Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 325, Issue 3, 14 June 2002, Pages 187-190
Neuroscience Letters

Mismatch negativity shows that 3–6-year-old children can learn to discriminate non-native speech sounds within two months

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3940(02)00269-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Using 3–6-year-old children as subjects, we describe the neural plasticity accompanying the concurrent learning of a foreign language in a natural environment. Children were monitored for 6 months as they either enrolled in schools or daycare centers where only Finnish was spoken (Control group) or as they joined a French school or a daycare center where French was spoken 50–90% of the time (Experimental group). Whereas mismatch negativity (MMN)—a brain's electrical change-detection response—for a French speech contrast was initially absent or very small in both groups, it was conspicuous 2 months after Finnish children had joined a French kindergarten. Consequently, the data suggest that youngsters can learn to distinguish non-native speech sounds in natural language environment without any special training in just a couple of months. Accordingly, these data herald the vast potential MMN may entail for studying language learning, especially in situations where behavioral responses cannot be readily elicited.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr Veijo Vihanta for technical assistance, and Drs Amir Raz and Olli Aaltonen for constructive comments on the manuscript. Moreover, the authors wish to thank the Center for International Mobility (CIMO), The Jenni and Antti Wihuri Foundation, and The Academy of Finland for support. Finally, the authors are indebted to the children, parents, and personnel of Lycée Franco-Finlandais d'Helsinki, Jardin d'enfants Jasmin, and the Ruskeasuo Daycare: Merci beaucoup!

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