Learning Hindi can aid a child's ability to reason and do maths: study
Shailvee Sharda | TNN | Jun 10, 2019, 19:42 IST
Representative ImageLUCKNOW: Amidst much debate over whether children in southern states should learn Hindi or not, a study conducted by Centre for Bio Medical Research (CBMR) Lucknow has shown that learning Hindi laid a positive impact on brain development without much effort.
Analysing brain function of Hindi speakers through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques (namely functional MRI and diffused tensor imaging), the researchers found that reading Hindi activated a large part of the neural network of the upper brain. The impact included involvement of crucial regions that controlled cognitive function, decision making and sensory perceptions.
“We analysed the brain function of Hindi speakers to track it’s brain pathway. We noted that Hindi reading follows that dorsal visual pathway that passes through the upper part of the brain. This improves white matter connectivity and strengthens important regions of the brain (such as frontal, occipital and parietal regions),” said Uttam Kumar, associate professor, department of neuro-imaging, CBMR and principal researcher of the study titled ‘Effect of Written Script Dissimilarity Over Ventral and Dorsal Reading Pathway combined FMRI and DTI study’.
Stating that the study was undertaken as a part of institute's efforts to study language development he added: “With increased exposure, functionality of these crucial sections in enhanced, which improves a child’s reasoning and arithmetic abilities. In addition, it lays a positive impact on a child’s capacity to understand processes and decode symbols.”
Talking in context of the proposed three language formula, co-author and faculty, psychology department Ashoka University, Prof Prakash Padakannya said: “It is beyond doubt that learning two or more languages is beneficial for the brain. The cognitive consequences of multi-lingualism are immense. In fact recent studies have shown that learning a third language at a later age delays onset of problems like Alzheimer’s disease. And Hindi is perhaps one of the easiest languages to learn.”
Published in International Journal of Reading and Writing, a reliable journal of education and cognitive psychology, the study also noted that the impact created by Hindi was seamless mainly because Hindi is a scientific language and its principles are largely mathematical.
“Remember the old film Chupke- Chupke where the lead actor is trying to learn English and asks his teacher to explain why the phonetics of ‘to’ and ‘go’ were different? Unlike English and many other languages like Urdu, Chinese or French, there is a one on one relationship between written and spoken words in Hindi. The clarity – which makes it a transparent language – is also reflected on its impact over the brain. This also makes Hindi a much easier language to learn,” explained Kumar.
The researchers also tracked the pathway of Urdu and noted that it followed the Ventral Visual Pathway which involved the lower regions of the brain such as inferior temporal, middle occipital, superior temporal. “The crux is that a third language activates and strengthens a separate part of the brain and the more a region of the brain functions, the better it gets,” they stated
Analysing brain function of Hindi speakers through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques (namely functional MRI and diffused tensor imaging), the researchers found that reading Hindi activated a large part of the neural network of the upper brain. The impact included involvement of crucial regions that controlled cognitive function, decision making and sensory perceptions.
“We analysed the brain function of Hindi speakers to track it’s brain pathway. We noted that Hindi reading follows that dorsal visual pathway that passes through the upper part of the brain. This improves white matter connectivity and strengthens important regions of the brain (such as frontal, occipital and parietal regions),” said Uttam Kumar, associate professor, department of neuro-imaging, CBMR and principal researcher of the study titled ‘Effect of Written Script Dissimilarity Over Ventral and Dorsal Reading Pathway combined FMRI and DTI study’.
Stating that the study was undertaken as a part of institute's efforts to study language development he added: “With increased exposure, functionality of these crucial sections in enhanced, which improves a child’s reasoning and arithmetic abilities. In addition, it lays a positive impact on a child’s capacity to understand processes and decode symbols.”
Talking in context of the proposed three language formula, co-author and faculty, psychology department Ashoka University, Prof Prakash Padakannya said: “It is beyond doubt that learning two or more languages is beneficial for the brain. The cognitive consequences of multi-lingualism are immense. In fact recent studies have shown that learning a third language at a later age delays onset of problems like Alzheimer’s disease. And Hindi is perhaps one of the easiest languages to learn.”
Published in International Journal of Reading and Writing, a reliable journal of education and cognitive psychology, the study also noted that the impact created by Hindi was seamless mainly because Hindi is a scientific language and its principles are largely mathematical.
“Remember the old film Chupke- Chupke where the lead actor is trying to learn English and asks his teacher to explain why the phonetics of ‘to’ and ‘go’ were different? Unlike English and many other languages like Urdu, Chinese or French, there is a one on one relationship between written and spoken words in Hindi. The clarity – which makes it a transparent language – is also reflected on its impact over the brain. This also makes Hindi a much easier language to learn,” explained Kumar.
The researchers also tracked the pathway of Urdu and noted that it followed the Ventral Visual Pathway which involved the lower regions of the brain such as inferior temporal, middle occipital, superior temporal. “The crux is that a third language activates and strengthens a separate part of the brain and the more a region of the brain functions, the better it gets,” they stated
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