title: First and second language in the brain: neuronal correlates of language processing and spelling strategies.
abstract: This study explores oscillatory brain activity by means of event-related synchronization and desynchronization (%ERS/ERD) of EEG activity during the use of phonological and orthographic-morphological spelling strategies in L2 (English) and L1 (German) in native German speaking children. EEG was recorded while 33 children worked on a task requiring either phonological or orthographic-morphological spelling strategies. L2 processing elicited more theta %ERS than L1 processing (particularly at bilateral frontal and right posterior parietal sites) which might suggest a stronger involvement of semantic encoding and retrieval of the less familiar L2. The highest level of theta %ERS was revealed for the orthographic-morphological strategy in L2 which might indicate a more intense way of lexical retrieval compared to the phonological strategy in L2 and the orthographic-morphological strategy in L1. Analyses moreover revealed that phonological processing (both in L1 and L2) was associated with comparatively strong left-hemispheric %ERD in the upper alpha frequency band.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kozel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Purgstaller
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kargl
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fink
mesh_terms: D000513:Alpha Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D058407:Electroencephalography Phase Synchronization / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D019303:Multilingualism; D010700:Phonetics; D011594:Psychometrics; D012660:Semantics; D013826:Theta Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary