Lesson 9

LEFT-HANDEDNESS

Are you a leftie? If you are, you are one of millions in the world who prefer to use their left hand. There would be millions more left-handed people if societies didn’t force them to use their right hands. To understand the left-handedness, it is necessary to look at the brain. The brain is divided into two hemispheres. In most right-handers, the left hemisphere is the centre of language and logical thinking, where they do their math problems and memorize vocabulary. The right hemisphere controls how they understand broad, general ideas, and how they respond to the five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

The left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right hemisphere controls the left side. Both sides of the body receive the same information from the brain because both hemispheres are connected.

However in right handed people, the left hemisphere is stronger. In left-handed people, it is the right hemisphere that is stronger. Different handedness causes differences in people. Although the left hemisphere controls language in most right-handers, 40 percent of left-handers have the language centre in the right hemisphere. The other 60 percent use the left side of the brain or both sides for language.

Lefties not only prefer using the left hand. They prefer using the left foot for kicking a ball, because the whole body is “left-handed”.

There is an increasing amount of research on handedness. For example, one psychologist says that left-handers are more likely to have a good imagination. They also enjoy swimming underwater more than right-handers.

Left-handedness can cause problems for people. Some left-handed children see letters and words backwards. They read “d” for “b” and “was” for “saw”. Another problem is stuttering. Some left-handed children start to stutter when they are forced to write with their right hand. Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI, had to change from left- to right-handed writing when he was a child, and he stuttered all his life.

Vocabulary and comprehension check

1. Give English equivalents of the following words and expressions:

лівша, примушувати, реагувати, відмінності, відсоток, вважати за краще, дослідження, любити (насолоджуватись), задом наперед, заїкатися.

2. Give Russian/ Ukrainian equivalents of the following words:

society, necessary, general ideas, be connected, kick, whole body, swim underwater, force.

3. Answer the following questions

1. What does the right hemisphere of the brain control?

2. Which hemisphere is stronger in left-handed people?

3. Why do lefties prefer to kick with the left foot?

4. When do some left-handers start to stutter?

4. Read the following statements. Are they TRUE or FALSE?

1. Most right-handers do calculus with the left hemisphere of the brain.

2. When people look at a beautiful sunset, most of them use the right hemisphere of the brain.

3. The right hemisphere controls the right side of the body.

4. Most people in the world use the left hemisphere for language.

5. Left-handedness can cause children to see letters backward.