A Brief Introduction of

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

Created By:

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH KENDARI
KENDARI
2021
 Understanding the brain helps us understand how language is produced and interpreted.
We couldn't have language without the brain, but our brains are a bit harder to study than
other parts of the body that we use to make languages like our mouths and hands. We can
point directly to the parts of our mouths and hands that are used to make language, but we
can't reach in and feel our own brain.

Over the years, people have devised a whole range of ways of looking at the brain to figure
out where and how language happens, and that is the field of Psycholinguistics.

A. Definition

Psycholinguistics is a study that combines the fields of Psychology and Linguistics in

order to understand the relationship between the human brain and language in general. It
deals with whatever happens in human beings' brains whenever they produce words and
sentences or when they receive language, both written and spoken. And it deals also with the
devices in a human’s brain that process and represents languages in the brain.
Psycholinguistics tries to understand what gives a human being able to acquire and use
language properly and how as well.

Language are divides into Verbal and Non-verbal. Verbal language consist of spoken
language and written language. Spoken language such as utterance, sound. Written language
such as task, sentences. And Non-verbal language is a language that produced without literal
content such as body language, face expression, etc. Therefore, Psycholinguistic is process of
language production, how to brain see the language.

B. Three Major Aspects of Psycholinguistics

Psycholinguistics mainly covers three major aspects:

1. Language Comprehension

This sub-part can be discussed into two main branches: (a) language perception and
(b) language comprehending. In this section, since the concept of these two are not
significantly different, the following descriptions are intended to show them briefly. Clark
and Clark (1977) divided this concept into two (1) comprehension related
to understanding the utterances we hear (perception), and (2) comprehension in relation to
the act-needs to be taken after the comprehension happened (comprehending). The former
can be defined as the mental process where the hearer perceives the sound produced by a
speaker using such sounds to form an interpretation about what the speaker means. It is
simply to say that comprehension constitutes the form of meaning from the sounds. The latter
is after the hearer comprehends the utterances, is there any actions to be conducted in line
with such comprehension, this is called Utilization of sentences (Dardjowidjojo, 2003:59).

2. Language Acquisition

Language acquisition is that process of building the ability to understand a language,

then using it to communicate with others. Language acquisition is a process which can take
place at any period of one's life. In the sense of first language acquisition, however, it refers
to the acquisition (unconscious learning) of one's native language (or languages in the case of
bilinguals) during the first 6 or 7 years of one's life. That’s language acquisition or, more
specifically, first language or native language acquisition. If you were born in Korea to
parents who speak Korean with you, you’ll naturally end up talking Korean. The same goes
for whatever native language you’re taught.

            Psycholinguistically, the language acquisition theories are:

1) Behavioristic

A child or human will acquire language because they has environment who speak
a certain language. The child will imitate what other speaks and finally the child
will acquire the language. Therefore based on the theory it need a lot of people
around the kind to help the child acquire faster and much. In behaviorism also
called as Tabularasa or Plain paper (kertas kosong), a child is like plain paper.
They will acquire the language depend on how their parent or environment write
it. 

2) Cognitivism

In 1960s, the mentalistic linguistics proposed a new approach called ‘Cognitive

Approaches’. This approach combines the previous theories, the baby is born
with language capacity and influenced by the environment. The important point
to be considered through this approach is that, the success of a child to use, to
understand and to acquire a language is due to the maturity of his cognitive. This
theory assumes that if a child or learner make a mistake because of they are not
 creative in produce language or lack of language perception. If the leaner has
stimulus first in their mind, they will be easily understand utterance.

3. Language Production

Mayer (2000:49), quoted by Dardjowidjojo, (2003:141) states that the utterance is

processed through three stages: (a) conceptualize, (b) formulize,
(c) articulize. Conceptualize means that the speaker plans the conceptual structure to be
uttered, this is also called the message stage. Formulize which is also named grammatical
encoding means stages where the appropriate items are retrieved from the mental lexicons
and then be categorized syntactically (N, V, Adj., NP, VP, Adv., etc.). The last stage
‘articulize’ is also called phonological encoding contains the framework and content which
are already ready to pronounce in terms of sound.

Problems encountered during the language productions among others:

 Pauses, e.g. Eh who is... came here yesterday? Oh, Ali came here yesterday. In
Bahasa Indonesia you may hear, si  Anu...., etc, oh anu...nya...
 Errors which can be subdivided into two:
(i) Slip of the tongue, e.g.  You came here last Monday? Oh Tuesday. In Bahasa
Indonesia you may hear... ambil itu kepala... oh kelapa
(ii) Aphasia, is a kind of speech disease, a person is not able to speak properly
due to be brain damage or other deficiencies in the language memory.
C. Psycholinguistics’ Roots in Education

Psycholinguistics’ Roots in Education is called Cognitive Process. Cognitive process

refers to a number of task that the brain does. They are procedures made by the brain for
processing all the information we receive from the environment, so that we are able to
understand or interpret the information that we acquire from our environment. Cognitive
process allowed us to explore the world and interact with it. There are many different types of
cognitive processes. These include:

1) Attention: Attention is a cognitive process that allows people to focus on a

specific stimulus in the environment.
2) Language: Language and language development are cognitive processes that
involve the ability to understand and express thoughts through spoken and written
 words. It allows us to communicate with others and plays an important role in
thought.
3) Learning: Learning requires cognitive processes involved in taking in new things,
synthesizing information, and integrating it with prior knowledge.
4) Memory: Memory is an important cognitive process that allows people to encode,
store, and retrieve information. It is a critical component in the learning process
and allows people to retain knowledge about the world and their personal
histories.
5) Perception: Perception is a cognitive process that allows people to take in
information through their senses (sensation) and then utilize this information to
respond and interact with the world.
6) Thought: Thought is an essential part of every cognitive process. It allows people
to engage in decision-making, problem-solving, and higher reasoning.

In language learning, the development of the study of cognitive process play an

important roles. Examples:

1) Improves Comprehension

Cognitive learning encourages students to take a hands-on approach to learning.

This allows them to explore the material and develop a deeper understanding.

2) Develops Problem-solving Skills

The cognitive learning approach teaches students the skills they need to learn
effectively. This helps students build transferable problem-solving and study
skills that they can apply in any subject.

3) Promotes Long-term Learning

Developing cognitive skills allows students to build upon previous knowledge

and ideas. This teaches students to make connections and apply new concepts to
what they already know.

4) Improves Confidence
 With a deeper understanding of topics and stronger learning skills, students can
approach schoolwork with enthusiasm and confidence.

5) Instills A Love of Learning

Giving students the chance to actively engage in learning makes it fun and
exciting. This helps students develop a lifelong love for learning outside of the
classroom.

D. Psycholinguistics’ Study Areas

Psycholinguistics divides their studies according to the different components that make
up human language. Linguistics-related areas includes:

1) Phonetics and Phonology which are the study of speech sounds. Within
psycholinguistics, research focuses on how the brain processes and understands
these sounds.
2) Morphology studies sentence structure, especially the relationship between
related words and the formation of words based on rules.
3) Syntax studies the patterns that determine how words are combined together to
form sentences
4) Semantics relates to the meaning of words or sentences. While syntax deals with
the formal structure of sentences, semantics deals with the actual meaning of
sentences.
5) Pragmatics deals with the role of context in the interpretation of meaning.
6) The study of recognizing and reading words examines the processes involved in
obtaining orthographic, morphological, phonological, and semantic information
from patterns in writing.
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