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).