Bilingualism and How Communication Develops Dissertation

Bilingualism and How Communication Develops - Dissertation Example The ability to learn a language involves many areas of the brain. The association areas located in the parietal lobe with connections to the temporal and occipital areas are involved in language experiences by functionally facilitating a variety of language-related behaviours such as vision, body awareness, touch, spatial orientation, verbal comprehension, localisation of objects in space, abstract and complex cognitive functions of mathematical reasoning and formulation of logical thoughts stemming from visual experiences (Lezak, 1997). This area of the brain was termed this association area in the parietal lobe as the â€Å"association area of association areas† while others named this association area the â€Å"  cortex† (Lezak, 1997). The right hemisphere is also involved when organizing a narrative, an expression and during recognition of emotion in the tone of voice as well as regulation of rhythm and intonation of speech.  The specialization of the left hemis phere in language processing, neuronal systems used for grammatical, semantic and lexical processing have been found to be affected by early language experiences (Carlson, 2001). Studies also indicate that right hemisphere involvement is present since much of the language processing requires spatial location, motion; and specialization and differentiation of these neuronal circuits are related to the proficiency of the language. It is known that verbal behavior is lateralized and the functions of the left hemisphere are more specialized for the analysis of sequential stimuli such as speech. Speech consists of sounds arranged into sequences of words. Cortical language areas primarily associated with localization of language-related functions are on the left hemisphere around the Sylvian fissure, inferior frontal lobe which harbors Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area, located in the posterior temporal lobe (Carlson, 2001).