Effect of second language exposure on brain activity for language processing among preschoolers.

We investigated brain activity in 3-5-year-old preschoolers as they listened to connected speech stimuli in Japanese (first language), English (second language), and Chinese (a rarely exposed, foreign language) using near-infrared spectroscopy. Unlike the younger preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 1 year, brain activity in the bilateral frontal regions of the older preschoolers who had been exposed to English for almost 2 years was higher for Japanese and English speech stimuli than for Chinese. This tendency seemed to be similar to that observed in adults who had learned English for some years.