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Abstract
The brain constitutes the central nervous system among all the animals with backbones popularly known as the vertebrates. Also, most invertebrates have a working brain system. Small animals like starfish have nervous systems which are not central to their body functioning. The nervous system substitutes the functions of the brain. Surprisingly, other tiny animals like the sponges do not have any nervous system at all.
The position of the brain system in vertebrates is on the head which equally acts as the central nervous system. The brain component is surrounded by the skull while the sensory organs of smell, balance, taste and hearing plays their cognitive roles through the central nervous system in the brain. Above all, the brain has a critical influence on the learning process and the early stages of reading acquisition. It synthesizes the information received and eventually produces the expected feedback. Further, the brain influences the overall process of learning reading through the unique roles played by different components in the brain. The way in which brain is accustomed from early stages of life depicts how best it will function under different circumstances.
This paper seeks to give an in-depth analysis of the brain and how it controls the learning and reading process. Additionally, the brain factors which affect the learning of spoken languages are also synthesized.
The learning process of the brain
The brain has a systematic procedure through which it undergoes in the process of learning. The skill of gathering information into one whole piece is referred to as morphology. This is related to how individual words are coordinated in a sentence to make meaning. Similarly, morphology will also look at ways of disengaging a coherent sentence into separate words and then reconstructing another sentence with a completely different meaning (Rosen 2006).
The ability to utilize morphology allows a reader to comprehend a given piece of reading in quite a number of ways. To begin with, the brain attempts to simulate meaning of a group of words and then transmits the very information to the reader.
During this learning process, a reader is capable of highlighting the distinction in different parts of speech like nouns, verbs and adjectives. In addition, syntactic properties are brought out during the reading process whereby the reader is capable of deriving a thorough understanding of the use of ending words usually referred to as suffixes. Moreover, the phonological features permit the reader to acknowledge that sub-suffixes can indeed change how the main word in a sentence is pronounced. On a similar note, the learning process of the brain will allow whoever is reading to create an overall relationship on the usage of both suffixes and prefixes and how these elements in a sentence can alter the meaning of a sentence.
The learning process of the brain does not end with the above stated properties. There are phonemic features which play a crucial role in how successful a reader can comprehend a given piece of writing. This property cannot be likened to an individuals intelligence especially during the beginning stages of reading. Research shows that Intelligence Quotient and the rate at which brain decodes information are directly linked to the ability to understand a reading (Beaty 2001).
This is particularly evident in children as they advance in age. Moreover, latest research statistics have indicated that the decoding rate is the best empirical measure of grading the comprehension ability of children. In this regard, memory is a very important parameter as far as the ability to read is concerned. To understand the role played by memory in the reading process, it is imperative to consider the structure of the brain itself against some of the functions it performs. This is expounded in the following section.
The early stages of reading acquisition
There are primarily two memory components in the brain namely temporary and permanent. Each of these components plays a unique role in the memorizing ability of the brain. The chief detail here is on how the brain processes stores and transmits information received through the central nervous system (Sousa 2006). Neuroscientists have classified temporary memory to refer to that type of memory which is currently in use and also in operation. Mesencephalon is the middle part of the entire brain structure. It is made up of corporaquadrigemini and ventricular mesocoelia. The cerebral peduncles are located here as well. It is considered the backbone of the brain. The optic lobes play an auxiliary role of co-coordinating the numerous fibers found in the optic fibre.
Colliculus, for instance is responsible for eye movements and interpreting any information related to sound. Of great importance here is the eye movement during reading. The early stages of reading acquisition are greatly influenced by this part of the brain.
The other preliminary task of the brain is to identify a set of words which are linked to a series of phonetics. This is a cumbersome procedure due to the fact that when people speak, they rarely halt for a moment as they progress from one word to the other while at the same time the brain has the stringent task of differentiating words with close sound patterns but completely different from each other in both meaning and structure. A case example of such words is work force and workforce .
They sound the same but different in meaning. Research studies shows that the early stages of reading and comprehension among children are greatly influenced by parents especially when speaking to them. Parents achieve this subconsciously when they automatically shift into different talking designs as they converse with heir children. By so doing, the latter are able to acquire emerging differences in words. A more pronounced parental influence during the early stages of learning is derived from mothers who by virtue of spending the most time with their children also find themselves emphasizing certain words with a greater sense of feeling than male parents do.
The influence of the brain on learning reading
The brain has a myriad of influences in the process of learning how to read. In achieving the reading purpose of the brain, there are two types of readers who are influenced by the brain components namely the novice and skilled reader. The visual cortex is responsive of any word which has been printed. This part of the brain then transmits the printed information to the next compartment ready for analysis.
The Brocas area works hand in hand with the parieto-temporal area to critically analyse the information in terms of context and sentence structure as well as how the word or group of words can be pronounced. In the due process, a mental lexion is enhanced to further give tangible sense to the word. In cases where the latter is unable to perform well, the process of deriving meaning to the printed word that has been read can be delayed. This slow down happens because the visual cortex will have been activated. Nevertheless, a correct feedback can still be obtained in spite of the delay experienced due to the activation of the coding areas as well as the visual cortex.
Synthesizing brain factors for learning spoken languages
The spoken language is one learning component of the learning process which is highly simulated by the brain. It is done expeditiously and more precisely by the brain. Naturally, our brains have the capacity and ability to differentiate sounds which emanate from virtually all tongues. In a sequential flow, the brain is capable of relating the sounds received with written signs which can then be used to express feelings and mental images originating from the brain.
Human beings have integrated means of interpreting spoken language into perceived meaning just like other animals have their own elaborate brain features of achieving this. In this respect, the brain synthesizes the multitude of spoken word into realistic and well understood inferences. In learning the spoken language, several parts of the brain coordinate different activities. There are four lobes in action. The frontal and occipital lobes are located in opposite directions to each other while the parietal lobe is situated in between the other two. However, the fourth lobe is more temporal. It is located between the Brocas area and the Wernickes area (Willis 2008).
The system which controls the language spoken is composed of the Brocas and Wernickes areas. Latest research studies have revealed that spoken language and the way it is processed in the brain is not a simple one step procedure but a series of integrated processes. As the brain initiates to deliver the spoken language, it utilizes more that the above two areas namely the Brocas and Wernickes areas. Other components of the left part of the brain also come into play. For example, the synthesizing of nouns is done through a given set of brain design while verbs are simulated through a different set of the brain system.
The process of interpreting nouns and verbs as well as other parts of speech becomes more complex depending on how a given sentence is structured; more complicated sentences would demand the use of more brain components including the right portion of the brain. However, most individuals make use of the left hemisphere of the brain for processing language patterns. The synthesis of vocabulary and how word arrangement influences the overall meaning of a sentence takes place at the Brocas area. Also, this area also governs the application of grammar rules in a sentence. The judgment based on grammar usage in a particular sentence is processed by the Brocas area (Feinstein 2006).
After the language pattern has been synthesized by the left hemisphere, there is need to attach meaning to the very language (Sousa 2006). This task is belied to be performed by the Wernickes area. It is one of the temporary lobes located on the left side of the brain. Imaging studies of the brain indicates that the neural networks in the brain have a key role of giving response or stimuli to the sound waves being received. Furthermore, the genetic factor plays an equally significant role of when it comes to audio interpretation.
Reference List
Beaty, J. (2001). The Human Brain: Essentials of behavioral neuroscience. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Feinstein S. (2006). The Praeger handbook of learning and the brain, Volume 2. CT: Praeger Pulishers.
Rosen D.G. (2006). The dyslexic brain. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Sousa A.D (2006). How the brain learns. California: Sage Publication.
Willis J. (2008). Teaching the brain to read: strategies for improving fluency, vocabulary and Comprehension. MA: ASCD.
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