brain and psycho

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OECD study about teaching foreign languages

Only 7 per cent of 12 to 14-year-olds' lesson time in England's schools is allocated to languages - half the amount of time devoted to sciences - the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study shows.

Dr Lid King, the Government's national director for languages, warned that in some schools the figure could be even lower as new curriculum flexibilities were being used to pull even further back from language teaching.


Recently, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: "I am deeply concerned that fewer and fewer students are studying languages, it not only breeds insularity, it means an integral part of the brain's learning capacity rusts unused."


Heads' leaders warned that the damage could be irreparable, as French fell out the top ten most popular GCSEs for the "first time in living memory" and the figures showed that numbers studying French and German had both halved in a decade.


John Bangs, a visiting professor at London University's Institute of Education, said: "This is part of the running disaster of modern foreign languages in this country."

Hi HenriB,

First of all, though you recently registered on the forum, I did it still later than you and let me tell you I'm very happy to meet you on the forum.

Your words are very interesting and I have plenty of comments and lots of questions to know more about the study or about your feeling.

7% in England... Are English language classes included in the figure or is it foreign languages only?
Would you know what the rates are in France and in other European countries?
Reading the text, I assume it's the figure for foreign languages and think it might not be better in France.

We say in France that we are not good at foreign languages (I personally listed oodles of reasons that explain our poor environment in the matter).
I was surprised to read in a book written by Alex Taylor, that the British situation was not better!
Given the larger range of sounds heard by a British ear, I though the English could understand better and be more talented than the French regarding foreign languages.
What do you think?

> it means an integral part of the brain's learning capacity rusts unused.
I tend to agree with the words above:
-1- we have to maintain our brain active in all possible domains to keep our capabilities
-2- we should even develop our capacities as brain is too little used (low %) and brain has to be trained as much as we are used to doing it with the body
-3- non scientific matters should have more importance as they are necessary to be able to think properly and manage our lives correctly and finally be happier.
-4- languages (foreign cultures) are very important to build a better world.

> numbers studying French and German had both halved in a decade.
When did learning French stop to be mandatory in England? In the sixties, the seventies?

Hello everybody ! I'm coming back after 6 weeks being busy on family matters. I must now catch up with all the reading of your most interesting articles.
Pleased to meet you Gerard : I will answer to you first about the non-interest of the British for the study of French and German. This is most amazing, when one realizes how many British citizens buy houses in France ; are they wealthy seniors who can manage with an only-English speaking surrounding ? Moreover, would that mean they rather choose Spanish, for sure there still is an option for languages in the GCSE ??

Also I must pick out your comment : "Non scientific matters should have more importance as they are necessary to be able to think properly..." Hum, hum ... I don't think everybody will agree to that...
I have been fighting all my life with BAC "C" versus BAC "A" or "L"... Which one is more important ?
I would say it depends on how you are gifted, that's all. But both are equally important, aren't they ?

It is really a shame that fewer students learn languages because their language ability will be decreasing in the long run. They won't be interested in other countries apart from theirs and will become narrow -minded. I do hope it is only temporary and in the years to come it will be different . In your last post, Henri you had written that bilingualism might contribute to protect older adults' brain from decline(Alzheimer desease)It is true because Mental stimulation improves brain function and actually protects against brain decline, as does physical exercise. It is true for young brains but also for older ones. Believe it or not, elderly people can grow new neurons ( Let's hope the parts of the brain for languages will grow for ever)
By the way, hello Ghislaine, I am so pleased you are back in the forum

Hi Ghislaine, Muriel, Henri, hi everyone,

Very pleased to meet you on the forum Ghislaine!
Thanks for your lines!

I have to go out to organize next weekend: order a big cake and other stuffs to celebrate my son's birthday and the meeting of the whole family.
I post again when I'm back.

Hi Ghislaine,

GhislaineM a écrit:... Also I must pick out your comment : "Non scientific matters should have more importance as they are necessary to be able to think properly..." Hum, hum ... I don't think everybody will agree to that...
I have been fighting all my life with BAC "C" versus BAC "A" or "L"... Which one is more important ?
I would say it depends on how you are gifted, that's all. But both are equally important, aren't they ?

I agree with you.
I took scientific classes and schools.
My words might be a bit ambiguous. I didn't mean non-scientific matters deserved more importance than scientific ones but just more importance than they have nowadays.
We need a better balance. Philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc. non-scientific training teaches people that 1+1 /= 2

Hi Gerard,
Thanks for you nice message,
very pleased to meet you on the forum and to read your messages,
concerning the teaching of foreign languages the situation in France seems to make progress
which is not the case in Britain according to British education responsibles.
There are of course, the european figures comparing foreign languages skill in various european countries
which show some general, but a slow improvement.
It is true that Initial potential of learning other languages is related to the sounds set of the native language.
But the motivation to learn remains a factor of important weighting.

gerardM a écrit:Hi HenriB,

First of all, though you recently registered on the forum, I did it still later than you and let me tell you I'm very happy to meet you on the forum.

Your words are very interesting and I have plenty of comments and lots of questions to know more about the study or about your feeling.

7% in England... Are English language classes included in the figure or is it foreign languages only?
Would you know what the rates are in France and in other European countries?
Reading the text, I assume it's the figure for foreign languages and think it might not be better in France.

We say in France that we are not good at foreign languages (I personally listed oodles of reasons that explain our poor environment in the matter).
I was surprised to read in a book written by Alex Taylor, that the British situation was not better!
Given the larger range of sounds heard by a British ear, I though the English could understand better and be more talented than the French regarding foreign languages.
What do you think?

> it means an integral part of the brain's learning capacity rusts unused.
I tend to agree with the words above:
-1- we have to maintain our brain active in all possible domains to keep our capabilities
-2- we should even develop our capacities as brain is too little used (low %) and brain has to be trained as much as we are used to doing it with the body
-3- non scientific matters should have more importance as they are necessary to be able to think properly and manage our lives correctly and finally be happier.
-4- languages (foreign cultures) are very important to build a better world.

> numbers studying French and German had both halved in a decade.
When did learning French stop to be mandatory in England? In the sixties, the seventies?

Derek Amato is truly one in a billion. He is possibly the only person in the world to have acquired musical ability after a traumatic brain injury. A severe concussion left him with the ability to play piano, an instrument he had never played before. He now plays professionally and earns his living as a musician.

Now, the music never stops. He sees it constantly streaming in front of his eyes in the form of black and white squares that compel him to play. Derek journeys to the Mayo Clinic to meet with one of the world's top neurologists to try and find a way to control the incessant stream of music: an incredible gift that is also his curse.

I do advise you to watch this video which shows how  astonishing the possibilities of human brain are.
Derek Amato had never leant the piano before...

I have read this article in "courrier international" and i have found that amazing. Darold Treffert a famous scientist studied this savant syndrom in disabled people and people with a sudden central nervous system injury. What I find interesting is its implication for education and future research.

Savant syndrome is a rare, but extraordinary, condition in which persons with serious mental disabilities, including autistic disorder, have some ‘island of genius’ which stands in marked, incongruous contrast to overall handicap. As many as one in 10 persons with autistic disorder have such remarkable abilities in varying degrees, although savant syndrome occurs in other developmental disabilities or in other types of central nervous system injury or disease as well.

The act of walking may not seem like a feat of agility, balance, strength and brainpower. But lose a leg, as Zac Vawter did after a motorcycle accident in 2009, and you will appreciate the myriad calculations that go into putting one foot in front of the other.


Taking on the challenge, a team of software and biomedical engineers, neuroscientists, surgeons and prosthetists has designed a prosthetic limb that can reproduce a full repertoire of ambulatory tricks by communicating seamlessly with Vawter's brain.

Bionic leg is controlled by brain power : Los Angeles Times/MCT by Melissa Healy
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-robotic-leg-20130926,0,7310017.story#axzz2ja4HhO7N

Hi everyone,

Such topic was already posted

-> New Study Shows Brain Benefits Of Bilingualism
The largest study so far to ask whether speaking two languages might delay the onset of dementia symptoms in bilingual patients as compared to monolingual patients has reported a robust result. Bilingual patients suffer dementia onset an average of 4.5 years later than those who speak only a single language.

While knowledge of a protective effect of bilingualism isn't entirely new, the present study significantly advances scientists' knowledge. Media reports emphasize the size of its cohort: 648 patients from a university hospital's memory clinic, including 391 who were bilingual. It's also touted as the first study to reveal that bilingual people who are illiterate derive the same benefit from speaking two languages as do people who read and write. It also claims to show that the benefit applies not only to Alzheimer's sufferers but also people with frontotemporal and vascular dementia.

yes but it was in French. Let's read it all over again and enjoy the good news.

 learning languages is a good way to keep the brain in shape,"

Thanks Gérard, I will remember. What about you dear café polyglotte sur le net dear members ?

Hi everyone,

Interested in the subject?

-> Scientists study how the brain transforms sounds into language
Scientists at UCSF have uncovered some tantalizing clues into the complex process of how the brain hears and interprets human voices, and transforms an influx of meaningless sounds into language.

Their work, which was published online Thursday, involved studying the brains of patients with epilepsy undergoing testing to help stop their seizures.

Neuroscientists have known for more than a century that one small part of the brain—called Wernicke's area, located in a region called the superior temporal gyrus—plays a critical role in how humans process language. But it's been difficult to develop a deeper, more detailed understanding of that process, partly because scientists lacked the tools to study in real time how the brain responds to split-second sounds.

The UCSF team, which also included linguists from UC Berkeley, found that when patients listened to random sentences read out loud, their brains quickly and with great precision sorted the sounds based on very clear criteria.

Hi everyone,

-> (BBC News) Dogs' brain scans reveal vocal responses
Devoted dog owners often claim that their pets understand them. A new study suggests they could be right.

By placing dogs in an MRI scanner, researchers from Hungary found that the canine brain reacts to voices in the same way that the human brain does.

Hi Gérard
Dogs feel your émotions and obey simple orders.Can they follow a conversation?? I am not sure  

Muriel,

> I am not sure
However, that's what rresearchers think.

Hi there.

-> Fetal-brain protein reactivates in old age to fight dementia
Scientists have discovered that a gene-regulating protein that guards the developing brain of a fetus reboots in old age and may protect against dementia, a finding that could open a new path in Alzheimer's research.

The research by Harvard University scientists published Wednesday in the journal Nature, showed the protein, dubbed REST, is depleted in brains of people with Alzheimer's. It was found at a level three times higher in those who didn't become demented even when they had brain markings of the disease. Until now, REST wasn't known to play a role in the adult brain.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alzheimer-s-origins-tied-to-rise-of-human-intelligence/?WT.mc_id=SA_Facebook

Alzheimer's Origins Tied to Rise of Human Intelligence
Factors that drove the evolution of our intellectual capacity are also implicated in the memory disorder

Hi everyone

Simulating the human brain is one of the holy grails of computing — but it's extraordinarily difficult to do

yes it is all the more difficult that  every brain is wired differently. We wrongly assume every brain is the same.

Thanks Gérard, for this interesting but complicated article I had to read several times. I understand now how the brain deletes old memories. Anyway, I wanted to know why emotions and fear are never deleted.  I mean very old memories  (I am thinking about the trauma of very young babies who sometimes don't remember but keep it in their unconscious mind which is worse)
https://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/06/14/new-neurons-help-to-remember-fear/

In a fearful situation, these newborn neurons get activated by the amygdala and may provide a “blank slate” on which the new fearful memory can be strongly imprinted

Muriel,
Thanks for your additional words.