Language and Brain - Report Example

Introduction Language is the production of social, physiological and biological processes on the human brain by depending on literature of the brain Language is the most complex skill that an individual can ever master. Almost every young child succeeds in learning a certain language and as such, people have taken the master and art of learning a language as a simple exercise. To most people, learning a language seems like a basic instinct such as blinking or even breathing. This is not the case a language is the expression of what it means to be a human being. Linguists tend to take language as having a universal core in which a particular language selects out individual configuration of features, settings and parameters. Consequently they view language as an instinct that is driven by human evolutionary adaptations. To linguists, language resides in a unique mental organ given as a special gift to the human race. This special gift contains rules, constraints as well as other structures specified by linguistic analysis (Obler et al 2000). Psychologists however view language on a whole different perspective. To them, acquiring a language is a window on the operation of the human mind. The patterns of language stem not from a unique instinct but from the operation of general processes of evolution and cognition. For the scholars who support this view, the aim of language acquisition studies is to well understand how regularities in linguistic form come from the operation of low level physical, neural and social processes. Many people assume that the physical foundations of language are the lips, tongue and the ears. This is not the case as the deaf and mute people can possess language fully. People who are incapable of using their vocal cord can still process language and use it in its written form. They as well can use sign language which is based on gestures rather than sound waves whose basis is not in the hands but stems from the brain. Language is brain based rather than using physical senses such as the lips and the ear, according to psychologists (Obler et al 2000). Social process Language as a social process on the human brain involves both receptive and productive use. Receptive language takes place during the understanding of the words when people interact and the productive process occurs when generating and articulating an idea into words. The human language involves four major structures being phonology which is the system of sounds and that people use to create words to enable interaction. Every other language contains a different set of phonemes which children quickly adopt to produce the speech segments characteristic of their native language. Semantics is the meanings expressed by words and signs. For kids whose social processes are still building up, picking out the correct meaning for very new word is a major milestone in their learning process. Thirdly, is grammar, which contains rules and structures to make meaningful sentences. People acquire this through social interaction with others who have mastered the language. Finally is the pragmatics which contains a system of patterns determining how humans can use language in a social set up for particular conversational purposes. This is where children learn that according to customs, conversations begin with a form of greeting, that interaction requires turn taking and that conversations are based on a particular topic. Consequently, they learn to adjust the content of their topic to match the interests of their listener and language ability. This is clear justification that indeed language learning is a social process of the human brain. People use it to communicate for official or social reasons. Children learn their culture through interaction with adults and children in the same settings. Language as the production of a physiological process of the human brain Language processing is one of the major traits of the human beings. Different regions of the brain in the right and the left hemisphere have been identified as supporting particular language functions. Since the discovery that functions of language are related to brain tissue, it has aroused the interest of people in trying to understand the neural basis of language. Despite numerous studies, describing the neural basis of language and speech still is difficult. Neurobiologists posit that the reason language is instinctive is as a result of the fact that language is hard-wired in the brain. Language is the most common way of interacting and children acquire this process naturally (Yule 1985). Neurobiologists cite that just as people process neural circuits for seeing or eating, so has the brain together with complex vocal apparatus in the neural circuit for rapidly perceiving, analysing, composing and producing language. Experiences provided for a child by the environment are therefore crucial for language development. It is the interplay between nature and nurture that result in an individual’s ability to communicate. However, the process of the brain to communicate begins with how the brain is structured. Experts in brain development say that a baby is born with millions of brain cells that he or she needs for growth. Each brain cell contains branching appendages known as dendrites theta reach out to make connections with other brain cells. The brain cells connect, synapses, where electrical signs pass form one brain cell to another. When these synapses are stimulated over and over, this pattern of neural connections becomes hard-wired in the brain. This therefore becomes an appropriate and permanent pathway allowing signals to be transmitted quickly and accurately. Technology advancement has enabled this process to be proven. Such technology is the brain-imaging which has confirmed this process. This advancement in technology has allowed experts to see the difference between a brain that has appropriately been stimulated and one that suffers lack of stimulation. Connections that are not stimulated tend to fade away. As such, caregivers such as parents should play a role in influencing the baby’s cognitive, language, motor and social skills. The environment in which a child is brought up in greatly affects how they respond to language and the way the brain develops. Good nutrition is fundamental to healthy growth of the brain (Grodzinsky et al 2000). Crucial periods of brain development allow development of special skills such as language. There are certain periods in the brain development when the brain becomes active in forming connections for specific abilities. This is a critical time for the development of neural synapses where skills are learned. Therefore, lack of stimulation could mean that much time and effort will have to be used to let the child acquire these specials skills. The caregivers can support the child’s brain development by providing opportunities and activities that stimulate the acquisition of these skills. Opportunities such as interacting face-to-face, hearing the language being spoken , listening to the written words being read out to them and practicing associated words with the object provide language experiences without pressure (Da̧browska 2004). Language can also be said to be a biological process of the brain in that the first window of learning a language comes early in life as infants start to recognize sound of all languages. However, by six months of age, they are unable to recognize sounds not heard in their native language. Infants hear systems of sounds in their own language and at this time a different cluster of neurons in the auditory context of the brain responds to every sound. In the sixth month of their development, they are no longer able to pick sounds that are not repeated often (Grodzinsky et al 2000). Researchers argue that infants 10 weeks to being born can hear and respond to sound especially learning the mother’s voice and her sound pattern. It takes comfort in hearing the mother’s sound prenatally through bone conduction. After birth, a lullaby can be calming especially if the infant was able to hear it before being born. As a new borne does not use words to communicate she or he cries as a way of communicating his or her needs. This is only shows that language is indeed a biological process of the brain. Brain development information strengthens what early childhood experts have suggested for years. The development of language is to a great extent influenced by parent to child interactions. It is therefore important to talk, sing or read to a baby so as to enable the child learn the native language faster and easier. Hearing two languages being spoken can serve as an advantage as the child is able to maintain this and speak each language with a native accent. It is said that young children are able to learn a second language easier than the adults. During the act of speech, why is the text that is created in the brain of the speaker different from the text that is created in the brain of the listener. Discuss the system of the brain and mechanism of synaptic connections Encoding and decoding of information is a process that involves neural spiking in the brain. A person must at first understand the language the speaker is using in order to interpret the information in a sensible manner. When listening to a speaker, the brain is constantly interpreting the information being delivered. Science tells us about the power of speech generation by the brain. The complexity of the nervous system, though the largest mass of nerve cells is collected in the brain, it is the nervous systems that links up all the parts of the body in an intimate way. The nerve cell ramifies into and connects the cells present in the bones, skin, the digestive system as well as perception and reception of information. The body and the nervous system are thoroughly interconnected with a couple of feedback systems that are in continuous operation. Linguists tend to overlook what is obvious from a biological perspective that language is only a part of human activities. Nevertheless, it is language by the involvement of brain, the nervous system and other motor skills that implicates the human body in its activities. As such, people interpret speech differently according to their state of mind and the surroundings. Drugs, brain injuries and mental illnesses can significantly affect how information is received by the audience. People interpret information differently according to their state of mind and other aspects that could be categorised as noise. Noise does not necessarily mean loud sound waves but anything that may serve as a distraction to the passing of information. This could be an accent the speaker possesses, lack of confidence on the part of the one delivering a speech as it could lead to credibility issues. The state of mind of the audience is a major determinant of how information is interpreted. There could be something that is mentally affecting the person listening to the speech, or even lack of language or topic comprehension. The topic could also not be in the interest of that person and therefore the mind is diverted in to other activities (Da̧browska 2004). The brain is a considerably large organ with millions of nerve cells that are interlinked in a process called synapses; parts of the brain appear to have certain responsibilities. The over arching cortex primarily deals with motor functions, that is the cells that control speech, vision and hearing being concentrated in other areas. A synapse is a structure that allows a neuron also known as a nerve cell to pass an electric like signal to another cell. Neurons are however not continuous throughout the body but are able to communicate through synapses. This is how one is able to pass information that is first processed in the brain to the mouth, delivering a speech. The synapsis also facilitates the process of message encoding. The capability of a person’s brain is what determines how a person receives information or delivers information. Synapses are very essential to neuron function. Neurons are the cells that are specialized to pass signals to specific target cells. With every synapse, the plasma membrane of the signal passing neuron goes into opposition with the membrane of the target cell. Synapses are pivotal to memory of information. The strength of two connected pathways is said to result into the storage of information that eventually results into memory. If a person’s brain function is affected, the information received could be lost and one will not interpret information when she or he might need it in the future (Grodzinsky et al 2004). The functions of the nerve cells therefore depend on cellular polarisation. As earlier mentioned, the brain interprets information according to an individual’s perception. The brain integrates according to one’s own perception of the particular information. This perception is believed to be composed of information from sensory neurons located in the inner ear and in the stretch receptors located in the muscles and the stance which is the joint supporting ligament. These affect the sensory experiences including how information is received and processed. The ability to concentrate is temporarily lost in human beings especially when one is tired. Sensory impressions may disappear just as a scent disappears over time but could be unnoticed by others as the brain can shift to what is happening in the background or the brain shifts to another concern. This greatly affects information perception in the long run. Other aspects that the text created in the brain of the speaker could differ with that of the listener is the motive of the speech being delivered. In a motivational speech, the listener may expect to receive a speech that is persuasive with a strong emotional element. Therefore the expectations of the listener could be surpass the information that is being delivered by the speaker. It is therefore necessary to understand a topic thoroughly as well as the audience so as the speaker and the audience can be in tandem. This will lead too understanding of the message on the part of the audience and could lead to proper communication. Conclusion Language cannot be separated from the brain. When studying the language acquisition process, it is important to understand the role the human brain plays in learning and interpreting a language including the arbitrary symbols used to represent objects. Language processing can be defined as how human beings communicate their ideas and feelings and how the ideas and communication are received and interpreted. Language processing is an integral part of the human life (Yule 1985). This place takes place in the cerebral cortex and the most essential the cortical language areas is symbolic representation. Language may exist in different forms but all language is a form of symbolic representation. Scholars argue that increase in raw vocabulary fluency is related to cortical thinning. Great improvements in performance are associated with greater thinning in regions of the brain associated with language. Therefore, language and brain go hand in hand and the learning process begins in infancy as the brain develops. Works cited: Obler, Loraine K, and Kris Gjerlow. Language and the Brain. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000. Print. Yule, George. The Study of Language: An Introduction. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Internet resource. Grodzinsky, Yosef, Lewis P. Shapiro, and David Swinney. Language and the Brain: Representation and Processing. San Diego: Academic Press, 2000. Internet resource. Da̧browska, Ewa. Language, Mind and Brain: Some Psychological and Neurological Constraints on Theories of Grammar. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2004. Print. 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