By looking at activation of different brain regions while test subjects were exposed to different listening conditions, Dr. Johnsrude's research has revealed that the early processing of sound, which occurs in a brain region called the primary auditory cortex, depends on higher -
level linguistic knowledge encoded in other regions of the brain.
Essential to sheltered instruction are teacher willingness and capacity to learn about and incorporate the prior
knowledge of ELLs into instruction, to understand second language acquisition and address the
linguistic needs of ELLs, to deliver comprehensible yet rigorous input, and to use spiraling and scaffolding techniques whereby every piece of information learned and every skill acquired provides the next -
level substructure for building higher - order
knowledge.