Editing Language acquisition (section)

==Genetic and neurocognitive research==

According to several linguists, neurocognitive research has confirmed many standards of language learning, such as: "learning engages the entire person (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains), the human brain seeks patterns in its searching for meaning, emotions affect all aspects of learning, retention and recall, past experience always affects new learning, the brain's working memory has a limited capacity, lecture usually results in the lowest degree of retention, rehearsal is essential for retention, practice [alone] does not make perfect, and each brain is unique" (Sousa, 2006, p.&nbsp;274). In terms of genetics, the gene [[ROBO1]] has been associated with phonological buffer integrity or length.<ref name="Bates 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Bates |first1=Timothy C. |last2=Luciano |first2=Michelle |last3=Medland |first3=Sarah E. |last4=Montgomery |first4=Grant W. |last5=Wright |first5=Margaret J. |last6=Martin |first6=Nicholas G. |title=Genetic Variance in a Component of the Language Acquisition Device: ROBO1 Polymorphisms Associated with Phonological Buffer Deficits |journal=Behavior Genetics |date=January 2011 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=50–57 |doi=10.1007/s10519-010-9402-9 |pmid=20949370 }}</ref>

Genetic research has found two major factors predicting successful language acquisition and maintenance. These include inherited intelligence, and the lack of genetic anomalies that may cause speech pathologies, such as mutations in the FOXP2 gene which cause [[verbal dyspraxia]]. The role of inherited intelligence increases with age, accounting for 20% of IQ variation in infants, and for 60% in adults. It affects a vast variety of language-related abilities, from spatio-motor skills to writing fluency. There have been debates in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and genetics, with some scholars arguing that language is fully or mostly innate, but the research evidence points to genetic factors only working in interaction with environmental ones.<ref name="Mountford&Newbury">{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315110622-3 |chapter=The Genetics of Language Acquisition |title=International Handbook of Language Acquisition |date=2019 |last1=Mountford |first1=Hayley S. |last2=Newbury |first2=Dianne F. |pages=33–50 |isbn=978-1-315-11062-2 |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/368582840/MountfordandNewburyGeneticsofLangAcquisition.pdf }}</ref>

Although it is difficult to determine without invasive measures which exact parts of the brain become most active and important for language acquisition, [[fMRI]] and [[Positron emission tomography|PET]] technology has allowed for some conclusions to be made about where language may be centered. [[Kuniyoshi Sakai]] has proposed, based on several neuroimaging studies, that there may be a "grammar center" in the brain, whereby language is primarily processed in the left lateral [[premotor cortex]] (located near the pre central sulcus and the [[inferior frontal sulcus]]). Additionally, these studies have suggested that first language and second language acquisition may be represented differently in the [[Cerebral cortex|cortex]].<ref name="Sakai, 2005"/> In a study conducted by Newman et al., the relationship between cognitive neuroscience and language acquisition was compared through a standardized procedure involving native speakers of English and native Spanish speakers who all had a similar length of exposure to the English language (averaging about 26 years).  It was concluded that the brain does in fact process languages differently{{clarify|reason=Does this mean "processes ''different'' languages differently???  Not clear.|date=January 2020}}, but rather than being related to proficiency levels, language processing relates more to the function of the brain itself.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Newman | first1 = A. J. | last2 = Tremblay | first2 = A. | last3 = Nichols | first3 = E. S. | last4 = Neville | first4 = H. J. | last5 = Ullman | first5 = M. T. | year = 2012 | title = The influence of language proficiency on lexical semantic processing in native and late learners of english | journal = Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience | volume = 24 | issue = 5| pages = 1205–1223 | doi = 10.1162/jocn_a_00143 | pmc = 4447492 | pmid=21981676}}</ref>

During early infancy, language processing seems to occur over many areas in the brain. However, over time, it gradually becomes concentrated into two areas—[[Broca's area]] and [[Wernicke's area]]. Broca's area is in the left [[frontal cortex]] and is primarily involved in the production of the patterns in vocal and sign language. Wernicke's area is in the left [[temporal cortex]] and is primarily involved in language comprehension. The specialization of these language centers is so extensive{{clarify|reason=Does this mean that they are extremely specialized?  Maybe "extreme" or even "precise" is a better word.  Also I don't understand how the specialization can lead to aphasia.|date=January 2020}} that damage to them can result in [[aphasia]].<ref name="Schacter 2011">{{Cite book |last1=Schacter |first1=Daniel L. |url=https://archive.org/details/psychology0000scha/page/357 |title=Psychology |last2=Gilbert |first2=Daniel Todd. |last3=Wegner |first3=Daniel M. |publisher=Worth Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4292-3719-2 |location=New York, NY |page=[https://archive.org/details/psychology0000scha/page/357 357] |oclc=696604625}}</ref>