Seeing the Speaker's Face Enhances Second Language Shadowing: Neural and Behavioral Evidence

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language Learning Pub Date : 2026-03-13 DOI:10.1111/lang.70026

Hyeonjeong Jeong, Shuhei Kadota, Mayumi Kajiura, Hiroshi Nakanishi, Koji Kazai, Mariko Kawasaki, Yoko Nakano, Naoya Hase

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated how facial cues influence second language (L2) shadowing among 42 Japanese learners of English. Participants completed four conditions that varied by task type (listening vs. shadowing) and visual input (face vs. mosaic). Behaviorally, shadowing reproduction accuracy was higher when the speaker's face was visible. Neuroimaging revealed greater activation in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), right ventral pallidum, and left hippocampus during shadowing in the Face condition, reflecting enhanced audiovisual integration, engagement, and memory‐related processing. Learners with higher oral proficiency exhibited increased activation in speech‐integration areas, such as the posterior superior temporal gyrus, and those with higher listening proficiency showed reduced cerebellar engagement, suggesting proficiency‐dependent neural strategies for integrating facial cues during shadowing. These findings support embodied, multisensory, and socially grounded accounts of L2 learning, emphasizing the pedagogical importance of visible facial cues. Incorporating face‐based shadowing into L2 learning may help bridge perception and production and prepare learners for interaction‐oriented communication.

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看说话人的脸能增强第二语言的阴影：神经和行为证据

本研究通过功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）研究了42名日本英语学习者的面部线索对第二语言（L2）记忆的影响。参与者完成了四项条件，这些条件根据任务类型（听vs阴影）和视觉输入（面部vs马赛克）而有所不同。从行为上讲，当说话人的脸可见时，阴影再现的准确性更高。神经成像显示，在面部阴影条件下，左侧后颞回（pMTG）、右侧腹侧苍白球和左侧海马体的激活程度更高，反映了视听整合、参与和记忆相关加工的增强。口语水平较高的学习者在言语整合区域（如后颞上回）的激活增加，而听力水平较高的学习者的小脑参与减少，这表明在阴影过程中，整合面部线索的神经策略依赖于口语水平。这些发现支持了二语学习的具身、多感官和社会基础的解释，强调了可见面部线索在教学中的重要性。在第二语言学习中结合基于面部的阴影可以帮助搭建感知和生产的桥梁，并为学习者进行以互动为导向的交流做好准备。

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来源期刊

Language Learning Multiple-

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

15.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Language Learning is a scientific journal dedicated to the understanding of language learning broadly defined. It publishes research articles that systematically apply methods of inquiry from disciplines including psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, educational inquiry, neuroscience, ethnography, sociolinguistics, sociology, and anthropology. It is concerned with fundamental theoretical issues in language learning such as child, second, and foreign language acquisition, language education, bilingualism, literacy, language representation in mind and brain, culture, cognition, pragmatics, and intergroup relations. A subscription includes one or two annual supplements, alternating among a volume from the Language Learning Cognitive Neuroscience Series, the Currents in Language Learning Series or the Language Learning Special Issue Series.