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.

Figure1

*Wehavenumericvaluesthataccompanytheseconclusions,buthavedecidedtonotaddcomplexitytothesefinds.