Questão 62008

(IFRS - 2018/2)

Am I too old to learn a new language?

[1]         Learning a language as an adult could help delay the onset of dementia, research suggests.
[2]  The brain's neuroplasticity decreases with age, but this shouldn't put off older learners – they do have
[3]  some advantages.

[4]         It's often said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Actually, this proverb is, for the most
[5]  part, not true. For much of the history of modern neuroscience, the adult brain was believed to be a
[6]  fixed structure that, once damaged, could not be repaired. But research published since the 1960s has
[7]  challenged this assumption, showing that it is actually a highly dynamic structure, which changes itself

[8]  in response to new experiences, and adapts to injuries – a phenomenon referred to as neuroplasticity.

[9]        Collectively, this body of research suggests that one can never be too old to learn something
[10]  new, but that the older they are, the harder it is for them to do so. This is because neuroplasticity
[11]  generally decreases as a person gets older, meaning the brain becomes less able to change itself in
[12]  response to experiences. Some aspects of language learning become progressively more difficult with
[13]  age, others may get easier. "Older people have larger vocabularies than younger ones, so the chances
[14]  are your vocabulary will be as large as a native," says Albert Costa, a professor of neuroscience who
[15]  studies bilingualism at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. But older learners are less likely to
[16]  have good pronunciation or accent, since the phonemes, or sounds, of a language are picked up
[17]  naturally by children.

[18]        Learning a new language may not always be easy for adults, but there is research to
[19]  suggest that doing so is beneficial for brain health. As we get older, most of us experience an agerelated
[20]  decline in mental functions such as attention and memory, and in some people the acceleration
[21]  of this process leads to the development of Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia. A
[22]  number of recent studies suggest that learning a foreign language can slow this inevitable age-related
[23]  cognitive decline.

[24]        "Learning a language later on in life might be more beneficial than learning it earlier because it
[25]  takes more effort," says lead researcher, Thomas Black. Despite the difficulties, Black regards learning
[26]  for ign languag s as fun. “It is lik a puzzl that has to b solved. I'm doing it partly to keep my brain
[27]  active," he says. Besides, learning a foreign language, much like learning to play a musical instrument,
[28]  does indeed appear to be a good way of exercising one's brain, and keeping it healthy, throughout life.

Adapted from: <https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/13/am-i-too-old-to-learn-a-language>. Accessed on March 19, 2018.

Considere o emprego do ´s nas seguintes afirmações.

I - “The brain's neuroplasticity” (l. 02) é a contração de “has”.
II - “It´s often said” (l. 04) é a contração de “is”.
III - “one's brain” (l. 28) é a contração do “genitive case”.
Quais estão corretas?