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Chapter VIII Biological Foundations of Language
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- 2. Psycholinguistics studies the psychologicaland neurobiological factors that allow humans to acquire, use, and understand language. The unique human ability to use language is closely tied to its biological and neurological development.
- 3. 1. The Roleof the Brain in Language Language is primarily controlled by specific areas in the cerebral cortex (the cerebrum), mainly in the left hemisphere for the majority of people (about 95% of right-handed individuals and 70% of left-handed individuals).
- 4. A. Broca's Area ■Location: Located in the left frontal lobe, close to the motor area that controls articulation muscles (face and mouth). ■ Primary Function: Responsible for speech production (expressing ideas with correct grammar) and coordination of the speech organs. ■ Disorder: Damage to this area causes Broca's Aphasia (Expressive Aphasia), where patients have difficulty forming fluent sentences, although their language comprehension is relatively intact.
- 6. B. Wernicke's Area ■Location: Located in the left temporal lobe, close to the auditory cortex. ■ Primary Function: Responsible for language comprehension (both spoken and written), and assigning meaning to words. ■ Disorder: Damage to this area causes Wernicke's Aphasia (Receptive Aphasia), where patients speak fluently and with a natural rhythm, but their sentences are often confusing and lack meaning (sometimes called "word salad"). Patients also struggle to understand the speech of others.
- 8. C. Arcuate Fasciculus ■Function:A bundle of nerve fibers connecting Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area, enabling two-way communication between the production center and the comprehension center.
- 9. 2. Biological StructuresSupporting Language The human ability to produce complex speech sounds is also supported by the evolution of specific biological structures: ■ Larynx (Voice Box): In humans, the larynx is positioned lower than in other primates. This position allows for a larger resonance chamber (the pharynx), which is essential for producing a wide variety of vowel sounds. ■ Vocal Apparatus: Organs such as the tongue, lips, teeth, and palate work under fine neurological control to produce speech articulation.
- 10. 3. Neurological andGenetic Aspects ■ Brain Lateralization: The division of functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, where language is generally "located" in the left hemisphere (left-hemisphere dominance). ■ Language Acquisition Device (LAD): A concept proposed by Noam Chomsky, stating that humans are genetically (by nature) born with an innate mental mechanism that enables language acquisition. This suggests a biological-genetic factor determining language ability. ■ Language Development Schedule: The stages of language element emergence in children (e.g., first words around age 1, two-word utterances around age 2) often follow a genetically programmed timetable that cannot be significantly accelerated or slowed down by external factors.
- 11. 4. Aphasia (LanguageDisorders) The study of aphasia—language disorders resulting from brain damage—has provided strong evidence for the biological foundation of language, particularly in localizing language function: ■ Global Aphasia: Severe damage involving both Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area, causing serious difficulties in both comprehending and producing language.
- 12. 5. Dyslexia (LanguageDisorders) ■ A language-based learning disorder. ■ Affects reading, spelling, and writing skills. ■ Caused by differences in brain processing, not intelligence. ■ Common signs: difficulty recognizing words, slow reading, and speed problems with spelling. ■ Shows the strong link between biology and language ability.
- 13. 6. Evolution ofLanguage ■ Language evolved as an adaptive trait that supported human survival ■ Early humans used language to communicate about food, danger, and social life ■ Brain development and changes in the vocal tract enabled complex speech Language evolved along side social interaction and cooperation ■ Unlike animals, human language is creative, symbolic, and rule-based (Language is a result of biological evolution and social needs that distinguish humans from other species.)
- 14. 7. Human Languagevs Animal Communication ■ Human Language: creative and productive, uses grammar and syntax, symbolic (words represent ideas), can express abstract concepts, and learned biologically and socially. ■ Animal Communication: Limited and repetitive, no grammatical structure, mostly signals or sounds, limited to immediate needs and mostly instinctive.
- 15. 8. Importance ofBiological Foundations ■ Helps explain how humans acquire and use language Useful in education, linguistics, and speech therapy ■ Provides understanding of brain–language relationships ■ Explains causes of language and speech disorders ■ Supports fields such as education, linguistics, and speech therapy ■ Shows why language is a unique human biological ability
- 16. Conclusion The biological foundationsof language suggest that the human capacity for language is not merely a result of learning, but a complex cognitive function supported by anatomical evolution (vocal apparatus) and specific neurological structures in the brain (Broca's Area, Wernicke's Area, etc.), much of which is innate.