My research centers on 3 main questions:
1) What makes language learning for adults so difficult and often unsuccessful?
2) What can bilinguals teach us about language learning?
3) How can we use what we know to improve or enhance language learning?
Difficulties.
Everyone knows the brain is less plastic in adults than kids, but is that really the whole story? What about all the experience adults have to build on- already knowing what language is and how it works, stronger learning and memory skills, relatively more cognitive resources to throw at any given problem? Shouldn't that count for anything?
Everyone knows the brain is less plastic in adults than kids, but is that really the whole story? What about all the experience adults have to build on- already knowing what language is and how it works, stronger learning and memory skills, relatively more cognitive resources to throw at any given problem? Shouldn't that count for anything?
Bilinguals.
And what about those people who seem to pick up new languages with ease? It may not be too surprising to find out that bilinguals tend to be better at learning new languages than monolinguals. They seem to have learned something about learning other languages. How does learning and using two languages change the mind and brain, and how can we use that to improve language learning for everyone?
Neuroengineering.
Let's put our knowledge of neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and bilingualism to use by actually developing interventions to improve language learning. Using neurotechnology like transcranial direct current stimulation, we managed to shape new learning by getting learners to use different learning pathways. Another major next step will be to develop a brain-computer interface that gives real-time feedback to learners about whether they're in the best "brain state" for learning.