In the chapter 27 “How the Brain Handles Language”, I found the subsection for ‘Dominance’ to be quite confusing. The example the author used for language and handedness brought more confusion than clarity with the two hemispheres. I understand that the hemispheres are only partly understood which is why such generalizations were stated and that such identifications must be made cautiously to avoid over-simplification. However, I still don’t understand the relationship between language and handedness. In regard to parts of the brain that are most important for the production and comprehension of speech, it seems that Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area are most important as stated in the subtext ‘Neurolinguistic Processing’.
In my opinion, I don’t think language is a purely biological phenomenon. I think the ability to communicate is a biological phenomenon as the majority of living species are biologically able to do so. It’s not as if we were born already able to speak a certain language. Furthermore, language can be changed by adding new words to describe things which is commonly seen in our culture, whether it be through music or from a new trend on social media.
I conceptualize or process meaning through experience. I feel as though experience is the best way to understand something because you can relate the meaning to another meaning you have already processed. As for the readings, they didn’t particularly inspire any special insights or motivations that could help advance my foreign-language abilities, retention, and recollection. The information was interesting and informative, but there’s not much that would bring me insight as to how I would advance in my foreign-language studies.
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