Neurolnguistic Applications to SLA Classroom Instructions: A Review of the Issues with a Focus on Danesis Bimodality

Abstract

Few studies have approached second language teaching from a neurolinguistic perspective. An exception is Marcel Danesis educational construct of neurological bimodality, an attempt to find a neurological foundation for classroom language instruction. The underlying hypothesis is that there is a natural flow of information processing from the right to the left hemispheres of the brain during language learning; therefore, language instruction should reflect that flow direction by providing concrete forms of instruction at early language learning stages and more formal and abstract instruction at later stages. However, the hypothesis raises questions; for example, the evidence for right-hemisphere functions in second language learning is contradictory, yet those functions are an important element in bimodality. In addition, there have been few empirical studies supporting the hypothesis.