Hebrew as a Second Language and Drug Addiction - Literature review Example

Hebrew as a Second Language and Drug Addiction First M. al Affiliation Hebrew as a Second Language and Drug Addiction Introduction Drug addiction is currently a prevailing problem in the society. It ranges from the consumption of alcoholic beverages down to the dependency of users to marijuana and cocaine. However, there have been various means and measures established to aid drug users in rehabilitating themselves. For this reason, many researchers have studied the effects of drugs to behavior, as well as their cognitive functions to users and former users (Billard & Dayananda, 1988; Siegel, 2005; Turkkan & Shurtleff, 1999). In line with this, it has been theorized that the cognitive functions of former adult drug users who are Russian speakers with ages from 40 to 60 years old, particularly in their ability to learn a new language, Hebrew, is affected by their past drug addiction. With this on hand, the following literature reviews that focus on cannabis and crack cocaine will seek to support and establish the latter hypothesis. Literature Review Adults Learning a Second Language Prior to examining and establishing the given hypothesis, it is essential to gain knowledge on the manner of how adults learn to speak a second or a new language. In relation to this, the prefrontal cortex function is to execute the working memory of a person. According to Skehan (as cited in Healy & Bourne, 1998), in a cognitive level, the working memory does not only play a vital role in the high level cognition, but it is also considered as the core component in the ability of an adult to learn a second or foreign language. Working memory is necessary because learning a language requires the ability to digest the successiveness of symbols. In this manner, complex cognition is essential in order for the learner to organize while concomitantly processing, storing symbols. This is essential both in learning how to write and how to speak a new language. In relation to this, the cognitive ability of a person, such as the ability to learn a new language, can be affected if a person has substances abused in the past. Aside from the person’s cognitive ability, his or her behavior and attitude can also be affected. Effects of Cannabis to the Cognitive Ability The use of chronic cannabis affects the cognitive ability of an individual. The frequent users have a difficulty in verbal activities, memory, and problem solving. Aside from this, those who are considered as heavy users have a poorer ability in recalling, as well as problems in learning compared to the light users (Roffman & Stephens, 2006). In relation to this, a study conducted by Pope et al. (2003) focused on three group subjects, which included a group of former cannabis users. The subjects of the study were both male and female whose ages were between 30 to 55 years old. The first group was considered as the heavy users and has continuously smoked in the course of study. The second group was the former cannabis users who smoked less than 12 times within the three-month course of the study, and the last group was the controlled users who only smoked cannabis for at most 50 times in their whole lives. The subjects were studied for 28 days and were given neuropsychological examinations in order to gauge their visuospatial and verbal memory. In relation to the educational background of the subjects, those who started using cannabis at the age of 17 below have fewer graduates compared to those who started later than 17 years old. Also, those individuals who used cannabis in their early life stage have a lower examination rate, specifically in the act of remembering words, verbal functions, and semantics. The study also considered the possibility of having lower inborn cognitive abilities to those who were using cannabis earlier than 17 years old. More specifically, in the examination that tested the vocabulary of the subjects, the early users of cannabis have the lowest score among the three groups. Hence, a hypothesis was drawn that the low score could have been affected by the low educational attainment they have received compared to other groups. Furthermore, the result regarding the former users of cannabis was that their cognitive ability was affected due to their withdrawal to the substance. Aside from this, their cognitive ability was also affected by the remaining cannabinoids in the brains of the subjects. It has been recorded that most of the time they would experience cognitive deficiency that could last for few hours to four days. In the study of Fried, Watkinsons, and Gray (2005), it has been suggested that the younger a person starts using cannabis, even with continuous usage or those who stopped, the more it affects his or her cognitive ability. This is pertinent to note because the density of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain differs from one part to another in terms of age. Therefore, if the user is still at a young age, then the effects of the cannabinoids to the different parts of the brain will be more potentially damaging. However, the findings of Fried et al. (2003), in relation to the former users of cannabis, suggested that there was an absence of negative effects on the said group even though they started to smoke as early as 14 years old. These former users of cannabis have smoked an estimated 4,800 joints of cannabis compared to the 19,000 of current users. The results showed that current users have encountered more difficulties in the examinations, such as memory and psychomotor speed; in fact, they have elicited lower scores than the former heavy users. Nonetheless, researchers assumed that the results regarding the former heavy users of cannabis must not be generalized. It must be considered that the length of time the former heavy users were engaged in the use of cannabis was only an average of two and a-half years compared to the current users. Effects of Cocaine to the Cognitive Ability In line with the abuse of crack cocaine, it has been determined that the chronic use of cocaine affects the cognitive ability of an individual. Specifically, the use of cocaine has an impact on the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Therefore, it immediately affects the activities that are executed by the prefrontal cortex, which include problem solving, the rate of processing information, and moral judgment. The effect of cocaine can be demonstrated as the ability to interfere in the activities on the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. Subsequently, this interference would result to the low activity of the prefrontal cortex. Nonetheless, the effects are not only in this specific region of the brain, but they disperse and will eventually interfere in the visual and verbal memory of the person (De Oliveira et al., 2009). Also, the effects will be elicited in the manner of speaking and the perceptual sensory. In relation to the study of De Oliveira et al. (2009), the researchers have employed former and current crack cocaine users in Brazil. The focus of the study was to determine the “general cognition, memory, attention, and executive functioning and also on scales which evaluate mode anxiety” (p. 1943). The results showed that those who have formerly used crack cocaine in the past six months to five years were impaired on their Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). According to study, the average MMSE of the healthy Brazilian’s population, which has nine to eleven years of education, was 28 points. However, it is necessary to note that almost 30% of the former users of crack cocaine have scored below average. Furthermore, it must be noted that the performance of former crack cocaine users regarding their mental and attention flexibility was also affected. This was depicted on the results of the subject of the Trail Making Test (B), an examination that gauges the ability of the examinee to change from one task to another along with gauging the visual attention. Hence, there has been a deficiency on the executive functions of the subjects due to this result. However, the study concluded that the impaired verbal memory of the former crack cocaine users could still be reversed. Nonetheless, it was apparent on the results that the attention and executive functions of former users were evident. Drug Rehabilitation As De Oliveira et al. (2009) cited, in terms of cocaine, the effects are still reversible. In this manner, there are different drug treatments that have been funded by the government in order to control or break the chain of drug abuse in the society. However, it is inevitable to note that once a person has been dependent on drugs, chronic drug use and relapse are the most evident results. For this reason, drug abuse treatments do not only focus on the medical aspect, but they encompass a variety of factors, such as economic, biological, and psychological. There are different treatments and approaches for drug dependents, such as the maintenance of methadone. It has also been proven that the longer the person stayed on the rehabilitation treatment plan, the lower is the risk of relapse (Anglin & Hser, 1990). Discussion and Conclusion Taken the literature reviews into account, the former drug addicts who have specifically used cocaine and cannabis deal with cognitive problems. As the focus of the study, one of the problems pertaining to the cognitive ability of former drug users is their ability to learn a new language. One of the most affected parts of the brain, when a person abuses narcotics, is the prefrontal cortex. It is vital to understand that the prefrontal cortex of the brain plays an important role, as mentioned in the literature review, to the ability of older people aged 30 to 60 years old to learn a new language. In the prefrontal cortex, the working memory of a person is executed, which functions substantially as a person’s ability to absorb symbols in a successive manner. This ability is considered as the core component in learning a language. In assessing the former drug users’ ability to learn a new language, it is important that their intelligence quotients must be first assessed, as well as the length of time they abused or used narcotics, and age when they started to use the identified narcotics. After considering these factors, results will vary; however, the abuse of narcotics has a universal impact on the cognitive ability of users, may it be in a short or longer span of time. As to the usage of cannabis, this will impair the cognitive ability of former users, such as their verbal skills. For this reason, it will be difficult for former cannabis users to learn Hebrew, especially if they have started to use these drugs during their early years. In the light of crack cocaine abuse, the former user’s verbal memory and other executive functions are also affected by substance. In this way, a former crack user will have a hard time learning the Hebrew language as the cocaine immensely affects not only the prefrontal cortex, but also the total functioning of his or her brain. Therefore, it can be inferred that the effects of drug abuse to former drug users are mostly on the prefrontal cortex, which executes a person’s ability to learn another language. References Anglin, M. D., & Hser, Y. (1990). Treatment of drug use. Crime and Justice, 13, 393-460. Billard, L., & Dayananda W. A. (1988). A drug addiction model. Journal of Applied Probability, 25, 649-662. De Oliveira, L. G., Barrosa, L. P., Silveira, C. M., Sanchez, Z. D., Ponce, J. D. C., vaz, L. J., Nappo, S. A. (2009). Neuropsychological assessment of current and past crack cocaine users. Substance Use and Misuse, 44, 1941-1957. Fried, P. A., Watkinson, B., & Gray, R. (2005). Neurocognitive consequences of marihuana - comparison with the pre-drug performance. Neurotoxicol and Teratology, 27(2), 231-239. Fried, P. A., Watkinson, G., & Gary, R. (2003). Differential effects on cognitive functioning in 13-to-16 year-olds prenatally exposed to cigarettes and marihuana. Neurotoxicol Teratol, 15(4), 427-436. Healy, A. F., & Bourne, L. E. (Eds.). (1998). Foreign language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pope, J. H. G., Gruber A. J., Hudson, J. I., Cohane, G., Huestis, M. 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