ABSTRACT
Foreign language acquisition is an area of learning that has been studied extensively particularly with respect to brain plasticity, being associated with changes in grey matter volume and white matter structure. In the previous chapter Lent et al. introduced the concept of transpersonal neuroplasticity, linking social interactions to both learning outcomes and neural plasticity. Similarly, emotions have an effect on both learning and neural plasticity. Foreign language anxiety (FLA) is an example of one such emotion, creating an obstacle for second language learners including Chinese undergraduates speaking English in China, Hong Kong, and abroad. In this chapter, a neurobiological model of FLA is presented that has a focus on electrodermal activity and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. Evidence from fMRI shows that highly anxious undergraduates in Beijing show greater deactivation in the ventral anterior cingulate cortex and stronger activity in the left superior temporal gyrus and left precentral gyrus reading English nouns and less activity of the ventral striatum and stronger activity of left superior temporal gyrus, right superior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, and right cuneus during generation of English verbs. A new hypothesis about second language learning and neural activity is proposed. Specifically, the results suggest that high FLA participants recruit motivational networks more than participants with low FLA.
