Learning%20Journal%20%231.docx
Learning Journal #1
Kelly Breakall
9-9-2018
Language, the Brain, and Meaning: a brief overview as they apply to my Hindi goals
Throughout history, there has been various methods to try to determine “localization of function” in the brain, which means that specific brain areas perform specific tasks. This was explored through phrenology in the 19th century, whose proponents believed that bumps on our skulls were clues to cognitive character traits like timeliness and ability to love! Thankfully, science has progressed since those times to understand that the key to understanding localization of brain functioning is inside the brain. J We use various types of brain scans and medical case studies to determine functional areas of the brain, and we have discovered that language is pervasive throughout almost the whole brain (or at least throughout the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain that deals with upper level cognition)!
Like I mentioned before, we learn a lot of about brain function through medical case studies, and especially through unfortunate incidents of brain trauma. In general, if brain trauma occurs, the brain can adapt and relocate cognitive processes to other parts of the brain that would not normally handle those tasks. That may be why certain traumas, such as strokes, can remove a person’s ability to talk (and perform other tasks), but only temporarily, as the brain adapts. However, a couple of regions that are especially pertinent to language and cannot be substituted with other parts (or for each other), are Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas. Damage to these will cause inability to understand and speak language, respectively.
In a healthy individual, the brain processes language through a complex system of collecting sensory stimuli through the senses (hearing someone talk, for example), routing it through the thalamus to the most appropriate brain region (the auditory cortex), evaluating it through different regions for emotional content, determining an appropriate response, taking steps to enact that response (such as alerting the cerebellum that it must open the mouth and engage the abdominal muscles), and engaging in constant interoceptive feedback (feeling the mouth open, feeling the sound against our own ears, being aware of our own body movements to make sure we use our body language to convey what we mean along with our words) and social feedback (making sure the other person is responding in a manner appropriate to what we uttered). Amazingly, this entire process happens almost constantly in our lives, and with very little conscious effort on our parts!
Of course, this biological process does not explain how we extract meaning from the strange sounds or the scribbles on paper that we witness. That is a much more complicated question and one that philosophers, linguistics, and psychologists grapple with to this day. Do words intrinsically have their meanings tied to them, as Plato hypothesized in ancient times, or is there no connection between words and their meanings except what humans ascribe to them? Most modern scholars agree that reality is closer to the latter. But then, of course, is the question of where to draw the lines between words. Where does jogging change into running, and how does a chair differ from a seat? Different languages draw those divisions of meaning in very different places (as any language learner trying to learn a new kinship terminology system knows!). In everyday life we often do not have concrete definitions of words, but rather use them as they become useful to us, almost as if there is a continuum of meanings in language which we interpret through context. In fact, we often understand words as how they relate to other words, such as when we use synonyms or antonyms to elaborate on what we want to say. Semantics is a wonderfully complex and confusing thing to study.
The readings today make me reflect a little on what language processing and communication means to me as a learner of Hindi. First, it makes me remember that language is a complex cognitive task for our brains, and furthermore that it is largely a pursuit of memory that leads us to be able to communicate with others. While I do feel like languages are a game sometimes, I also need to use my knowledge about how memories are encoded, retained, and retrieved, and treat that part of language-learning with more responsibility. Second, it reminds me that linguistic meaning is so tied up in context, and context is so tied up in culture, that I really need to treat cultural understanding as almost equally important as knowing the right words and grammar! For one example, I have noticed that my Indian friends do not understand dry humor/sarcasm (such as jokingly saying “It’s so cold outside today!” when it is 100F), and so I need to remember to speak straight in Hindi unless I get signs otherwise. I might know all the right words and grammar rules, but I need to use language that translates through cultures in order to communicate successfully!
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