Words Are Taken Out - 2

Do children who are visually or orally impaired have methods of communication? Children's linguistic abilities seem to develop in relation to other communication methods. Smiling is an important tool of communication; even visually impaired children start to smile when they become about three months old or so and they start babbling at six months old or so. The fact that they go through such primary step of linguistic development has lots of implications for its essence. On the other hand orally impaired children can develop their ways of communication like body movements and sign languages; they are able to communicate complex psychological phenomena like requests, various ideas and opinions. Their linguistic abilities, however, do not develop easily. These facts may indicate that human genetic mechanisms incorporate functions of communication. They are combined with body movements, facial expressions, language symbols, and then used for communications. The Brain to Dominate Linguistic Development If the essence of linguistic functions, one of the communication mechanisms, is a genetic neural function, the question is where the speech center, or the central system that dominates linguistic abilities, is located. As we all know, the current neuroanatomy tells us that the speech center is normally present in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum. This is the other way around for those who are left-handed. That is why aphasia is caused by the cerebral hemorrhage on the left hemisphere of the brain. It is also known that linguistic ability of girls develop earlier than that of boys. How do these two facts relate to the proposition that linguistic development is determined by genetic factors or environmental factors at a certain stage? Many experiments and clinical studies clearly indicate the fact that the left hemisphere of the cerebrum exerts more influence on linguistic development than the right hemisphere. And more recently an interesting fact was discovered in neuroanatomy. It has been identified that there is a long and thick part in the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex. In 60% of the cases, the part was located in the left hemisphere. Furthermore, this part existed even in the brain of a newborn, and was observed more clearly in girls than in boys. Linguists studying the language dominance of the left hemisphere and female were very much interested in this fact because this part of the temporal lobe is supposed to play an important role in understanding languages. What is important is that there is a good match between language dominance of the left hemisphere and that of female. Here is another important thing; even though it is not clear where the mechanism related to the linguistic development is located in the left cerebral hemisphere, there is an indication that the mechanism is relevant to some parts of the cerebral cortex. (The 3rd Symposium on Pediatric Linguistics, London, 1975) Kobayashi, Noboru (1981). "Kotoba wa Hippari Dasareru-2" (written in Japanese). Tokyo: Child Research Net. Retrieved Oct. 8, 2004, from the World Wide Web http://www.crn.or.jp/LIBRARY/KOBY/MIRAI/cbs0118.html

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