortex, is responsible for language production (Figure
9.13 "Drawing of Brain Showing Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas"). This area was first localized
in the 1860s by the French physician Paul Broca, who studied patients with lesions to various
parts of the brain.Wernicke’s area, an area of the brain next to the auditory cortex, is responsible
for language comprehension.