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ARTICLES 2025
psycholinguistics by Yavuz HELEP 3) Broca's Area (Speech Planning and Production)

Task: Plans and organizes speech according to
grammatical rules and prepares motor commands
for articulation.
Location: Lower part of the left frontal lobe.
Example: Broca’s Area plans how to produce the
“Hello.” sounds for “Hello,” coordinating movements of the
tongue, lips, and vocal cords.
Have you ever thought about how we learn language? How
do we use grammar and vocabulary so well? The science of 4) Motor Cortex (Physical Expression)
linguistics explores these questions, and a specialized Task: Activates speech organs to produce spoken
branch called psycholinguistics analyzes the mental language based on commands from Broca’s Area.
processes involved in language. Emerging from the Location: Middle region of the frontal lobe.
intersection of psychology and linguistics, psycholinguistics Example: The motor cortex activates muscles,
gained prominence through the contributions of Noam resulting in the physical utterance of “Hello.”
Chomsky and other pioneers. It continues to provide
extraordinary insights into how we learn, understand, and These processes occur almost instantaneously, allowing the
use language. brain to analyze, understand, and respond to language at
remarkable speeds.
Psycholinguistics came to the forefront in the 1950s as
behaviorism began to wane. Initially, B.F. Skinner proposed Bilingualism and Language Acquisition
that language learning was driven by environmental factors,
but this view shifted when Chomsky argued that language is Bilingual individuals often display stronger attention spans
an innate ability. Today, most theories consider both innate and enhanced problem-solving abilities. Research suggests
and environmental factors together. This field bridges the that bilingualism may also delay the onset of conditions like
gap between behaviorist and cognitive approaches, offering Alzheimer’s disease. Psycholinguistics investigates these
a deeper understanding of linguistic processes and mental benefits and the differences between language acquisition
functions. in children and adults, generating theories to facilitate
language learning across different age groups.
Psycholinguistics examines various topics, including
language development, processing, memory, and cognition. Psycholinguistics principles have practical applications in
By studying how we acquire and understand language, areas such as speech therapy and rehabilitation for
researchers uncover insights into our mental processes. individuals with language disorders. Moreover,
Methods such as experiments, eye-tracking, and brain advancements in artificial intelligence and Natural
imaging techniques (e.g., fMRI and EEG) help reveal how Language Processing (NLP) heavily rely on psycholinguistic
language is perceived and processed in the brain. theories. By mimicking how the brain processes language,
AI systems strive to interpret and generate human language
Surprising but true... Language disorders provide valuable more effectively.
insights into language processing. Conditions like dyslexia,
aphasia, stuttering, and slips of the tongue serve as research Psycholinguistics offers profound insights into how we
areas to better understand how language functions and acquire, process, and use language. Its applications extend
breaks down in the brain. from understanding bilingual advantages to driving
advancements in technology. By exploring how our brains
Relationship with Cognitive Science and process language at lightning speeds, this hidden hero helps
Neuropsychology decode one of humanity’s most remarkable abilities. Say
“Hello” to the fascinating world of psycholinguistics.
Language processing involves several interconnected brain
areas, each playing a specific role: SUGGESTED READINGS
Elgamal, A. (2019). Cognitive factors affecting language
1) Wernicke's Area (Language Comprehension) learning and acquisition of native and non-native speakers.
Task: Interprets the meaning of words and sentences. Journal of Research in Curriculum Instruction and Educational
Location: Left temporal lobe. Technology, 4(4), 135-152.
Example: When someone says “Hello,” sound waves Jakesch, M., Hancock, J., & Нааман, М. (2023). Human
reach the auditory cortex, and Wernicke's Area heuristics for ai-generated language are flawed. Proceedings
decodes the word's meaning as “a greeting.” of the National Academy of Sciences, 120 (11).
Janda, L. (2015). Cognitive linguistics in the year 2015.
2) Arcuate Fasciculus (Connection and Transmission) Cognitive Semantics, 1(1), 131-154.
Task: Transmits decoded information from Zhang, X., Chen, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhang, N., & Wang, Y.
Wernicke's Area to Broca's Area, enabling the brain (2024). Psychological mechanism of language cognition to
to transition from comprehension to expression. “awaken” artificial intelligence. Psychological Trauma Theory
Location: Nerve bundle in the left hemisphere, Research Practice and Policy, 16(5), 825-836.
connecting Wernicke's and Broca's Areas.
Example: After interpreting “Hello,” the Arcuate
Fasciculus relays this information to Broca's Area for
speech preparation.

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