Nuestra NEBRIJA 35 - octubre 2020

of schooling is it appropriate to introduce students to a language other than their native one? How should literacy instruction in di- fferent languages within a multi- lingual educational institution be organized? How should the lan- guage usage be managed within the classroom context? Trying to answer these questions often requires solving issues as complex as the essen- ce of human language. These and many other questions constitute the roadmap for many re- searchers worldwide. Although today we are far from answering each of these issues, an increa- sing number of laboratories and research groups have established research programs along these lines in recent years. Emotional distancing One of the most remarkable and surprising is- sues that the neuroscientific community has been confronted with when exploring multilin- gualism corresponds to the apparent emotio- nal distance elicited by the use of a non-native language. While it is true that the precise origins and etiology of these differential affective and emotional effects are still uncertain, the scientific community agrees that there is an emotional de- 43 T here is an emotional detachment in the use of a language that is foreign and not present in one ’ s usual environment