The human brain and language development has fascinated people for years.  Researchers worked for years to learn the science behind learning human language. Learning how language develops from birth up until pre-adolescent has been the main focus. Now, others are interested in learning how the brain functions when a second language learning is involved, and the learner is past puberty!

Why Learn English?

80  Million people speak English as a native language, with the total number of people who understand English standing at 1 billion people. This means that 1 in 4 people speak and understand English.

It has become essential to understand English, not just for us on the internet, but also for business and when visiting foreign countries. Spanish is the second most popular language in the world, surpassing even English. It's spoken all over South America, in Spain and in several African countries and Islands.  In American most people to are learning English as a second language are native Spanish speakers

Research suggests that when it comes to learning a second language, earlier is better. Unfortunately, many people are forced to learn a second language later in life. This leaves many educators searching for more effective means to better accommodate English Language Learners (ELL)  in the nation's classrooms.  The number of ELL students enrolled in public school has nearly tripled since 1993, from about 2 million to 5.5 million today, according to the U.S. Department of Education.  Spanish speakers still represent a huge majority -- 80 percent of all public-school ELL students. In all, about one in five students in public schools lives in a home where English is not the primary language (Girard, 2005).

In order to help solve this dilemma, we must first examine how the brain most effectively learns a new language.  

Let's take a look at how the brain functions when learning a second language past the critical age and how art can play a vital role.  Let's go!

Resources: 

Girard, Kim. Lost in Translation: The ESL Explosion, How do you say "Tomorrow's assignment is..."in 460 languages? Edutopia Magazine, November 2005. Accessed on September 17, 2007 from http://www.edutopia.org/english-second-language