Language Loss

Haley Knies
WLL 211-W
Dr. Hammer
13 December 2012
Language Loss and the Brain
Language is a vital part of every society. Without language, we would not be able to communicate complex ideas and expressions. Although different languages are spoken amongst different groups of people and throughout the different regions of the world, each language has a vast number of speakers. Correspondingly,individuals are able to utilize these various languages through use of the left hemisphere of the brains. Consequently, when damage is done to the left side of the brain, it is exceptionally likely for several elements of language to become impaired. The most common conditions that are associated with language loss are aphasia, alexia, and agraphia.
In 1865, the French physician Paul Brocanoticed a correlation between language loss and damage to the left side of the brain. The evidence for this correlation was based on his research of a man named referred to as “Tan”. He adopted this nickname at the hospital where he was a patient because the only word he uttered was “tan” (Teter). After his death, Broca performed an autopsy on his brain, revealing a tumor in the left hemisphere of thebrain. This evidence, as well as previous autopsies with similar results, led Broca to believe that the left side of the brain was responsible for all aspects of language (Teter). The condition that “Tan” suffered from is now known as Broca’s aphasia, which is one of the many sub-categories of the more general condition known as aphasia. According to the Ohio State University department oflinguistics, aphasia is an inability to perceive, process, or produce language as a result of brain damage, either caused by a stroke, accident, lesion, or tumor. Over one million Americans struggle with communication on a daily basis as a result of aphasia (National Aphasia Association). Aphasia is almost always due to damage on the left side of the brain, which controls movements on the right side ofthe body. According to the National Aphasia Association, many people with aphasia also have weakness or paralysis of their right leg and right arm. However, aphasia does not affect a person’s intelligence. Although it is more common amongst the elderly, it is not limited to any race, age, nationality, or gender. Language Files states that according to researchers, approximately 70% of people withdamage to the left hemisphere of the brain experience aphasia. It was previously believed that signed languages were processed in the right hemisphere of the brain. However, research has shown that this is false, and that signed languages are processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, allowing signers to be capable of experiencing aphasia, as well. There are several different types of aphasiathat can occur. Depending on the exact location of the damage, individuals will experience different levels of language loss.
Broca’s aphasia is a result of damage to the Broca’s area, which is responsible for the production of speech. It is also commonly referred to as expressive aphasia. As stated in Language Files, these individuals “suffer from an inability to plan the motor sequences used inspeech or sign (p. 362). They have difficulty forming words in either speech or sign language and tend to use telegraphic speech, omitting articles, conjunctions, adjective, and adverbs. They usually can understand the speech of others, but they have great difficulty expressing their own thoughts, both in speech and writing. It is also likely for someone suffering from Broca’s aphasia to confusethe semantic interpretation of a sentence based on the syntactic order, since their speech often omits words like “to” and “the”. The speech is very limited, consisting of short utterances. It is sometimes called “non-fluent aphasia” because there is a great deal of effort required by the speaker to produce these utterances.
Wernicke’s aphasia, or receptive aphasia, develops as a result of...