LEARNING LANGUAGE: NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW BRAIN FUNCTIONS

For most native English-speakers, learning the Mandarin Chinese language from scratch is no easy task.

Learning it in a class that essentially compresses a one-semester college course into a single month of intensive instruction -- and agreeing to have your brain scanned before and after -- might seem even more daunting.

But the 24 Americans who did just that have enabled University of Delaware cognitive neuroscientist Zhenghan Qi and her colleagues to make new discoveries about how adults learn a foreign language.

The study, published in May in the journal NeuroImage, focused on the roles of the brain's left and right hemispheres in language acquisition. The findings could lead to instructional methods that potentially improve students' success in learning a new language.

"The left hemisphere is known as the language-learning part of the brain, but we found that it was the right hemisphere that determined the eventual success" in learning Mandarin, said Qi, assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science.

"This was new," she said. "For decades, everyone has focused on the left hemisphere, and the right hemisphere has been largely overlooked."

The left hemisphere is undoubtedly important in language learning, Qi said, noting that clinical research on individuals with speech disorders has indicated that the left side of the brain is in many ways the hub of language processing.

But, she said, before any individuals -- infants learning their native language or adults learning a second language -- begin processing such aspects of the new language as vocabulary and grammar, they must first learn to identify its basic sounds or phonological elements.

It's during that process of distinguishing "acoustic details" of sounds where the right side of the brain is key, according to the new findings.

Researchers began by exposing the 24 participants in the study to pairs of sounds that were similar but began with different consonants, such as "bah" and "nah," and having them describe the tones, Qi said.

"We asked: Were the tones of those two sounds similar or different?" she said. "We used the brain activation patterns during this task to predict who would be the most successful learners" of the new language.

The study continued by teaching the participants in a setting designed to replicate a college language class, although the usual semester was condensed into four weeks of instruction. Students attended class for three and a half hours a day, five days a week, completed homework assignments and took tests.

"Our research is the first to look at attainment and long-term retention of real-world language learned in a classroom setting, which is how most people learn a new language," Qi said.

By scanning each participant's brain with functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) at the beginning and end of the project, the scientists were able to see which part of the brain was most engaged while processing basic sound elements in Mandarin. To their surprise, they found that -- although, as expected, the left hemisphere showed a substantial increase of activation later in the learning process -- the right hemisphere in the most successful learners was most active in the early, sound-recognition stage.

"It turns out that the right hemisphere is very important in processing foreign speech sounds at the beginning of learning," Qi said. She added that the right hemisphere's role then seems to diminish in those successful learners as they continue learning the language.

Additional research will investigate whether the findings apply to those learning other languages, not just Mandarin. The eventual goal is to explore whether someone can practice sound recognition early in the process of learning a new language to potentially improve their success.

"We found that the more active the right hemisphere is, the more sensitive the listener is to acoustic differences in sound," Qi said. "Everyone has different levels of activation, but even if you don't have that sensitivity to begin with, you can still learn successfully if your brain is plastic enough."

Researchers can't say for certain how to apply these findings to real-life learning, but when it comes down to it, "Adults are trainable," Qi said. "They can train themselves to become more sensitive to foreign speech sounds."

( S o u r c e : U n i v e r s i t y o f D e l a w a r e . " L e a r n i n g l a n g u a g e : N e w i n s i g h t s i n t o h o w b r a i n f u n c t i o n s . " S c i e n c e D a i l y . <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190508093716.htm> ScienceDaily, 8 May 2019).

“The study continued by teaching the participants in a setting designed to replicate a college language class, although the usual semester was condensed into four weeks of instruction.” What is the meaning of the expression although?

LEARNING LANGUAGE: NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW BRAIN FUNCTIONS

For most native English-speakers, learning the Mandarin Chinese language from scratch is no easy task.

Learning it in a class that essentially compresses a one-semester college course into a single month of intensive instruction -- and agreeing to have your brain scanned before and after -- might seem even more daunting.

But the 24 Americans who did just that have enabled University of Delaware cognitive neuroscientist Zhenghan Qi and her colleagues to make new discoveries about how adults learn a foreign language.

The study, published in May in the journal NeuroImage, focused on the roles of the brain's left and right hemispheres in language acquisition. The findings could lead to instructional methods that potentially improve students' success in learning a new language.

"The left hemisphere is known as the language-learning part of the brain, but we found that it was the right hemisphere that determined the eventual success" in learning Mandarin, said Qi, assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science.

"This was new," she said. "For decades, everyone has focused on the left hemisphere, and the right hemisphere has been largely overlooked."

The left hemisphere is undoubtedly important in language learning, Qi said, noting that clinical research on individuals with speech disorders has indicated that the left side of the brain is in many ways the hub of language processing.

But, she said, before any individuals -- infants learning their native language or adults learning a second language -- begin processing such aspects of the new language as vocabulary and grammar, they must first learn to identify its basic sounds or phonological elements.

It's during that process of distinguishing "acoustic details" of sounds where the right side of the brain is key, according to the new findings.

Researchers began by exposing the 24 participants in the study to pairs of sounds that were similar but began with different consonants, such as "bah" and "nah," and having them describe the tones, Qi said.

"We asked: Were the tones of those two sounds similar or different?" she said. "We used the brain activation patterns during this task to predict who would be the most successful learners" of the new language.

The study continued by teaching the participants in a setting designed to replicate a college language class, although the usual semester was condensed into four weeks of instruction. Students attended class for three and a half hours a day, five days a week, completed homework assignments and took tests.

"Our research is the first to look at attainment and long-term retention of real-world language learned in a classroom setting, which is how most people learn a new language," Qi said.

By scanning each participant's brain with functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) at the beginning and end of the project, the scientists were able to see which part of the brain was most engaged while processing basic sound elements in Mandarin. To their surprise, they found that -- although, as expected, the left hemisphere showed a substantial increase of activation later in the learning process -- the right hemisphere in the most successful learners was most active in the early, sound-recognition stage.

"It turns out that the right hemisphere is very important in processing foreign speech sounds at the beginning of learning," Qi said. She added that the right hemisphere's role then seems to diminish in those successful learners as they continue learning the language.

Additional research will investigate whether the findings apply to those learning other languages, not just Mandarin. The eventual goal is to explore whether someone can practice sound recognition early in the process of learning a new language to potentially improve their success.

"We found that the more active the right hemisphere is, the more sensitive the listener is to acoustic differences in sound," Qi said. "Everyone has different levels of activation, but even if you don't have that sensitivity to begin with, you can still learn successfully if your brain is plastic enough."

Researchers can't say for certain how to apply these findings to real-life learning, but when it comes down to it, "Adults are trainable," Qi said. "They can train themselves to become more sensitive to foreign speech sounds."

( S o u r c e : U n i v e r s i t y o f D e l a w a r e . " L e a r n i n g l a n g u a g e : N e w i n s i g h t s i n t o h o w b r a i n f u n c t i o n s . " S c i e n c e D a i l y . <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190508093716.htm> ScienceDaily, 8 May 2019).

According to the text, it is CORRECT to say that:

LEARNING LANGUAGE: NEW INSIGHTS INTO HOW BRAIN FUNCTIONS

For most native English-speakers, learning the Mandarin Chinese language from scratch is no easy task.

Learning it in a class that essentially compresses a one-semester college course into a single month of intensive instruction -- and agreeing to have your brain scanned before and after -- might seem even more daunting.

But the 24 Americans who did just that have enabled University of Delaware cognitive neuroscientist Zhenghan Qi and her colleagues to make new discoveries about how adults learn a foreign language.

The study, published in May in the journal NeuroImage, focused on the roles of the brain's left and right hemispheres in language acquisition. The findings could lead to instructional methods that potentially improve students' success in learning a new language.

"The left hemisphere is known as the language-learning part of the brain, but we found that it was the right hemisphere that determined the eventual success" in learning Mandarin, said Qi, assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science.

"This was new," she said. "For decades, everyone has focused on the left hemisphere, and the right hemisphere has been largely overlooked."

The left hemisphere is undoubtedly important in language learning, Qi said, noting that clinical research on individuals with speech disorders has indicated that the left side of the brain is in many ways the hub of language processing.

But, she said, before any individuals -- infants learning their native language or adults learning a second language -- begin processing such aspects of the new language as vocabulary and grammar, they must first learn to identify its basic sounds or phonological elements.

It's during that process of distinguishing "acoustic details" of sounds where the right side of the brain is key, according to the new findings.

Researchers began by exposing the 24 participants in the study to pairs of sounds that were similar but began with different consonants, such as "bah" and "nah," and having them describe the tones, Qi said.

"We asked: Were the tones of those two sounds similar or different?" she said. "We used the brain activation patterns during this task to predict who would be the most successful learners" of the new language.

The study continued by teaching the participants in a setting designed to replicate a college language class, although the usual semester was condensed into four weeks of instruction. Students attended class for three and a half hours a day, five days a week, completed homework assignments and took tests.

"Our research is the first to look at attainment and long-term retention of real-world language learned in a classroom setting, which is how most people learn a new language," Qi said.

By scanning each participant's brain with functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) at the beginning and end of the project, the scientists were able to see which part of the brain was most engaged while processing basic sound elements in Mandarin. To their surprise, they found that -- although, as expected, the left hemisphere showed a substantial increase of activation later in the learning process -- the right hemisphere in the most successful learners was most active in the early, sound-recognition stage.

"It turns out that the right hemisphere is very important in processing foreign speech sounds at the beginning of learning," Qi said. She added that the right hemisphere's role then seems to diminish in those successful learners as they continue learning the language.

Additional research will investigate whether the findings apply to those learning other languages, not just Mandarin. The eventual goal is to explore whether someone can practice sound recognition early in the process of learning a new language to potentially improve their success.

"We found that the more active the right hemisphere is, the more sensitive the listener is to acoustic differences in sound," Qi said. "Everyone has different levels of activation, but even if you don't have that sensitivity to begin with, you can still learn successfully if your brain is plastic enough."

Researchers can't say for certain how to apply these findings to real-life learning, but when it comes down to it, "Adults are trainable," Qi said. "They can train themselves to become more sensitive to foreign speech sounds."

( S o u r c e : U n i v e r s i t y o f D e l a w a r e . " L e a r n i n g l a n g u a g e : N e w i n s i g h t s i n t o h o w b r a i n f u n c t i o n s . " S c i e n c e D a i l y . <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190508093716.htm> ScienceDaily, 8 May 2019).

What is the purpose of the research developed by Zhenghan Qi and her colleagues from the University of Delaware?

O conjunto solução da equação !$ log_2(x^2 -9 x + 18) - log_2 (x - 6) = log_2 8 !$, é:

O polígono !$ P_1 !$ tem 2 lados a mais do que o polígono !$ P_2 !$. Somando-se as diagonais dos dois polígonos temos o total de 55 diagonais. A quantidade de diagonais do polígono !$ P_2 !$ é:

Uma universidade promoveu um evento e, após o encerramento, a comissão organizadora contabilizou a participação de 384 pessoas. Visando melhorias para as próximas edições, a comissão organizadora do evento está fazendo um estudo sobre o público presente. Sabe-se que o número de participantes com 23 anos ou menos era o triplo do número de participantes com 40 anos ou mais. Contabilizou-se também que 7/12 dos participantes eram mulheres. Além disso, sabe-se que 6/7 das participantes mulheres e metade dos participantes homens tinham idade entre 23 e 40 anos. É CORRETO afirmar que a quantidade de participantes com mais de 23 anos era:

TEXTO I

O drama de uma juventude à deriva

Por Ana Maria Diniz

Acaba de sair mais uma leva de dados e estatísticas para comprovar o efeito nefasto que uma Educação de qualidade lastimável como a nossa tem na vida dos jovens a curto, médio e longo prazos. Os números, acachapantes, são da última PNAD Contínua, divulgada semana passada: praticamente um quarto (23%) dos 47,3 milhões de brasileiros de 15 e 29 anos não trabalha nem estuda; entre os que têm 18 a 24 anos, idade propícia para se cursar uma faculdade, a proporção sobe para quase um terço (27,7%). A situação também é alarmante entre os mais novos: 11,8% dos que têm de 15 a 17 anos, que deveriam estar cursando o Ensino Médio, estão fora da escola. Ao todo são mais de 11 milhões de jovens que não frequentam as salas de aula nem conseguem um emprego, garotos e garotas despreparados, desmotivados e sem perspectivas, totalmente à deriva.

Mais do que constatar a triste realidade de uma juventude perdida, os resultados da PNAD servem de prenúncio para um futuro ainda mais desolador para essas e para o país. Para 52% desses jovens, as chances de inserção no mundo profissional são mínimas, conforme revelou o relatório “Competências e Empregos”, do Banco Mundial, publicado no ano passado, e tendem a ficar mais exíguas com o passar dos anos. O Índice de Capital Humano, também do Banco Mundial, traz outra observação apavorante: a expectativa para uma criança que nasce hoje no Brasil é que ela chegue aos 18 anos com apenas 56% do seu potencial produtivo desenvolvido. E um fator crítico para o desenvolvimento de qualquer nação é o seu capital humano, ou seja, a qualificação da sua força de trabalho.

A maioria desses jovens não está fora da escola e do mercado por opção, nem é ociosa. Como revelou a PNAD, boa parte deles ajuda nos afazeres domésticos enquanto outros membros da família saem para trabalhar. Outro montante está à procura de uma ocupação para compor a renda e ajudar com as despesas da casa, mas não consegue uma por total falta de preparo. Há, sim, o desinteresse pelos estudos, um sentimento generalizado entre esses jovens. De forma geral, eles não vislumbram na Educação uma maneira de ascender econômica e socialmente, pois, na prática, não percebem um nexo entre o que se aprende na sala de aula e as oportunidades de trabalho. A questão educacional está no cerne do problema e qualquer solução para resgatar esses jovens do limbo tem que passar, inevitavelmente, pela Educação.

Eu vejo duas saídas. Uma delas é apostar no futuro, construindo hoje os alicerces para que as próximas gerações tenham mais condições e chances de prosperar. O investimento na Primeira Infância é o mais crítico para este processo. Temos que ter foco e determinação para garantir que nossas crianças tenham acesso a cuidados e estímulos adequados desde os seus primeiros anos de vida. Hoje, segundo a PNAD, 87,5% das crianças entre 0 a 1 ano no país não frequentam a creche e todos precisariam da atenção necessária nesta etapa para se desenvolver plenamente. O Pacto Nacional pela Primeira Infância, firmado nesta terça entre o MEC e outros onze órgãos do governo, foi um passo importantíssimo nesse sentido. Porém, a outra ponta do problema é premente e inadiável: cuidar e oferecer uma alternativa para esse jovem que está aí, sem rumo, sem esperança e sem um sentido na vida. A meu ver, isso é viável por meio de um programa muito parrudo de incentivo a um ensino profissionalizante que seja para todos, dentro ou fora da escola. Essa solução só será exequível se detalharmos onde exatamente esses jovens vivem e cruzarmos essas informações com as demandas locais de mercado para estimular a criação e a oferta de cursos profissionalizantes e técnicos que façam sentido em cada contexto.

Nada disso é fácil de fazer, mas é possível e urgente!

(Disponível em https://educacao.estadao.com.br/blogs/ana-maria-diniz/o-drama-de-uma-juventude-a-deriva/. Data da consulta 28/06/19).

TEXTO II

Faltou trabalho para 28,5 milhões no país até maio, diz IBGE

Indicador inclui taxa de desocupação, taxa de subocupação por horas e a taxa de pessoas que não buscam emprego, mas que estariam disponíveis

Por Estadão Conteúdo

Faltou trabalho para um montante recorde de 28,524 milhões de pessoas no País no trimestre encerrado em maio, segundo os dados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios Contínua (PNAD Contínua), iniciada em 2012 pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).

A taxa composta de subutilização da força de trabalho aumentou de 24,6% no trimestre até fevereiro para 25,0% no trimestre até maio. O indicador inclui a taxa de desocupação, a taxa de subocupação por insuficiência de horas e a taxa da força de trabalho potencial, pessoas que não estão em busca de emprego, mas que estariam disponíveis para trabalhar. No trimestre até maio de 2018, a taxa de subutilização da força de trabalho estava mais baixa, em 24,6%.

Subocupados
Segundo o IBGE, a taxa de subocupação por insuficiência de horas trabalhadas ficou em 7,8% no trimestre até maio, ante 7,2% no trimestre até fevereiro. O indicador inclui as pessoas ocupadas com uma jornada inferior a 40 horas semanais que gostariam de trabalhar por um período maior. Em todo o Brasil, há um recorde de 7,226 milhões de trabalhadores subocupados por insuficiência de horas trabalhadas. Na passagem do trimestre até fevereiro para o trimestre até maio, houve um aumento de 582 mil pessoas na população nessa condição. Em um ano, o País ganhou mais 898 mil pessoas subocupadas por insuficiência de horas trabalhadas.

Desemprego
O número de desempregados no Brasil ficou abaixo de 13 milhões pela primeira vez desde o início do ano, mas o mercado de trabalho mostra que ainda sofre com a deterioração econômica ao registrar números recordes de desalentados e subutilizados. Nos três meses até maio, a taxa de desemprego brasileira foi a 12,3%, de 12,5% no trimestre até abril e 12,7% no mesmo período do ano passado.

(Disponível em https://exame.abril.com.br/economia/faltou-trabalho-para-285-milhoes-no-pais-ate-maio-diz-ibge/ Data do acesso 28/06/19)

Considerando a leitura do texto I, analise o uso das palavras em negrito nos enunciados abaixo, observando se foram empregadas no
sentido conotativo ou denotativo.

I- Em “(...) juventude à deriva (...)”, tem-se o empregado da conotação.

II- Em “(...) resgatar esses jovens do limbo (...)”, tem-se o emprego da denotação.

III- Em “(...) o mercado de trabalho mostra que ainda sofre com a deterioração econômica (...)”, tem-se o emprego da conotação.

Está CORRETO o que se afirma em:

Acerca do texto 8, assinale a alternativa CORRETA. Particularmente, considerando apenas o título da reportagem:

Com relação ao texto 7, analise as proposições a seguir e atribua V para as verdadeiras e F para as falsas.

( ) No período: “Criado pelo neuropsiquiatra Dr. Décio Nakagawa, o termo serve para dar nome a este período de readaptação.”, a oração destacada é reduzida de particípio.

( ) Aoração “que também é colunista do site e-Dublin” intercala a oração principal do período, por isso aparece entre vírgulas.

( ) No período: “A Síndrome do Regresso acontece com a maior parte das pessoas que retorna ao seu país de origem”, a oração destacada explica o grupo que mais é atingido pelo Síndrome do Regresso.

( ) De acordo com a gramática normativa, a oração “que também é colunista do site e-Dublin” se classifica como uma oração subordinada adjetiva restritiva.

Assinale a alternativa que contém a sequência CORRETA de preenchimento dos parênteses: