What does " By increasing the motivation to understand," mean? Could you explain?
Before the invention of printing, we had a different technology for communicating ideas and information. It was called talking. It evolved over millions of years, and there is a lot more happening than just the words passing from brain to brain. There is modulation, tone, emphasis, passion. And the listener is not just listening. She is watching. Subconsciously she notes the widening of the speaker's eyes, the movement of the hands, the swaying of the body, the responses of other listeners. It all registers and makes a difference to the way the receiving brain categorizes and prioritizes the incoming information. By increasing the motivation to understand, the speaker 's lasting effect on the intellectual world of the listener may be far greater than the same words in print.

Question

Answer

I'll give it a try. This sentence serves as a summary for the whole paragraph.
It means roughly this:
1. Speaking gives many more cues about the message being delivered than writing the same words.
2. These cues give the listener more motivation to understand and store what is being said.
3. By providing these motivating cues the spoken word may be understood better / retained for a longer time.

Answer

I'm a native speaker, and it sounds odd to me. i think the writer means that "she" is subconsciously watching the speaker, and really desires to understand what he means by listening and watching his body language. 
The last sentence is hard to understand. The writer means that talking face to face has a lasting effect on the intellectual world of the listener, and the effect would last longer than reading the same words.

Unrelated to your question, I would simply comment that communication in person is typically better than by written word.

I hope that helps.

Respuestas · 2

¿No has encontrado las respuestas?

No pierdas la oportunidad de aprender un idioma desde la comodidad de tu casa. ¡Explora nuestra selección de profesores de idiomas con experiencia e inscríbete ya en tu primera clase!