A LESSON PLAN IN INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

I. TOPIC: Language and the Brain

II. REFERENCE: Fromkin, V. et. Al (2003). An Introduction to Language. Heinle, A
Part of Thompson Corporation. United States.
III. MATERIALS: DLP and Laptop
IV. OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson students should be able to:

1. identify the different parts of the brain and describe its functions
2. differentiate how the two hemispheres of the brain operate
3. discuss the relationship between the brain and language.

V. PROCEDURE:
A. Review
B. Motivation
Have you ever
Observed children learning learn their first language?
Studied American Sign Language?
Known anyone who has suffered a stroke?
C. Presentation of the Lesson
-Today we are going to explore the relationship between the human brain and
language.
D. Lecture
Interesting brain facts!

About 1.4 kg (2% of body weight) mass of fat & protein with 75% water content
Left hemisphere is larger than the right
40% grey matter (outer covering: cerebral cortex)
60% white matter (myelinated fiber tracts traveling to & from the cerebral cortex)
Uses 10 23 watt of energy, consuming 20% oxygen from the body. Goes
unconscious in 8 10 sec. w/o oxygen
100 billion neurons (166 times human population & would take 171 years to count!
(Tony Buzan)
2,50,000 neurons/ minute in early development & stops growing at 18

The brain has 4 areas called lobes

Frontal
Parietal
Temporal
Occipital
Lateralization of the Brain
LH more specialized for the analysis of sequences of stimuli that occur quickly but
sequentially (comprehension and production).
RH more specialized for the analysis of space and geometrical shapes and forms
that occur simultaneously.
 Involved in organizing a narrative (selecting and assembling the elements of what
we want to say)
understanding prosody (rhythm and stress)
recognizing emotion in the tone of voice
Understanding jokes
Aphasia is defined as an acquired impairment in the use of language due to
damage to certain parts of the brain
This damage could be caused by injury, stroke, or seizures
The language deficits include difficulties in language comprehension and
execution
All aphasias can be classified into two groups

Fluent aphasias
The inability to understand the language of others and the production of less
meaningful speech then normal
Non-fluent aphasias
Difficulty producing fluent, articulated, or self-initiated speech
Three major types of Aphasia

Brocas aphasia
Slow, laborious, nonfluent speech
Wernickes aphasia
Fluent speech but unintelligible
Global aphasia
Total loss of language
Brocas Aphasia
Brodmann 44, 45
Lesions in the left inferior frontal region (Brocas area), head of caudate nucleus,
thalamus, etc.
Nonfluent, labored, and hesitant speech (articulation)
Most also lose the ability to name persons or subjects (anomia)
Can utter automatic or overlearned speech (hello; songs)
Have difficulty with function (the, in, about) vs content words (verbs, nouns,
adjectives) (agrammatism)
Comprehension relatively intact when other cues available (The man swat the
mosquito vs the horse kicks the cow)
Most also have partial paralysis of one side of the body (hemiplegia)
If extensive, not much recovery over time
Brocas Aphasia
Brocas area contains memories of the sequences of muscular movements
(tongue, lips, jaw, etc) that are needed to articulate words
Wernicke (1874)
Wernickes Aphasia
Brodmann 22, 30
 Lesions in posterior part of the left superior temporal gyrus, extending to adjacent
parietal cortex
Unable to understand what they read or hear (poor comprehension)
Unaware of their deficit
Fluent but meaningless speech
Can use function but not content words
Contains many paraphasias
o girl-curl, bread-cake
Syntactical but empty sentences
Cannot repeat words or sentences
Usually no partial paralysis
Global aphasia (non-fluent)

As the name suggests, this type of aphasia is characterized by a severe depression

of all language functioning
The people with this affliction have poor language comprehension and speak in
slow, labored jargon
This aphasia is caused by damage around and to Brocas and Wernickes areas of
the brain

VI. Evaluation:
The students will be asked to form a group of 5. They will be given questions to
answer. They must brainstorm and discuss in answering the questions. Students
will choose a reporter for their group and present to the class the product of their
discussions.
1. Some Aphasic patients, when asked to read a list of words, substitute othr
words for those printed. In many cases there are similarities between the
printed words and the substituted words .The following data are from actual
aphasic patients. In each case state what the two words have in common and
how they differ:
Printed word Word Spoken
Liberty freedom
Canary parrot
Abroad overseas
Large long
Portray portrait
2. The following sentences are spoken by aphasics, were collected and analyzed by
Dr. Harry Whitaker. In each case, state how the sentences deviate from the normal
language.
a. There is a horse a new sidesaddle.
b. In girls we see many happy days.
c. Went came in better than it did before.
3. The investigation of individuals with brain damage has been a major source of
information regarding the neural basis of language and other cognitive systems.
Discuss how a damage system can or cannot provide information about a normal
system.
4. What are the argument that have been put forth to support the notion that there
are two separate parts of the brain?
5. Discuss how language is being processed in the brain.