Second or Foreign Language Learning and Cognitive Development

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Learning a second or foreign language may change a person both socially and intellectually. Research on language learners’ cognitive development is of growing interest among researchers across a range of disciplines. Findings on how the learning process impacts one’s previous linguistic and social skills, conceptual system, cognitive control, and metacognitive abilities have huge implications for understanding how language interacts with human cognitive development and for teaching and learning one or more foreign languages in school settings. Studies on bilingualism have demonstrated that learning an additional language helps the learner better understand and use his or her first language and that bi- or multilingual are better than monolinguals in memory and some non-verbal tasks, such as executive functions. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how the process unfolds at different stages of learning a second or foreign language and how individual differences, such as age, gender, first language, way of learning, types of input and interactions, duration of learning, proficiency, etc. impact learners’ affective, cognitive and metacognitive capabilities.



Investigators from different fields or disciplines, e.g. second language acquisition, educational psychology, cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, etc., are invited to submit articles that look at 1) how learning a foreign language affects one’s first language awareness and skills; 2)how new knowledge, both linguistic and cultural, in learning a foreign language contributes to the conceptual development of the learner; 3) how the learning and use of a new language influences one’s social skills, interactional patterns, and even personalities; 4) how using another language enhances the cognitive function through constant activation and inhibition of one’s first or other languages, and 5) how the two or more linguistic and conceptual systems interact and develop.



We welcome all types of research articles, including reviews, laboratory experiments, field experiments, and imaging experiments, that address topics which include but are not limited to the following:

-Second or foreign language learning and first language knowledge and skills

-Second or foreign language learning and cognitive controls

-Second or foreign language learning and social skills

-Second or foreign language learning and empathy

-Second or foreign language learning and personality

-Second or foreign language learning and self-image

-Second or foreign language learning and cultural identity

-Second or foreign language learning and metacognitive skills

-Second or foreign language learning and conceptual development

-Second or foreign language learning and brain change

-Second or foreign language learning and school subject learning

-Second or foreign language learning and individual differences

Keywords: second or foreign language learning, cognitive development, executive functions, memory, metacognitive skills, empathy, social skills, personality, individual differences

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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