Monday, April 8, 2013

Thoughts and Questions on Language

"Every Teacher Is A Language Teacher" packet-page 205
Linguistic Determinism-The idea that our thoughts are completely restricted and determined by the languages we speak. I think that the learning of languages can improve the overall understanding of concepts, but only to certain point. It is true that there are certain words that only exist in specific languages, but that does not mean that the meaning of the word or the concept does not exist to people who do not speak that language. The term "deja vu" is a French term, meaning that you feel as though you have experienced an exact situation more than once. Just because we do not have an English word for this feeling, it does not mean that English speakers do not experience and understand this language.
TOK Questions:
Does our range of vocabulary limit our range of thoughts?
How does naming an idea affect our understanding of the idea?

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