Language comprehension is something that is done unconsciously and
quite easily by most humans. Because of this, the specific way that
comprehension works is something that many people never consider.
Therefore, this paper will attempt to answer the question: how does
language comprehension work and what contributes to it?
Comprehension is mainly thought to occur in the Wernicke’s area of
the brain which is located in the left temporal lobe (Psychology 240
lecture, 3/22/11). The reason that understanding of language is assumed
to be related to this area is because of a condition called Wernicke’s
aphasia. Patients that have this type of aphasia have had some sort of
damage to their left temporal lobe. They typically are unable to
understand the spoken words of others, but their own speech production
stays intact, albeit jumbled (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/22/11). The
results of this problem prove that language comprehension mainly takes
place in Wernicke’s area.
Though humans are equipped with Wernicke’s area from birth, language
comprehension develops along with the child. It is very difficult for
researchers to decipher when babies first begin to understand language,
unlike learning where it occurs which was relatively obvious. No baby
can explain how much language they understand because they lack the
ability to produce language. Thus, many creative experiments have been
conducted to attempt to see if babies are able to interpret different
sounds. If they are able to discriminate between sounds, they are one
step closer to understanding the differences in meanings of words. One
study, by Eimas et al., looked at the rate of sucking on a pacifier that
a baby had (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). The researchers played a
certain sound and the child would become excited by the sound and suck
more (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). Eventually, the baby would get
used to the sound and the sucking would return to a normal rate
(Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). If the sound was changed, the
sucking would once again become more intense (Psychology 240 lecture,
3/24/11). This study displayed that babies (as young as one month old!)
are able to decipher between two different sounds. However, this does
not provide any solid information about comprehension.
Comprehension in babies is almost absolutely impossible to study
because they cannot speak or move as well as older children and adults.
Because of this, most knowledge about comprehension is derived from
children that already are able to fluently speak a language. It is
known that children at age five know between 10,000 and 15,000 words and
are learning around 10 new words a day (Psychology 240 lecture,
3/24/11). This knowledge is quite unbelievable and difficult to even
comprehend.
The first words that a child uses and understands are usually
concrete, short words that are used a lot by parents. Many babies are
bombarded with parents saying “mama” or “dada” in their face all the
time and naturally, this is usually one of a child’s first words. Not
only does the repetition help, but the consonants /m/ and /d/ are easy
for a child to pronounce (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). Does the
fact that children say certain words earlier in life mean that they only
understand those words at that point? The answer to that question is
currently unknown but the answer is assumed to be no. Logic tells us
that most babies are able to understand much more than they are able to
produce. Many young children are able to answer complex questions
provided by their parents, without having the ability to form these
questions on their own.
Many children show their understanding (or lack thereof) of language
through a few common mistakes. The first time a young child hears a
word, they usually will assume that the word applies to the entire
object (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). This idea is referred to as
the “whole-object bias” (Psychology 240 lecture, 3/24/11). For example,
if a parent comments on a pretty lampshade, the child may assume that
the entire lamp is called a “lampshade.” Another common error of
children who do not have full language comprehension is the idea that
the name of a certain item refers to its shape and will consequently
extend the name to other items with the same shape (Psychology 240
lecture, 3/24/11). In both of these cases, the child clearly does not
understand what the word/component of language is attempting to talk
about.
A piece that often accompanies language and helps children, and other
adults, understand the topic being spoken about, is gesture. Gestures
are movements of the body used to help express the meaning of an idea
(Merriam-Webster, 2011).
A study was conducted by Kelly et. al. to investigate the effects of
gesture on language comprehension (Kelly et. al., 2009). They propose a
hypothesis that states that the relationship between gesture and
language is bidirectional and occurs simultaneously in order to help the
understanding of language (Kelly et. al., 2009). In order to test this
hypothesis, they used twenty-nine college students, a relatively small
sample size, and had them watch a video of an action prime, have a blank
screen, then see someone produce a gesture and word (Kelly et. al.,
2009). In the first experiment, about half of the videos had the video
and the prime match. The other half had the follow-up videos range in
similarity to the prime, though not completely the same. The subject’s
job was to press a ‘yes’ button if the video and the prime matched and a
‘no’ button if it did not. Their prediction was that if they have the
same target and prime, the reaction times would be shorter and there
would be fewer errors (Kelly et. al., 2009). The results showed that
their prediction was correct in both facets; the subjects were faster
when the video matched the prime and there were fewer errors (Kelly et.
al., 2009).
A second experiment was conducted that had basically the same set-up
as the first with one major difference. A new group of 41 college
students were used and they were told similar directions to the first
experiment except this time, they were only supposed to answer in
regards to if the spoken word (not the gesture) was the same as the
prime (Kelly et. al., 2009). The researchers predicted that because
they think that speech and gesture work together, if the gesture and
speech become dissimilar, the reaction times will be longer and there
will be more errors (Kelly et. al., 2009). The results supported their
prediction because as the speech and gesture became more incongruent,
accuracy and reaction times both increased (Kelly et. al., 2009).
This study, which included two experiments, found that their logical
hypotheses were in fact supported. When gesture and language together
help to both say the same thing, it is easier to understand and humans
make fewer errors than if they say conflicting things (Kelly et. al.,
2009). During the incongruent conditions in the first experiment, the
subjects made on average 8 times as many errors when the differences
were weakly incongruent and 11 times as many when they were strongly
incongruent (Kelly et. al., 2009).
Due to the findings of this study, there is solid data that supports
the fact that gesture enhances understanding when paired with language.
This makes logical sense because humans tend to use and interpret
gestures on a moment-to-moment basis.
Language comprehension is a complex process that occurs easily and
effortlessly by humans. It develops along with the brain and is able to
be enhanced with the use of gesture. Though it is unknown exactly how
early comprehension is fully developed in children, gestures are
undoubtedly useful for understanding the language around us. Further
studies need to be invented and conducted so that language comprehension
can be even better understood. An interesting study might be looking
at whether gestures or language produce a more thorough understanding of
a concept. With time, comprehension may be able to be fully
understood.
References:
Kelly, S., Maris, E. & Özyüre A. (2009). Two sides of the same coin: speech and
gesture mutually interact to enhance comprehension.
Psychological Science 21, 260-267
gesture. 2011. In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved March 26, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestures
