LAWRENCE — Practice makes perfect, even when it comes to learning a second language. Most experts say that people have to learn second languages before they reach puberty to learn those languages as perfectly as native speakers. However, a study by researchers at Kansas University indicates that’s not always the case. Using brain imaging, the trio of KU researchers examined how the brain processes a second language. They found that in some cases, the brain patterns of adults who learn second languages are the same as native speakers. The research by Robert Fiorentino, Alison Gabriele and José Alemán Bañón, was published this month in the journal “Second Language Research.” They tested 26 English-speakers who learned Spanish when they were teens or older but used Spanish on a daily basis and had spent an average of a year and a half in a Spanish-speaking country. The test results were compared with 24 people who grew up in Spanish-speaking countries and stayed in their home countries until they were at least 17.
Tuesday, July 22, 3 p.m.
