Language Grows Brains

This episode is about how language mediates all forms of literacy including thinking, viewing, speaking/signing, listening/watching, reading, writing, and calculating. But what we mean by "more language" refers to the way we assign meaning to our world, not the increase in language structures. For example, a person could tell a child over and over and over the same idea with the same words, but this quantifiably greater number of times told is not the same as saying something 20 different ways. The acquisition of higher levels of thinking necessitates multiple explanations for the same concepts across multiple representations—drawing, writing, telling, talking, and reading. 

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

Language acquisition can be described in terms of two processes: the neurobiological process of taking sensory input and turning it into neuro-semantic circuits and networks, and the socio-cognitive process of assigning meaning to language used. Academic, social, and behavioral methods can be aligned to match what research literature and observational data tell us about learning. This episode provides participants with examples of how to use language methods to raise literacy and improve social behavior. Since 95% of today's learners use a visual form of processing input, the methods follow what is known about the visual neurobiological system. Arwood calls these aligned methods, Viconic Language Methods (VLMs). Robb demonstrates what such methods look like.

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

Words represent the complexity of thinking. Thinking is represented by each person's unique language usage. In this way, each word a person uses represents uniquely created meanings acquired by the learner from unique past experiences. These past unique learning opportunities result in all learners having unique concepts representing their unique acquisition of meaning. In order for a large group of learners like those in a classroom to be able to access the shared meaning found in lessons, their language must mediate their literacy. So, if language mediated literacy defined as thinking, viewing, listening/watching, speaking, reading, writing, and calculating is to be equitable, then opportunities for individual access to lessons must be provided. In this way, language function is more than the sum of words. Shared access to improved language mediated literacy results in better problem solving and more critical thinking. Using a learner's own language provides equity of educational access for all. 

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

The human brain changed when it is used. Different cultures result in different languages. Different languages represent unique backgrounds. Examples of ASL compared to English are provided.

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

With different backgrounds, culturally, experientially, and linguistically; each learner processes experiences as differences in meanings. Therefore, we all have meanings that uniquely represent our cultural and linguistic backgrounds

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

As learners acquire language, their brains grow in volume and complexity of pathways to represent their depth of thinking. Therefore, learning to think is language based.

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

The meaning or semantics of language represents unique experiences that create layers of concepts. Concepts are then unique to the experience of the language user. Therefore the brain grows layers of meaning for each “word” as conceptual meanings.

Hosts: Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Dr. Bonnie Robb

Music: Pete Sansone

Art: Rey Sangines-Alvarado

Producer: Isaiah Steinberg

Our thinking changes as we learn new concepts and refine old concepts. Language represents our thinking so as we use our language we add meaning to our thinking. Concepts grow with language and so does our brain storing the newly acquired concepts and the refined concepts of the past!

Language represents our mental images. Mental images form by the brain function that is unique neurobiological and socio-cognitively. As language increases in its function so does the complexity of society.

Drs Arwood and Robb discuss how language is often viewed by academics as well as by educators and the community. One predominant group supports a structural definition of language that is developmental in nature. But Arwood and Robb argue that this developmental or structural approach to defining language does not explain the acquisition processes of language which are semantic, not structural in nature. Research literature and clinical experience support the notion that language is acquired through processing of semantics or meaning at multiple levels internally. Externally, people assign meaning based on interpretations of expressed ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. The external assignment of meaning further develops the internal acquisition of language that reflects an increase in meaning. Thus, natural language function is the result of acquisition of meaning or semantics, not the structural unfolding of developmental products.