INTERPOSITION: SOME PERTINENT DISCUSSION ON THE LEARNING PROCESS

1 INTERPOSITION: SOME PERTINENT DISCUSSION ON THE LEARNING PROCESS
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

When discussing the brain and the mind, researchers of various disciplines
remain in a quandary as to how to differentiate between them. We will not get into that here. It suffices for our discussion to defer to Richard M.
Restak, M.D., who says in his book The Brain (p.246): When we apply psychological methods we encounter the mind; when we opt for measuring
neuronal activity with microelectrodes, we deal with the brain. It would be nice if this were the only controversial duality. But there are others:
endowment versus environment; nature versus nurture; and maturation versus development. These dualities are intertwining; somewhat analogous to the DNA double helix that is held together by a common hydrogen bond.
What these dualities have in common is what can be referred to as a biological clock or timetable. To everything there is a season. Most folk
have no trouble acknowledging the physical biological clock with respect to human growth: Babies are nine months in incubation; baby teeth appear at
about the same time (around the onset of speech); infants by and large start walking around the same time; youngsters go through adolescence and
puberty, and attain their adult height in their respective times. Although, in some instances, there are differences between males and females, for each
sex the timetable is about the same. There is a mental and psychological biological clock and timetable as well, and it is the brain that regulates it,
much the same as it does our involuntary muscles.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss child psychologist and zoologist who devoted a
lifetime observing the evolution of consciousness in the developing child. Piaget has postulated stages that a child goes through from birth through
adulthood in the development of consciousness. Piaget has his critics as to the exact details of his findings, although there is agreement on the fact that
there are specific stages of consciousness development. And although some childrens timetables may vary somewhat, they are present. We present his
views so as to illustrate the process at work.
The first stage is that of the development of SENSORI-MOTOR THINKING which lasts from birth to around two years of age. Here the 2 child demonstrates a series of reflexes such as turning to light or sound, grasping an object dangling in space, sucking when the lips are touched,
crying or waving the arms when startled. At about two months, a normal infant will begin to coordinate certain acts: looking with hearing; seeing with
grasping and later sucking. The infant starts to demonstrate a tendency to look at familiar objects such as mother or a family pet. Here he or she starts
eye-to-eye contact, the social smile, and exploration of the environment. At seven and eight months the infant demonstrates reaction to strangers and an
elementary understanding of signs and symbols. Near the end of this first period the child begins to demonstrate an understanding of causality and
why certain things happen, such as a ball rolling into view. 1
In his book, The Conscious Brain, Steven Rose discusses Piagets analysis further:
It is against this background that Piaget analyzes the first two years of life as those in which a child develops from a baby with no awareness
of the distinction between self and not-self to the state of regarding itself as an individual set into a differentiated environment. 2
At the end of this period, the external existence of objects and their
relationships is accepted and the next phase is entered which lasts from about two to four years of age. Rose continues:
It is the period in which symbolic thought and PRECONCEPTUAL
REPRESENTATION emerge. The child begins to use picture images as symbols to replace the real thingsthe objectswhich earlier
filled her or his universe. In parallel to the use of images to replace objects, the use of language as a system of symbols for objects begins (Emphasis mine.)
But while the images are internal symbols meaningful only to the child,
language is the way to a measure of public communication. Language is non-representative, unlike images. It is conceptual. Piaget identifies the
emergence of pre-concepts as intermediate between image symbols and the concepts proper. They fluctuate between being symbols and concepts as
the child learns what sort of power it can achieve over the real world merely by wishing: to pick up and assemble a toy, for example, which is an
attainable object; or that it will stop raining, which is not. 3 The next stage, which partially overlaps with the previous one, is described as CONDITIONAL REPRESENTATION. It runs from four to eight years
of age and forms the threshold of operational thinking: the child begins to recognize that the universe does not revolve around him or her alone but that
there are other viewpoints, other forces in the world; he or she begins to communicate coherently in language.

The next state is OPERATIONAL THINKING itself, which emerges from
seven and runs to twelve years of age. The child begins to recognize relationships between objects, to operate with concepts such as more or less,
longer and shorter, heavier and lighter, and also to use them in a commutative and conservative manner, so as to be able to perform simple
operations which help relate weight, height and so forth in a logical manner. As the period progresses, the operations become more formalized so that
these semi-abstract concepts can be manipulated; experiments, in the general scientific sense of the word, can be made.
Finally, by natural progression, from eleven onwards into adolescence, the possibilities of UTILIZING FORMAL OPERATIONS emerge, which are
completely abstract and conceptual tools. The child has become an adult, although the biochemical maturity of the brain is not yet complete.

* * *
The capacity of the brain that enables it to create and master language (cerebral abstractions) is what set the human species apart from all others.
The development of language is what enabled humans to create civilization. And as civilizations evolved, they placed greater and greater demands on language. The two are inextricably bound together. Let us then look at how
humans learn language.
In Speech and BrainMechanisms Wilder Penfield and Lamar Roberts write: The brain of the adult, however effective it may be in other
directions, is usually inferior to that of the child as far as language is concerned. Neurophysiologically speaking, they say. A childs brain has a
specialized capacity for learning languagea capacity that decreases with the passing years. And for the purposes of learning languages, the human
brain becomes progressively stiff and rigid after the age of nine. 3 4 Citing the works of W.F. Leopold, and the works of A. Gessell and F.L. Ilg, Penfield and Roberts provide us with the following biological timetable for
learning language (pp. 243-244): During the infants first year he cries at once. He coos later and then babbles. Babbling is verbal play with front sounds and clear
constants. Around the time of the first birthday he usually says his first word. In the second year it is clear that the child learns to
understand and later to speak. There is apt to be a lag of two to seven months from first hearing to utterance. From two to four years the
delightful lingo of baby talk disappears and is replaced by adult pronunciation. The skills of understanding and speaking are more or
less perfected by the age of four. Reading and writing are not yet to be considered. During the second year of life speech consists
normally of one-word sentences. Gradually the child puts two words together, then three. There are many variations to these achievements, as any proud parent will testify. But by the time of the third birthday
the three basic elements of simple sentences have made their appearance; subject, verb, object. The child uses some pronouns and
employs plural at this time, and is adding new words at the rate of about four hundred in six months.

Dr. Ilg would distinguish two types of child, which she calls
Imitative and creative. Children in the first group learn more rapidly and accurately with less baby talk and jargon. Girls are more
likely to be placed in this group of accurate learners than boys. The creative learner is slower and more apt to elaborate pronunciations
and jargon of his own. Poets, she says, are prone to come from this group! It is obvious that individual differences are recognizable at almost any stage throughout childhood.

There seems to be little if any relationship between general
intellectual capacity and the ability of a child to imitate an accent. Pronunciation is essentially an imitative process. Capacity for
imitation is maximum between four and eight. It steadily decreases throughout later childhood.
After the imitation stage, the analytical, exploration and adventure stage
begins. (It is said that up to around eight or nine, you learn to read. After that, you read to learn.) The language uses that have been acquired and set 5 at this point allow for the depth and range of exploration and adventure the child can experience rewardingly. As an example, when trying to explain
simple scientific concepts to fifth graders through junior high school students, we noticed that those students who had the mental acumen and
discipline to handle the division algorithm (which also means their language usage enables them to absorb the explanation of the algorithm)
were the ones who comprehended the concepts most easily. Quotes are put around handle because it seems it is not so much that the students could
actually divide that mattershe or she may simply not have been taught how toso much as it is the capacity to handle division and the Ability
to discipline oneself to learn to master the algorithm that must be there. That is, if, during their imitative state, they were exposed to the type of
experiences that called for them to imitate enough logical processes and extending language and thought patterns to accommodate them, then they
may have acquired a basis upon which to expand to the processing of higher concepts; even if they have not learned division per se. This may be an area worthy of further investigation.

Again utilizing the works of Penfield and Roberts:
According to Professor Leopold the child of six to eight years has
formed his native speech habits completely. But they are not so firmly established as to interfere with his capacity to acquire a second
language without translation. It would seem, however, that the first language is well set by the age of four or five. If the child is using
a second language even before that time, the two may be set equally without interference.

Gessell and Ilg have concluded that at age 8 the average child is group-minded, expansive and receptive. At the age of nine the
child is said to become more analytical in language learning. He is apt to become analytical in regard to his general attitude as well.
Linguists and observers who have studied the language uses of African
Americans recognize that many employ a dialect that can be called a Black English Vernacular (BEV). (See Black English, J.L Dillard; and Twice As
Less, Eleanor Wilson Orr.) This means that BEV speakers think and reason in this their native tongue. If this pattern has been set, after say, age nine,
then the pedagogical approach to enable BEV speakers to work in a Standard English (SE) setting should be somewhat akin to working with any 6 other people who speak a non-standard English native tongue. Many post- puberty African Americans who matriculate well in North American society
are, in fact, bi-dialectical, actually bi-cultural, often reverting to the vernacular while conversing with friends and family, and using SE when
the situation demands it. IF the BEV is well set in the speaker and SE is not, then the speaker will have to undergo the mental process of quasi-translation
when using SE as would anybody else who does not use SE as a native tongue. We say quasi-translation because the words have by and large the
same meaning; it is the syntax and language structure, etc., where the differences, and hence problems, occur.

The inability to handle these quasi-translations effectively can cause some
very serious problems for BEV speakers. The linguists claim that this is one of the reasons why many Blacks have so much trouble reading. It is
also a cause for the tremendous frustration and embarrassment felt by so many Blacks, especially Black youth. The sociologist argue further that this is an important factor contributing to the high dropout rate among
Black youth; and to the disruptive and anti-social behavior they exhibit; and to much of their alienation to society.

For example, when trying to get BEV speakers to understand a mathematical
or scientific concept, we first try to get them to explain it in their vernacular. After we are convinced they understand it, we get them to
explain it in SE. We further explain to them that there are many dialects spoken in the United Stated, but there is one standard that we all use,
especially in formal communication.
We have found that by using this approach, we eliminate the cause for much of the frustration and embarrassment that many students would normally have.

With regard to vocabulary, Penfield and Roberts state (p. 251): When a
child comes to the age of 6 he is ready to begin to expand his vocabulary rapidly, and as he passes the age of 9, the process is accelerated. He reads
and talks and listens incessantly. If he is expanding his vocabulary in his native tongue, the process is simple, rapid and normal. He uses the speech
units already written indelibly on the slate of his vocational speech mechanism. He can pass from a vocabulary of 1,000 words to 10,000
perhaps, using the same language set. The sound, the pronunciation, and the spelling are all so similar. He can use his recorded units. The sentence 7 construction does not alter. His eventual accent continues to resemble the accent of those he listened to first at home and school and playground.

Dr. Jeremiah Cameron, Chairman Emeritus of the English Department of
Penn Valley Community College in Kansas City, Missouri, explained to me that the larger ones vocabulary is the more one will be able to see when
looking at a grand or complex site, say the Grand Canyon. The larger vocabulary enables one to describe, and hence absorb more subtleties.
(Recall that Malcolm X studied the dictionary from A to Z while he was in prison.) The same can be said with respect to the other four senses as
well, especially hearing.
Penfield and Roberts argue that the psychological urge of the child must not be overlooked when it comes to what they call the direct method of learning
language, that is, the mothers method or learning language at home.
The mother helps, but initiative comes from the growing youngster. The
learning of the mother tongue is normally an inevitable process. No parent could prevent it unless he placed his child in solitary confinement! For the
child at home, the learning of language is a method of learning about life, a means of getting what he wants, a way of satisfying the unquenchable
curiosity that burns in him almost from the beginning. He is hardly aware of the fact that he is learning language, and it does not form his primary
conscious goal. Language, when it is learned by the normal physiological process is not taught at all. It is learned as a by-product of other pursuits 4
The learning of language, like other forms of learning, is best when
incidental; that is, driven by necessity or desire to do other things. Language is mans infrastructure for thinking, hence reasoning. It is the cornerstone upon which civilizations were built. Language evolves, again, depending
upon needs and desires. A child becomes acculturated according to his or her need to negotiate the immediate environment. Children absorb mor

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