native tongue to best communicate dr. ron bonnstetter · microsoft word - native language blog.docx...

May 24, 2012 Native Tongue to Best Communicate Dr. Ron Bonnstetter I hand a slip of piece of paper to the Beijing, China taxi driver as Nicolette and I slip into the backseat. He turns and proceeds to offer some sort of clarification in what I assume to be Mandarin. I shrug as a jester of our ignorance. He then proceeds to verbalize the same nonsensical phrase but much louder. We immediately broke out in laughter at the thought that speaking Mandarin louder would in any way help. But what if we were able to understand some Mandarin? Does the brain process information from one’s first language any differently than our second? Recent research at Target Training International has patented a process that creates EEG brain maps at the moment of thinking and even differentiates the mental reaction of acceptance or avoidance. While this is crucial information for our assessment company as we prove the validity of our tools, what would happen if we had a person who bilingual take one of our assessments in different languages.? With the help of one of our international associates, we designed an experiment that contained portions of a behavioral assessment, in four languages. The person was placed in a neurocap and data from 19 electrodes was collected while words flashed on a monitor in front of them. From previous validation work we had proven that gamma wave activity in the left prefrontal cortex signified acceptance and increased activity in the right represents avoidance. As an example look at the brain image response to the word “enthusiastic”. In Spanish. Notice the level of acceptance in the right prefrontal lobe, compared to the left. (The yellow and red show greater neuro activity.) Our hypothesis was that her native language might provide the best match with the prior self-reported assessment results, thus justification for the costly and time-consuming translations undertaken by TTI. The results were amazing. First of all, the majority of her brain activity from each stimulus matched the prior acceptance and avoidance data collected. But what was not expected was the intensity of her responds matched the order of her language proficiency. In other words, two insights were gained from this experiment. *1. Even though the reaction to the word stimulus provided the same directionality in each language, the actual variation or difference between the right and left lobes diminished as she moved away from her native language of Spanish. (Spanish created the greatest variation in output and German the least. 2. As she encountered the word in languages other than her native tongue, the overall energy output of the brain increased, in direct agreement with her proficiency. The most obvious example of this can be seen in her least proficient language, German. One can

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May24,2012

NativeTonguetoBestCommunicate

Dr.RonBonnstetterIhandaslipofpieceofpapertotheBeijing,ChinataxidriverasNicoletteandIslipintothebackseat.HeturnsandproceedstooffersomesortofclarificationinwhatIassumetobeMandarin.Ishrugasajesterofourignorance.Hethenproceedstoverbalizethesamenonsensicalphrasebutmuchlouder.WeimmediatelybrokeoutinlaughteratthethoughtthatspeakingMandarinlouderwouldinanywayhelp.ButwhatifwewereabletounderstandsomeMandarin?Doesthebrainprocessinformationfromone’sfirstlanguageanydifferentlythanoursecond?RecentresearchatTargetTrainingInternationalhaspatentedaprocessthatcreatesEEGbrainmapsatthemomentofthinkingandevendifferentiatesthementalreactionofacceptanceoravoidance.Whilethisiscrucialinformationforourassessmentcompanyasweprovethevalidityofourtools,whatwouldhappenifwehadapersonwhobilingualtakeoneofourassessmentsindifferentlanguages.?Withthehelpofoneofourinternationalassociates,wedesignedanexperimentthatcontainedportionsofabehavioralassessment,infourlanguages.Thepersonwasplacedinaneurocapanddatafrom19electrodeswascollectedwhilewordsflashedonamonitorinfrontofthem.Frompreviousvalidationworkwehadproventhatgammawaveactivityintheleftprefrontalcortexsignifiedacceptanceandincreasedactivityintherightrepresentsavoidance.Asanexamplelookatthebrainimageresponsetotheword“enthusiastic”.InSpanish.Noticethelevelofacceptanceintherightprefrontallobe,comparedtotheleft.(Theyellowandredshowgreaterneuroactivity.)Ourhypothesiswasthathernativelanguagemightprovidethebestmatchwiththepriorself-reportedassessmentresults,thusjustificationforthecostlyandtime-consumingtranslationsundertakenbyTTI.Theresultswereamazing.Firstofall,themajorityofherbrainactivityfromeachstimulusmatchedtheprioracceptanceandavoidancedatacollected.Butwhatwasnotexpectedwastheintensityofherrespondsmatchedtheorderofherlanguageproficiency.Inotherwords,twoinsightsweregainedfromthisexperiment.*1.Eventhoughthereactiontothewordstimulusprovidedthesamedirectionalityineachlanguage,theactualvariationordifferencebetweentherightandleftlobesdiminishedasshemovedawayfromhernativelanguageofSpanish.(SpanishcreatedthegreatestvariationinoutputandGermantheleast.2.Assheencounteredthewordinlanguagesotherthanhernativetongue,theoverallenergyoutputofthebrainincreased,indirectagreementwithherproficiency.Themostobviousexampleofthiscanbeseeninherleastproficientlanguage,German.Onecan

almostsensetheintensityofthoughtthatherbrainisundergoingasshestrivestodecodethisGermanverb.TakeAwayfromallthisFirstofall,thisdemonstratesthatapersonconfrontingawordintheirnativelanguageisfarbetteratbeingdecisivewiththeirinterpretation.Andsecondarily,workinginalanguageotherthanyournativetonguesimplytakesmoreenergytoperformthesametask.Theimplicationsforassessmentsarejustasclear.Weneedtoprovidetoolsinaperson’sfirstlanguageifwewantthebestresponseandresponsesthatdonottiretheparticipantbeforetheyevencompletethesurvey.UntilweperfecttheStarTrekuniversaltranslator,wehavearesponsibilitytocommunicateusingtherecipients’nativelanguagewheneverpossible.Bytheway,thetaxidriverwastryingtoexplainthatthenotehadtheaddressofthespotthatweenteredthecab.Oncethiswasclear,wehadhimturnthepaperovertoseeourintendeddestination.Moralofthestory,Itisalwaysbesttocommunicateinonesnativetongueoratleastmarkthepapersoyouknowwhichsidesayshome.