How the Brain Learns Language,

and What It Means for Teaching:

Different languages and writing systems vary in terms of their orthographic transparency, phonological ambiguity, morphological complexity and semantic properties. These differences result in both universal and unique cognitive requirements underlying reading acquisition in the native language and also during learning a second language.

This webinar is composed of three presentations – In the first two we will show some of the cognitive and neural aspects underlying reading development in Hebrew, English and Chinese speaking children. The last talk (a workshop) will provide evidence based strategies for teaching vocabulary in a second language.

Presentation 1 (Tali Bitan): “The development of a Hebrew reading brain: Coping with missing vowels and a rich morphology”;

Presentation 2 (James R. Booth): “Differences between languages in the brain basis of reading acquisition: English vs. Chinese”;

Presentation 3 (Vedran Dronjic): “What research can teach us about teaching second language vocabulary” (a practical workshop)

This webinar is given as part of a joint grant from the NSF-BSF given to Prof. Booth, Prof. Bitan and Dr. Dronjic for studying the effect of the first language on the neural mechanisms underlying learning of a second language. Our research is currently in progress and our goal is to share research based scientific knowledge with the professional community.

Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021.
Time: 8:30 PM IST, 1:30 PM EST, 5:30 PM GMT (for more time zones – click here).
Duration: 2 hours.

We use the Zoom platform, which enables you to engage in an interactive discussion with the lecturers and with colleagues around the world, and enriches the lectures with presentations, movies, and teaching programs.

All this is offered while you are sitting comfortably in your armchair at home or in the office,
free of charge.

Instructions for Using ZOOM

Prof. James R. Booth, is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. The main goal of his research is to understand the brain mechanisms of the development of language, reading and math in typical and atypical populations. Prof Booth aims to facilitate the interaction between the fields of cognition, neuroscience and education.

Prof. Tali Bitan, from the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Haifa, and the Dept. of Speech Language Pathology, at the University of Toronto, is a rehabilitation neuropsychologist. She studies brain plasticity during learning and rehabilitation of language skills. The lab uses neuroimaging methods to examine the developmental changes in brain activity and connectivity while children learn to read in their first language, and when adults learn a novel language. She is also interested in the effect of sleep, brain stimulation and neurofeedback on learning and consolidation of linguistic and other cognitive skills.

Prof. Vedran Dronjic is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University, where he directs the Language and Memory Lab. His research focuses on morphological learning, representation and processing, morphological awareness, vocabulary, and reading processes in adults and children.

Do not hesitate to ask questions!

Email us at: international@macam.ac.il