The science of brainmapping is providing new information about how people develop the ability to speak different languages. Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York are using new imaging techniques called functional MRI. This technique captures images while the brain is at work. It has been found that the ability to speak a second language is scored in different places in the brain depending upon the age at which a person becomes bilingual.

The researchers in this study caution that these results don't provide any definitive answers and that further research is necessary. However, other researchers maintain that it is very unlikely that anyone can acquire the proficiency of a native without learning the language before puberty. It isn't clear why the brain would use a separate area for a second language learned later in life. It may be that adults learn languages differently than younger children or that once a specific area for language production is established, its capacity can't be expanded. A new language may be processed through a different area of the brain.

These findings may help explain why people who move to the United States as adults never lose a foreign accent even when they speak perfect English. In contrast, those who learn two languages at an early age retain an ability to speak both as if each were their native language.

The implications of this study could greatly impact when and how a second language is learned in the United States. Language experts across the country are advocating that students begin the study of a second language in elementary school. Studies such as this will draw the attention to their claims and cause many schools to revisit how and when students learn a second language.