An fMRI study with semantic access in low proficiency second language learners

Brain activity was measured with fMRI in twelve 10- to 12-year-old Chinese children who began learning English when they were 8 years old in order to find out whether there is a common or a distinct neural semantic system for native language (L1) and second language (L2) in low proficiency bilingual subjects. Although they performed less well in L2 in the semantic decision task administered during fMRI measurement, these subjects showed similar robust activation, for both languages, in brain areas involved in semantic processing (e.g. the left inferior frontal cortex). Within-subject and group analyses revealed no significant difference in the activation patterns for L1 and L2 in these regions. These results suggest that at least at single-word level, there are shared neural substrates for semantic processing of L1 and L2 even when one is at a very low L2 proficiency level.