Introduction
Psycholinguistics is a study field that deals with the relationship between psychology and neurobiological characteristics and their contribution towards language development. Psycholinguistics is one of the important fields in human development since it evaluates the factors promoting, sustaining and producing languages in humans. Although the study is mostly relevant in early human development to evaluate acquisition of language, it is still applicable in the analysis of second and progressive languages learnt by humans at any stage of their development. Although psycholinguistics relates to languages alone, it borrows modern concepts from biology, cognitive sciences and information theory to understand human language development (Houston & Jusczyk, 2000). Although there have been longstanding claims that psycholinguistics is founded on philosophical sub-disciplines, it generates a connection between science, philosophy, social and cognitive structures to evaluate development of grammar in spoken and written form. Different issues have been associated with the level of psycholinguistic competence, among them age, gender, social class and number of languages already acquired, among others. Children have been noted to develop linguistic capabilities in different stages of their development. This means that children within certain age group are expected to have acquired linguistic skills up to a specific level. Gender differences have been related with the speed and competence in learning and comprehending language. Language development has been found to take place faster among girls than boys.
Factors affecting Language Development
Social class has also been associated with linguistic developments, with higher social class being associated with a higher degree of linguistic development as compared to the lower social class. In most cases, the argument highlights the fact that poor upbringing limits the chances of lingual diversifications since parents and society are mostly indulged in economic developing activities at the expense of the children. The number of languages being studied also influences the speed and competence, since children usually possess background foundation for language development.
Gender differences have been related with the speed and competence in learning and comprehending language. It has been argued that genetics plays a vital role in a child’s capacity to comprehend sentences, compose, and become competent in a language. Studies have been conducted on twins and other genetically related children and a significant relationship has been identified. The sex of a child is one of the areas still being investigated and past research have demonstrated that girls are at a better chance of becoming competent in a language than boys are.
One of the most significant findings is that the neuroreceptors associated with language are different in both girls and boys. In addition to the difference in the receptors, research has indicated a difference in the parts of the brain among boys and girls associated with cognitive and linguistic development (Burman, Bitan, & Booth, 2008). The left inferior frontal receptor has been very vibrant among boys, compelling them to engage in unwanted activities. In human development, one of the issues that is raised is that girls’ develop their brains quite faster than the boys do. Although the claim has been disputed over a long time, it has been realized that in psycholinguistics, girls are better in advancing in linguistics than the boys.
One of the issues addressed in the claim is that the girls’ brains develop faster that the boys, especially when it comes to language cognition and becoming competent in linguistics. Girls have been noted to have an advanced brain than the boys, and this makes it possible for them to conceptualize the basics in language development, hence beating the boys at an early stage. One of the parts associated with language development is the pre frontal cortex, which is responsible for controlling expressions, verbal skills and cognitive development (Burman, et al., 2008). From the realization that the brains in boys do not react similarly to cognitive changes, researchers have advanced their research to cover the influence of sexes in realizing competence in languages. Although the development of the pre frontal cortex is significantly visible in adolescence, the part of the brain associated with cognitive development, as well as in linguistics develops faster in girls than in boys.
This leads to the realization that boys are slow learners as compared to the girls. During normal development, the girls’ brains develop faster and are significantly larger than that of the boys, a fact that guarantees an advantage when it comes to learning languages. The neural connectors are larger in girls compared to the sizes in boys (Burman, et al., 2008). The neural connectors help the synthesis of information, comprehension, and development of language vocabularies. The size of the brain therefore helps the girls to respond quickly to languages than the boys, and the research has led to the realization that the mode of thinking in the two sexes varies accordingly.
Girls have been noted to have advanced listening skills due to their brain sizes, while the boys have had to struggle to conceptualize on the issues being taught in languages. In addition to better listening skills, an advanced brain has been associated with better memory and advanced multitasking, meaning that girls can accommodate various linguistic activities including building of vocabularies, comprehension and sentence construction, as compared to boys, who have limitations during language development, which are caused by small brain parts associated with cognition and linguistics development.
Brain size is therefore significant in influencing the reaction to languages and in promoting the cognitive skills required to be competent in languages. The girls’ brains are more devoted towards ensuring that they acquire the required basic skills in language development. Girls develop the parts required for competencies in spoken and written languages faster than boys do, leading to an advantage in the fluency and degree of understanding the language (Houston & Jusczyk, 2000). The size of the brain therefore influences the possibility of increasing an individual’s vocabulary bank and in ensuring that the individuals’ comprehend the different expectations associated with languages.
Earlier development of the brain leads to the realization that girls are at an advantage when it comes to languages as compared to the boys (Burman, et al., 2008). Hence, boys take quite some time to learn languages, irrespective of other issues that influence language development like age, social class and the language being learnt compared to the ones that have already been acquired.
When boys and girls hit the adolescent stage, girls still possess advanced brains compared to the boys, and are therefore at a better chance to understand multiple languages and become multilingual than the boys are. The realization that the sizes of the brains influence the linguistics development makes it possible to subject the research to further analysis, based on the factors leading to language competencies.
Psycholinguistics has identified several methods of learning and acquiring languages. One of these is behavioral tasks that influence individual comprehension of the language depending on the approach from the teachers and experienced individuals. The size of the brain associated with language development influences the ability to associate with experiences associated with languages and hence develop cognitive competencies faster (Houston & Jusczyk, 2000). Sizes of the brain influence the reaction time to stimulus and in a learning environment, the time required to conceptualize languages and to develop associated meanings of vocabularies is shorter in girls as compared to boys.
Behavioral responses to language development are therefore subject to the factors used to develop the language. In case children are required to make lexical decisions, or simply make decisions based on words that they read and learn in class, the girls can easily outperform the boys due to the sizes of the brains dedicated to language development. In addition to making lexical decisions, it has been noted that, cognitive and linguistics development in children are also influenced by the efforts taken while decoding and encoding words and their meanings in the languages being learnt.
The other findings related to gender and language development has been on the use of different brain parts to decode and develop the required skills. Based on data collected using MRIs, it has been noted that girls are actively involved in decoding and encoding linguistic skills more than the boys are. The findings have been used to illustrate the differences between the girls and the boys, especially when it comes to interpreting linguistics and other associated cognitive skills.
The major difference has been on the interpretation of ideas and other issues between the boys and the girls. Girls have been noted to adapt an abstract response to language skills as compared to the boys, who have been associated with sensory responses. Abstract reasoning has been known to cause significant changes to the brain, especially in areas associated with languages development (Houston & Jusczyk, 2000). Whether spoken or written, abstract reasoning has been based, not upon the dedication or the approach of the teacher, but rather on the existing concepts and theories associated with languages. It means then, that girls will get the theoretical concepts faster than the boys will do, and will apply these concepts during their language development stages.
Based on the findings on abstract and sensory based interpretation of language skills, researchers have based the unique characteristics on historical adaptations demonstrated by men and women. According to researchers, men tend to rely on limited clues or signals to make decisions, while women take abstract reasoning and compare ideas and other clues in order to make an appropriate decision. The concept of using multiple clues to get to the final destination helps the girls to make informed decisions about the linguistic skills and this makes the girls to be therefore more informed compared to the boys. On the contrary, the boys are only actively involved in cognitive development, only when there are visual or audible information being transferred from the teachers to the children. The mode of transferring information from the teacher to the students is subject to the level of competencies in boys, than is on girls. Boys’ brains increase their activities based either on the responses being received, visually or in audio forms.
Boys barely rely on abstract reasoning or interpretations to make cognitive decisions. Rather, they apply the immediate concepts derived from listening or seeing demonstrations and therefore learn at a slower rate compared to the girls (Burman, et al., 2008). The parts of the brains responsible for cognitive and linguistics development also influence the rate of language competence and makes it easier for individuals to develop language skills at varying stages of normal human development.
The difference between sensory and abstract reasoning is that girls tend to rely on many hints and clues to make linguistic judgments, while the boys rely either on the visual or on the audio information being put across by another person. The approach makes it hard for the boys to develop cognitive skills faster and better than the girls do and it also limits the acquisition of vocabularies and other linguistic features.
Another finding on gender related differences in language acquisition is that the girls are usually subjected to positive language environments as compared to the boys and hence develop language skills sooner than the boys do. The researchers base their argument on the fact that the parents treat young children differently and these differences influence the cognitive skills acquired.
Fathers tend to engage their sons with practical activities, while engaging their daughters with verbal and theoretical concepts. In most cases, the boys will understand the practical aspects, but fail to understand the theoretical concepts, required for socializing and developing language skills (Burman, et al., 2008). This means that the sexes are subjected to different upbringing right from their early stages, based on the existing cultural interpretations of a girl, and the societal expectations of a boy to be hardy and to understand the working concepts of societal issues. Based on this interpretation, it means that the girls are subjected to positive linguistics treatment by their parents and are therefore at an advantage when it comes to developing the required language skills.
Conclusion
Burman, D. D., Bitan, T., & Booth, J. R. (2008). Sex differences in neural processing of language among children. Neuropsychologia 46(5), 1349–1362
Houston, D.M., & Jusczyk, P.W. (2000). The role of talker-specific information in word segmentation by infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 26 (5), 1570–1582.
