>>> Jeff Ricker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 09/14 1:26 PM >>>
"...it has recently been shown that speaking and writing abilities are located in
OPPOSITE HALVES of the brain. The ability to write is thus not a simple passive
consequence of the mental capacity to form spoken words; it depends upon distinct
neural circuits." (p. 231, emphasis added)
The logic of this statement is faulty. Just because different neural circuits are
involved, this does not mandate that speaking and writing be lateralized to opposite
hemispheres. There are plenty of neural circuits in the LH that are not dedicated to
spoken language processing that could be involved in written language. At some level,
it seems a bit absurd to me to suggest that the brain would duplicate many of the
language related systems put in place for spoken language in another hemisphere -
language is just too complicated to waste all that effort and space. And who ever
said that writing ability was passively laid on top of speaking ability? Reading
skill acquisition is a very labor intensive process, by all accounts.
Kim Ainsworth-Darnell
