Introduction to Linguistics

Class #4Brain and Language (chapter 2)

This is your brain! Adapted, in part, from Dr. Weigle’s classes

Structure of the brain

The brain is composed of two hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum

Frontal Lobe

Concerned with reasoning, planning, parts of speech and movement, emotions, and problem solving

Includes Broca’s area

Parietal Lobe

Concerned with perception of stimuli related to touch, pressure, temperature and pain

Temporal Lobe

Concerned with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli (hearing) and memory

Includes Wernicke’s area

Occipital Lobe

Concerned with many aspects of vision

Lateralization

Some things that the brain does are lateralized: performed primarily by one hemisphere as opposed to the other

In the case of language, the dominant hemisphere is the left one (for the great majority of the right-handed people)

Lateralization

The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice-versa

Language in the brain

Broca’s area: organizing articulation; function words

Wernicke’s area: comprehension and content words

Aphasia

Language disorder resulting from brain damage caused by disease or trauma

Two different types: Broca’s aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia

Broca’s aphasia

Speech output is severely reduced, limited mainly to short utterances of a few words

Vocabulary access is limited Lack of syntax and diminished

morphology May understand speech relatively

well and be able to read, but be limited in writing

Example of Broca’s aphasia

Ah ... Monday ... ah, Dad and Paul Haney [himself] and Dad ... hospital. Two ... ah, doctors ... and ah ... thirty minutes ... and yes ... ah ... hospital.  And, er, Wednesday ... nine o'clock. And er Thursday, ten o'clock ... doctors. Two doctors ... and ah ... teeth. Yeah, ... fine.

Wernicke’s aphasia

inability to grasp the meaning of spoken words

easy production of connected speech

words may be meaningless neologisms

reading and writing are often severely impaired

Example of Wernicke’s aphasia

Examiner: What kind of work have you done?–

We, the kids, all of us, and I, we were working for a long time in the... You know... it's the kind of space, I mean place rear to the spedawn...

Wernicke’s aphasia

Broca’s or Wernicke’s aphasia?

“Goodnight and in the pansy I can’t say but into a flipdoor you can see it”

“Well… sunset…uh…horses nine, no, uh, two, tails want swish”

“Oh… if I could I would, and a sick old man disflined a sinter, minter.”

Words… words… words… two, four, six, eight, blaze am he.

Positron emission tomography

Language and brain development

Critical period: in general, research suggests that learning before the age of 7 perfect command

Multiple Intelligences Theory

Howard Gardner (1990s) Traditionally intelligence is

inherited and largely unchangeable

Multiple Intelligences Theory

The eight intelligences:

1 – Linguistic Intelligence: capacity to use language to express what’s on your mind and to understand other people.

2 – Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: manipulate numbers, quantities, operations; use abstract relations

3 – Musical Intelligence: capacity to think in music, to be able to hear patterns, recognize them, remember them, and perhaps manipulate them.

4 – Spatial Intelligence: ability to represent the spatial world internally; perceiving and transforming visual or 3-D information; re-creation of images from memory

Multiple Intelligences Theory

5 – Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: capacity to use your whole body or parts of your body to solve a problem, make something, or put on some kind of a production (e.g., athletics of performing arts)

6 – Interpersonal Intelligence: understanding other people; sensitivity to the feelings, beliefs, moods and intentions of other people;

7 – Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself, of knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avid, and which things to gravitate toward.

8 – Naturalist Intelligence: human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations).