In this article, we will discuss Single System vs Dual System Hypotheses.
Difference between Single System and Dual System Hypotheses.
One way of approaching multilingualism is to apply what we’ve learned from cognitive-psychological research to practical concerns about how to facilitate the acquisition of a new language. Another approach is to study multilingual individuals to see how multilingualism may offer insight into the human mind. For example, some cognitive psychologists have been interested in finding out how the various languages are represented in multilingual’s mind.
The Single System Hypothesis suggests that two or more languages are represented in only one system or brain region. The Dual System Hypothesis suggests that two/different languages are represented somehow in separate systems of mind. For example, might German-language information be stored in a physically different part of the brain than English language information?
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Thorndike’s Theory of Intelligence
Contextual Subtheory of Sternberg
One way to address this question is through the study of multilingual who have experienced brain damage. Suppose a multilingual person has brain damage in a particular part of the brain. An inference consistent with the Dual System Hypothesis would be that the individual would show different degrees of impairment in the different languages. The Single System view would suggest roughly equal impairment in all the languages. The logic of this type of investigation is compelling. But the results weren’t. When recovery of language after trauma is studied, sometimes the primary language recovers first, sometimes the second/later acquired language recovers first. And sometimes recovery is about equal for all the languages. In a related situation, an early bilingual aphasic was trained in his native language but was given no training in his second language. The researchers found a significant recovery of the first language but no change within the individual’s ability to use the second language.
The conclusions that can be drawn from all this research are equivocal. Nevertheless, the results seem to suggest a minimum of some duality of structure. A different method of study has led to an alternate perspective on multilingualism. Two investigators mapped the region of the cerebral cortex relevant to language use in two of their bilingual patients being treated for epilepsy. Mild electrical stimulation was applied to the cortex of each patient. Electrical stimulation tends to inhibit activity where it’s applied. It results in a reduced activity to name the objects that the memories are stored at the location being stimulated. The results for both patients were the equivalent. The results of this study suggest some aspects of the two languages may be represented singly. Other aspects may be represented separately.
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