Learning language, solving mathematics, brain function, truth and half-truth

People who say, “I’m not a math person” not simply because they do not like it, but because math can add trauma that manifests as anxiety and a fear of being wrong. This fear limits their access to the solutions, especially during early school life.

The human brain is one of the most complex organs of the human body. It contains about 100 trillion connections and 100 billion neurons. It is divided into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere does certain functions. It is a common belief that the left brain is for logical and analytical thinking, on the other hand, the right brain is for creative reasoning.

Depending on their abilities and interests, people label themselves as left-brain or right-brain orientated. Some efficient foreign language learners are not good at math at all. Once some of my students shared their experiences regarding learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and learning mathematics as a subject. There were common themes in the stories. In most cases, students who are not good at math are usually good at learning languages. People who say, “I’m not a math person” not simply because they do not like it, but because math can add trauma that manifests as anxiety and a fear of being wrong. This fear limits their access to the solutions, especially during early school life. Most of the students who struggle to succeed in math tests often experience fear and it can shut down their working memory that involves solving mathematical problems.

A term called ‘dyscalculia’ is a learning difference that affects math skills and understanding. The anxiety leads students to avoid math lessons. A learner might get anxious because of self-doubt of failing at mathematics, at the same time, he or she can be an efficient language learner. However, mathematics is such a thing that cannot be avoided. We need math in our everyday life. 

Until the late 20^th century, scientists assumed that almost everything that we do, including mathematics, language learning, creative tasks, analytical tasks, is done by which side of our brain that we are using. Now the scientists believe that the left hemisphere controls the logical side such as language learning and mathematics and our right hemisphere is thought to control the spatial abilities, music, visual imagery such as painting, etc. Our left hemisphere contains some parts of the partial lobe (upper middle of the brain), occipital lobe (backside of the brain), and the temporal lobe (middle of the brain) that forms our language control center. Basically, the Wernicke area and Broca area help us to understand and speak new language signs and patterns. 

Therefore, the question arises when we come to know that the same side is controlling both language learning abilities and mathematical problem-solving. Why do most of the efficient foreign language learners say that they were not good at math during their early childhood?

Actually, our brain is a strange thing. According to the muscle test, the theory of left and right brain function are half-truths. The functions are not hemisphere located.

Some people believe that our key language centers: the Broca area, Wernicke area, and the cingulate gyrus involve the recognition of mathematical symbols since the symbols are part of the language but they are not actually involved in reasoning the way through solving a mathematical problem. They think that solving mathematics is the function of the prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobe (front of the brain).

Split-brain surgeries during the 1960s gave scientists the chance to observe each half of the human brain separately. Scientists have been able to look closer at the brain for the treatment of epilepsy. What they found was interesting; our left brain is more complicated rather than just being “logical”. One crucial notion of the famous American linguist Noam Chomsky can be mentioned here that the rules of language production are innate. It is an inborn capacity that allows us the acquisition of language.

Research conducted by the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University in the year 2012 showed that the integration of both left and right hemispheres is equally important and in certain cases, the opposite hemisphere can take over their responsibilities! Nowadays some scientists think that it is a fallacy that people are either right-brained or left-brained. Despite the fact that we all have distinct personalities and abilities, there's no reason to suppose that these variations are due to the dominance of one side of the brain over the other. And this is how we experience the world around us, by creating what we perceive as our reality.

The writer is Lecturer of ELT & Applied Linguistics, Department of English, Notre Dame University Bangladesh.

Learning language, solving mathematics, brain function, truth and half-truth

People who say, “Im not a math person” not simply because they do not like it, but because math can add trauma that manifests as anxiety and a fear of being wrong. This fear limits their access to the solutions, especially during early school life.

The human brain is one of the most complex organs of the human body. It contains about 100 trillion connections and 100 billion neurons. It is divided into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere does certain functions. It is a common belief that the left brain is for logical and analytical thinking, on the other hand, the right brain is for creative reasoning. Depending on their abilities and interests, people label themselves as left-brain or right-brain orientated. Some efficient foreign language learners are not good at math at all. Once some of my students shared their experiences regarding learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and learning mathematics as a subject. There were common themes in the stories. In most cases, students who are not good at math are usually good at learning languages. People who say, Im not a math person not simply because they do not like it, but because math can add trauma that manifests as anxiety and a fear of being wrong. This fear limits their access to the solutions, especially during early school life. Most of the students who struggle to succeed in math tests often experience fear and it can shut down their working memory that involves solving mathematical problems. A term called dyscalculia is a learning difference that affects math skills and understanding. The anxiety leads students to avoid math lessons. A learner might get anxious because of self-doubt of failing at mathematics, at the same time, he or she can be an efficient language learner. However, mathematics is such a thing that cannot be avoided. We need math in our everyday life. Until the late 20th century, scientists assumed that almost everything that we do, including mathematics, language learning, creative tasks, analytical tasks, is done by which side of our brain that we are using. Now the scientists believe that the left hemisphere controls the logical side such as language learning and mathematics and our right hemisphere is thought to control the spatial abilities, music, visual imagery such as painting, etc. Our left hemisphere contains some parts of the partial lobe (upper middle of the brain), occipital lobe (backside of the brain), and the temporal lobe (middle of the brain) that forms our language control center. Basically, the Wernicke area and Broca area help us to understand and speak new language signs and patterns. Therefore, the question arises when we come to know that the same side is controlling both language learning abilities and mathematical problem-solving. Why do most of the efficient foreign language learners say that they were not good at math during their early childhood? Actually, our brain is a strange thing. According to the muscle test, the theory of left and right brain function are half-truths. The functions are not hemisphere located. Some people believe that our key language centers: the Broca area, Wernicke area, and the cingulate gyrus involve the recognition of mathematical symbols since the symbols are part of the language but they are not actually involved in reasoning the way through solving a mathematical problem. They think that solving mathematics is the function of the prefrontal cortex of the frontal lobe (front of the brain). Split-brain surgeries during the 1960s gave scientists the chance to observe each half of the human brain separately. Scientists have been able to look closer at the brain for the treatment of epilepsy. What they found was interesting; our left brain is more complicated rather than just being logical. One crucial notion of the famous American linguist Noam Chomsky can be mentioned here that the rules of language production are innate. It is an inborn capacity that allows us the acquisition of language. Research conducted by the Department of Experimental Psychology at Ghent University in the year 2012 showed that the integration of both left and right hemispheres is equally important and in certain cases, the opposite hemisphere can take over their responsibilities! Nowadays some scientists think that it is a fallacy that people are either right-brained or left-brained. Despite the fact that we all have distinct personalities and abilities, theres no reason to suppose that these variations are due to the dominance of one side of the brain over the other. And this is how we experience the world around us, by creating what we perceive as our reality. The writer is Lecturer of ELT Applied Linguistics,Department of English, Notre Dame University Bangladesh.