Jocelyne Rodriguez
Journal Entry 1
What parts of the brain are most important for the production and comprehension of speech?
According to the article How the Brain Handles Language, The left hemisphere is dominant for language in most right-handed people (estimates are usually over 95%). An interesting concept explored by this reading is thinking of the production of language as a process with different steps that involve different parts of the brain with different functions (e.g. conceptualization of a message, semantics, phonology representation, send signals to muscles, and self-monitoring).
How do you conceptualize or process meaning? Do these readings bring to mind any questions or motivations that could help promote your foreign-language abilities, retention, and recollection?
The article How We Mean, provides a motivation for language learning by arguing that it is crucial to look at different languages because if we restrict our view to just one language-our own- we will never truly understand the distinction between sense and reference, because it is natural to think that ‘our’ way of talking about the world is the only now, or the most natural one.
Another interesting point raised in this reading is that of interpretation of meaning that there is more than one way to explain meaning. One can have a visual representation, a definition, or derive meaning from experience and logical conclusions. Furthermore, it brings into attention the importance of studying the meaning of words in context rather than in isolation.
It is argued that “words by themselves do not actually make sense. only when they are used within sentences do they make sense. Sentences exist to enable us to make sense of words.” This is because isolated words have the potential for conveying too much meaning while words in sentences have more specific meanings that are easier to comprehend. This last point has motivated me to study vocabulary in context. Before, I would only look up the translation of words from my target language in English. Now I am motivated to also find sentences in which the words are used to make sure they are used in the same way that their translation would suggest.
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