A Brief Literature Review of Brain and Language

作者：Zhang Xiangnan

来源：《校园英语·中旬》2020年第05期

【Abstract】Advanced brains and their sophisticated production： languages， have fundamentally differed human from any other species of animals on this planet. Therefore， the relationship between language and human brain has become one of the principal focus of academic research. Scientists are intensely curious about what it is that makes our human brains fertile enough to yield the complicated functions of languages？ How many benefits have we obtained from our brains and our languages？ Through countless fruitful studies， we are now approaching closer and closer toward the answers to these questions.This paper reviews articles and academic reports introducing some basic or detailed information on the relationship between brain and language. 【Key words】Brain; Language; Literature; information

【作者簡介】Zhang Xiangnan， School of Humanities of Gansu University of Political Science and Law.

Studies led by Aron Barbey， William W. Graves， Viorica Marian and a few other researchers all pay their attentions on some of the specific areas which may directly related to language input and output.

Professor Aron Barbey’s study is on the basis of “discourse comprehension”. It is an ability which connects to a certain type of activity in human brain.In Aron Barbey’s opinion， this ability is a hallmark of the human mind and central to everyday social life. Thus， the purpose of the

professor’s research is to investigate the brain regions that underlie discourse comprehension. With his team， Barbey previously have mapped general intelligence， emotional intelligence and a host of other high-level cognitive functions in the relative areas in cortex. This time， he is trying to identify a network of brain areas in the frontal and parietal cortex that are essential to discourse comprehension. Undoubtedly， he has reached significant results. According to these results， Professor Aron Barbey claims that discourse comprehension depends on an executive control network that helps integrate incoming language with prior knowledge and experience. He further explains that executive control， also known as executive function， refers to the ability to plan， organize and regulate one’s behavior. By suggesting that core elements of discourse processing emerge from a network of brain regions that support language procession and executive functions， this study helps people understand the neural foundations of discourse comprehension. It is believed that the findings of this study will offer new insights into basic questions about the nature of discourse comprehension and can offer new targets for clinical interventions to help patients with cognitive-communication disorders.

Aron Barbey’s studies have discussed the possible relationship between language and some certain areas in human brains.

Charan Ranganath and John Hewitt’s research， whereas， have probed some factors which may boost our brains and thus make learning easier and more enjoyable.The core of Charan Ranganath’s study is curiosity. He believes that curiosity helps people to remember things more quickly and for longer time. In fact， curiosity can be regarded as one of the individually different factors that may influence learning. When a learner is highly curious about how the language that he is learning works and functions， it will be naturally more possible for him to learn the language more actively. Intentionally， he will try different learning styles and adopt the one which fits him most. The learner’s learning motivation is strong and full of power， and he probably will hold optimistic attitude toward any difficulties and obstacles he may come across during his learning. Similar with Charan Ranganath’s study， John Hewitt， a neuroscientist who studies the biology of intelligence， also undertakes comprehensive studies on some factors which may stimulate learning process. He used to believe that intelligence has a strong biological component， which means that if a person’s parents are smart， that person will probably be smart – even without a lot of fuss about the right schools and learning environments. However recently， during his study， Hewitt has discovered something that surprised him. The study brings him and his team a new

understanding of the interplay between a person’s genetic inheritance and how that person learns from the environment. Researchers begins their study from language learning. A well-known common sense underlies the study： both children and adults learn things， but children are better than adults at some kinds of learning， especially learning a new language. Hence， Hewitt presumes that children do better at language learning is that young brains are more receptive to learning. He thinks that the developing brain is a much more flexible organ than the mature brain. For the period of time when the brain is still developing， Hewitt names it “sensitive period”.

Indeed， Hewitt’s sensitive period is to some extent similar with Chomsky’s critical period hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that animals， including humans， are genetically programmed to acquire certain kinds of knowledge and skill at specific times in life. Beyond those “critical

periods”， it is either difficult or impossible to acquire those abilities. With regard to language， the CPH suggests that children who are not given access to language in infancy and early childhood （because of deafness or extreme isolation） will never acquire language if these deprivations go on for too long.

However， there are still slight differences between Hewitt’s “sensitive period” and Chomsky’s critical period hypothesis. One is that in Hewitt’s points of view， sensitive period can on conditions be extended. For instance， among some children with very high IQs， the brain appears to stay in learning hyperdrive for an extended period， which in other words is that sensitive period intends to end earlier for children with relatively low IQs. The other is that Hewitt’s “sensitive period” can be extended by continuing deep learning. Hewitt assumes that gravitating to challenging activities helps

keep children receptive to learning. That is to say， if a child is willing to learning new things such as a new language， a musical instrument or else， his or her “sensitive period” may sustain for a longer time. Nevertheless， these are not proven by scientific research yet. One question remains unknown is that why some teenagers continue to learn at the pace of much younger children. Namely， why some children enjoy longer “sensitive period” than others. Hewitt assumes that it could be that genes that lead to high IQ also trigger an extended learning period.

No matter Chomsky’s critical period hypothesis or Hewitt’s “sensitive period” theory， one thing can be ensured is that the pace of learning corresponds with ageing. For apparently， ageing directly determines the functions of human brains.

This piece of literature review has synthetically discussed several articles and academic reports about the relationship between human brains and language learning， including three studies on specific areas in brains which may influence language information processing and other two ones on possible factors that improve human brains to be better organs more suitable for learning. References：

[1]Boguslaw Bierwiaczonek， Zeng Guocai. Introduction to the metogram in linguistic thinking and brain[J]. Contemporary linguistics， 2015，17（03）：372-374.

[2]Wang Qiang， Gong Tao. Contemporary interdisciplinary linguistic research on language evolution， brain and some important directions of future research[J]. Journal of linguistics of nankai， 2012（01）：143-154.