The older we get, the more difficult it becomes to learn another language. Why? Some say our brains are only built for it when we are young. Some say it is the way we are taught that does not cater ...

Brevity, as the Bard said, may well be the soul of wit. But, according to research by a computer scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, brevity also is the nature of speech to infants, and ...

How are foreign languages learnt and second languages acquired? Many answers to these questions remain hypothetical in relevant research, though some reliable findings are also available. An overview.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Noam Chomsky’s political views attract so ...

Over the past several years, there has been an increased research output in the field of language acquisition and its effects on the brain. This is especially true with regards to the effects of ...

Xijia Zhang is affiliated with the University of Alberta. Kimberly Noels works for the University of Alberta. She receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.