Tuesday, May 29, 2012

They're Everywhere

As you finish term projects and prepare for exams, be on the lookout for interesting ways of knowing.  For Friday, please describe an instance to which you then apply the question "does knowledge, including culture, depend on language?"  For Monday, build on the observation and analysis of a classmate; extract a knowledge issue from another's Friday post and connect it to a separate moment of knowledge of your own.  You may even wish to view the moment through an Andersonian lens.

22 comments:

  1. Although this is a very obvious instance in which knowledge can depend on language is when trying to learn about a new culture. For example, if I wanted to teach someone who is from Guatemala (who does not speak English) about my own culture, there would be some difficulty because I would have to think of other ways to explain to her my culture without using words since I do not speak Spanish. Of course I know my culture and I can better explain it in my own language because I know many descriptor words; however, I would have to explain my culture more visually because I do not know the words to describe it for the person. Knowledge does not fully depend on language because I could still teach the Guatemalan person about my culture through showing them (by pictures, introducing them to my food etc.), but it would just be a little more difficult because my words would not be as much use. Knowledge of this could depend on language, though, because language is a main method of communication and without it, it is harder to get my point across and share the knowledge with another.

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  2. While working on my Extended Essay, I concluded my respond to the question “does knowledge, including culture, depend on language?”Since my research paper topic investigates the African immigrant assimilation in the French culture, I decided to call my cousin whose residence is in Paris. She was raised in France and I thought her opinions would be valuable for my topic. I am from Cote d’Ivoire, a country that was once colonized by France. Thus, we communicate in French. Our different accents was apparent when we were talking about my research paper. Our French are seemingly different though we understood each other perfectly. I speak fast and use different vocabularies to express myself, while she uses a lot words influenced by the Arab language when she speaks French. Her culture and knowledge of the world and mine has influenced the way we speak. Therefore, I do not think knowledge and culture depends on language but that language depends on culture and knowledge.

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  3. There are a lot of times when knowledge has to depend on the culture and language when I try to develop and explain an idea from the Taiwanese or Chinese culture. In order to understand some of the Chinese sayings and quotes, it is necessary to understand the Chinese culture and history first, and sometimes, it is required to have a basic knowledge of Chinese language. And also, there are some circumstances that the idea is not complete opposite in a different culture, for example, in Thai, the word for rice sounds exactly the same as one of the swearing word in Chinese. Therefore, to be able to communicate well in both culture, it is required to have some basic knowledge of the language and culture in order to be polite and successful on being social.

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  4. Knowledge and culture really do depend on language. In order to gain new information, one has to learn through speech. Even though there are visual aspects of learning, a great majority of how we learn is through language. One can write a math problem on the board without talking, but what if you don't understand? In terms of culture, if you only speak French, for example, you are not going to gain new knowledge in an English spoken history class. You may see and understand visuals, but the overall concept would not be understood. Our culture and language determines the knowledge we acquire over time.
    An instance in which I would apply this question to is the following: In French class, we have been working on reading comprehension packets. We have to read an article on a particular subject and then answer questions based on what we learned. This is very hard if you are not fully aware of what you are reading. One of the articles we read was on GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). I knew some of the basic information, but it was difficult for me to truly learn the more detailed sentences. As a result I did not learn as much about GMOs as I would reading it in English. Hopefully, as time passes, my French will and prove and I will gain more knowledge from the readings.

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  5. One specific time I can think of that language really influenced knowledge was when I was researching for the history assignment. The phrasing, or language of the search greatly impacted the results on Google. Changing one word in the search bar gave me sources that were particularly useful in refreshing my memory of what happened in World War I as opposed to World War II. I found one website specifically that really helped with comparing the wars and I never would have found it if I didn't change one word to another.

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  6. I don’t think that knowledge depends on language. Whether one can express the knowledge they know with it is a different question. “Language is a virus” and it’s contagious like tears. People catch on to the different phrases, terms, and how language is used. It spreads through friends and cultures. An example of this would be with my family and friends. We use certain terms and phrases for specific things that other people don’t commonly use. This doesn’t mean that my knowledge depends on it; it’s just the method I use to express it. Sometimes when I try to explain something in other words to someone else, finding the words may be difficult, but the knowledge is there.

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  7. It took me a relatively long amount of time to analyze the question: "does knowledge, including culture, depend on language?" Ultimately, I believe that knowledge is highly dependent on language. To begin with, I will remove the middle part of that sentence and say: "does knowledge depend on language?" To prove this I will use an example from English class today. Essentially, we were looking at dangling modifiers and how they affected the statements that people were trying to make. Every time we looked at a sentence, we noticed that what the author was saying and what the author was trying to say were completely different. The correct version of the sentence caused a complete change in what the reader had originally thought about the meaning of the sentence. Now, let us look at the idea of culture in this statement. In essence, language plays a great role in understanding cultures around the world. The fact that cultures differ greatly sometimes causes great differentiation in understanding of one another's cultures. Language sometimes adds a barrier to the path of understanding, in that languages across cultures is so different. Ultimately, though, language can also be considered as communication as a whole. And if it is looked at in that way, then language therefore helps in understanding of cultures as a whole. In the end, language plays a massive role in gaining knowledge and understanding of culture.

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  8. S An instance where I can apply the question "does knowledge, including culture, depend on language?" is when I went to Australia. (Theresa's comment reminded me of this!) And I think that language and culture depends a lot on knowledge. When I went there, I had a completely different lifestyle and gained knowledge about Australian living and culture. I also felt like knowing (American) English as my first language helped me understand Australian slang and sayings better; because there were things that were hard even for me to understand. It would have been extremely hard if English was not your first language; I feel like language played an important role in gaining my new knowledge of Australian language and culture.

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  9. Knowledge depends on language, as language offers the format or structure of how knowledge is presented.

    When Lieutenant Awesome Geronimo Nuno (I have no idea how to do the accent on the second "n" in Nuno, I am sorry) came to speak to our History class about World War 1, language proved itself to be a very huge role in knowing something. World War 1 to me is not as emotionally stimulating as World War 2, as World War 2 involves the Holocaust (and I love Night by Elie Wiesel). Thus, I prefer studying World War 2. World War 1 seemed like such a distant topic to me, especially since we studied it in the early fall term. But, when Lieutenant Awesome spoke to us about it, the first World War suddenly became a very fascinating topic. I know that if and when I go back to review World War 1 the experience will not even be half of the experience I had just listening to Lieutenant Geronimo, and that is because of language. It is one thing to read the straightforward textbook explanation, but it is another thing to have the word spoken to me with such zest and comprehension that Geronimo exhibited. From his gesticulation and constant questioning to the humor and wit of his words, I was able to absorb a lot more useful knowledge about World War 1.

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  10. Whilst studying proactively and diligently for my History exam, I came across a chart in my textbook which had fascinated in the winter and which had faded from my memory. What an opportune time for it to re-enter my conscious mind! Found on p. 221 of Causes, Practices, and Effects of War, this chart is titled "ToK Time" and shows the linguistic discrepancies between the British press's descriptions of the Allied powers' soldiers, weapons, plans, and strategies and the descriptions of the Iraqi soldiers, weapons, etc. It is perhaps obvious that the press uses certain phrases or subjective language to influence its audience, but it is often difficult to perceive when one passively listens to, watches, or reads the news. Side by side, on the other hand, the bias is clear as day - 'neutralize' as opposed to 'kill'; 'statesmanlike' as opposed to 'an evil tyrant.' I am sure that the British public's point of view on the war was shaped in part by this language and similar propaganda, as it is hard to escape such near-invisible influence. What the public knew, therefore, was not an objective reporting of the facts but rather a subjective, one-sided point of view - but they still viewed it, I'm sure, as knowledge.

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  11. I strongly believe that knowledge does influence our language and thus the language shapes our way of thinking. For example, if we all remember, not too long ago, our trip to MIT. We discussed the differences of research and design, this two words are essentially the same and rely on one another in order to be complete in the English language. In the french language, the same is true but people and society in general tend to take them as completely different. The second example, is to take a language such as french for instance, everything in the french language is either a masculin or a feminin, this obviously not true to english. So, we can never, when speaking english, associate words such as chair, table and shoe as a feminin or as a "she". But on the other hand, in french it is just a simple reflex and habit to associate all objects as either male or female. This brings as drastic difference, especially if one is bilingual. Because, being forced to study in english but only being able to think critically in french, such concept and ideas can get blurry in my mind.

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  12. Reading Tillula’s comment it made me realize, that language may not completely depend on knowledge. I could also relate her example of using certain terms and phrases that many people don’t use; like in my household we mix Portuguese from my mom’s side and Haitian Creole from my dad’s in some weird way. I think that some of these words are just made up completely. But I never talk like that with others; it’s not hard for me to find words when talking to someone outside my family, I just know that not everyone has grown up the same way as me.

    My knowledge issue from this connection/comment is: To what extent does an individual’s culture shape his or her perception of language?

    I can also relate this idea of using different moment of knowledge, when last year Hannah Yoo was teaching me the sounds animals make in Korea. I did not realize that not all animals made different sounds when young kids were learning. Like when I was younger, in picture books the sheep goes “baaah” but Korean children learn that they go “maaaay”. I was so fascinated that Koreans (and possibly other cultures) have different interpretations of words such as animal noises. It was fun to learn about Korean “animal language” culture, while teaching my own culture to someone else.

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  13. I thought that Ami's response to this question was very interesting. At the end of her response she concluded, "I do not think knowledge and culture depends on language but that language depends on culture and knowledge." I never thought of it that way when I was thinking of my first response. After reviewing this statement a few times over I began to really understand what she meant. I completely agree with her conclusion as well. People can speak the same language but live in different cultures. Like Ami's scenario, her French is a little but different than her cousin's French in Paris. Although different in style, the two speakers can still understand each other and gain knowledge.
    So the knowledge issue/question could be: To what extent does language depend on culture?

    When I go to Cape Breton Island in Canada each summer, I am entering a whole new world. Everyone speaks English, but their accents are so rich that it takes a while to fully comprehend what they are saying. They speak some what faster than Americans do over there (with a little bit of a Scottish twist). The life there, is far different as well. We speak the same language, but we come from different environments. So language truly does depend on culture.

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  14. For Monday's assignment I decided to look over Nafisatou's comment and look in-depth at it's meaning. Little did I know I wouldn't get very far- as I grew thoroughly intrigued with her first statement. "Knowledge depends on language, as language offers the format or structure of how knowledge is presented." This seemed like such a clear-cut response and it made a lot of sense. Nafisatou then went on to explain that the way that something is presented, in terms of language, creates one's experience. By that I mean language can change one's opinion on something completely- such as World War I for Nafisatou.

    My knowledge issue is therefore: To what extent does language influence knowledge?

    I can also connect the idea of language influencing knowledge to my own personal experience in Biology. This is very similar to Nafisatou's idea of language being able to shape one's knowledge experience. In 9th grade I took a biology class that proved to be near to impossible for me. My grades in that class were not as high as my other grades, and i found the subject to be boring and pointless. After deciding to the Higher Level IB Biology for my junior and senior year I was practically shaking in my boots. I thought that IB Biology would be my reason for failing the IB Diploma Program. Instead, i found it to be one of my most invigorating classes this year. Taylor had a different way of forming questions, and of getting her point across that proved much more fruitful in the long-run (in terms of results). I was more alert in class, and I found the topic to be much more interesting- therefore increasing my knowledge in Biology as a whole. In this case, I found that knowledge had a large impact on my knowledge of the subject; just as Lieutenant Awesome did for Nafisatou.

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  15. I understand Emilie’s comment about how language influences ways of thinking and knowing. I can relate to her own personal example of try to say something, or express herself in English, yet think critically about the subject in French, because it leads to different thoughts based on how words and terms are commonly used in the languages. Sometimes I want to say something in French that I thought of in English, but I wouldn’t have the vocabulary for it. It is very difficult and frustrating at times.

    Knowledge Issue: To what extent do languages (like English, French, Spanish, etc…) shape the way people express themselves with one another?

    This knowledge issue reminds me of when I went away last summer and spent sometime in France. The most difficult part of the trip was trying to express my thoughts to my host mother. She was the only person in the house who didn’t speak any English at all and it as hard communicating with her. I understood what she said to me, but I didn't have the right vocabulary to respond to her the way I would in English. So she thought I didn't understand her, and kept repeating things to me, but I didn't know how to tell her that I understood her and just didn't have the right words. We were never alone together simply just to avoid that problem. She was very nice and it made me sad sometimes that I didn't have much to say to her, so we just smiled at each other all the time.

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  16. I looked at Anna's piece for one main reason- it popped to me because it spoke of history, a subject that I am incredibly interested in. Her account made a lot of sense to me and I immediately started to think of other times that propaganda was used to sway other's opinions for a cause- a great example was the Boston Massacre. I agree with Anna that the word choice makes all the difference.

    The knowledge issue I extracted is: How can one's perspective of language influence his or her knowledge?

    I can relate this to another moment in my knowledge from a conversation with my father. We were talking about when he went to France he would tell people he was from the United States near Montreal. He pronounced it like an American would "Mont RE al" unlike the French would "Mon rea al". Some were confused as to what he was trying to convey to them and eventually, they would realize what he was talking about. This along with what Anna posted makes me really think about the way we speak and how we form our words and how those actions can impact the how ideas are perceived and hence knowledge.

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  17. Emilie wrote an interesting point about language in terms of different types of languages. She used English and French, and explained that thinking in French while trying to speak English could muddy up the waters of the brain. However, just as it is hard to not think of a chair as a female, it is also hard to have to label every single intimate object as a male or female. When writing, this can not only muddy up the waters in one's brain, but it can also muddy up the waters of communication. So, my new knowledge issue at hand is whether language affects, rather than depends on, knowledge.

    Emilie gave the perspective of a person who thinks in French, but speaks in English. I would like to vouch for the other side: An English thinking French speaker. Clearly, the language being spoken or thought in will affect my consumption of the knowledge. For example, idioms in between languages are not word for word translatable. For instance, if I am writing a French essay on how to get revenge on someone, I may want to include the idiom, "Give him a taste of his own medicine". I cannot translate that word for word, and think that I have executed the job properly. In French, the idiom sounds more like," Give him his money back" or " Make his own coin". It is drastically different from the English idiom. So, if I said the English idiom of revenge in French, a French person would not know what I was talking about. Thus, this affects their knowledge of what I just said.

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  18. TO's post explains understanding and explanation from an idea rom the Taiwanese or Chinese culture. She writes, "In order to understand some of the Chinese sayings and quotes, it is necessary to understand the Chinese culture and history first, and sometimes, it is required to have a basic knowledge of Chinese language.. in Thai, the word for rice sounds exactly the same as one of the swearing word in Chinese. Therefore, to be able to communicate well in both culture, it is required to have some basic knowledge of the language and culture in order to be polite and successful on being social." This relates to an instance in my own culture, the Guyanese culture (or Caribbean culture as a whole) because although we speak English, it is broken english and many of times our phrases or words in our dialects mean something completely different in the proper English language. For example, a phrase that my grandmother used to tell me whenever I disobeyed her was, "yuh tek yuh eye an pass meh?!" In proper English, it basically means that I am being rude or disregarding her/rolling my eyes. Also, there are some curse words in my dialect that mean something completely innocent in American english (I won't give an example here). In these ways, knowledge of a given culture is important when communicating because one thing can mean something else in another person's culture/language.
    The K.I I have found is, how does culture influence knowledge?

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  19. I decided to look over Sara's post to build on today. I agreed with her from personal experience that it is very difficult to communicate without language, although possible. I thought that it was interesting when she stated "language is a main method of communication and without it, it is harder to get my point across and share the knowledge with another". So I guess my knowledge issue is how does knowledge change in response to language?

    This question is especially important when studying English grammar. I find that depending on how a sentenced is phrase it can mean a lot of things. In English class for example, our class was learning about the usage of pronouns. That is when it hit that what I say may mean something completely different to another.

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  20. Alysha's post grabbed my attention in the sense that she talked about how the same language, which being english, can completely vary from culture to culture. She also addresses the fact that the variation in the way a society views and interprets that language can be so drastically different that one can experience and undergo language barrier when talking the same language. I can also relate to Alysha's issue, because I speak English, but my english can be and tends to be sometimes very different from American English. The same goes for when i speak french to French people, sometimes the accent or the wording of phrases sound so foreign that one would think it is not the same language we are dealing with. My Knowledge Issue would then be: To what extent does language culturally disable the way the form of thinking?

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  21. I looked at Mary's post, and I agreed with her how language is important when it comes to a specific subject, which in the case, is to study GMO in French. Even study in English, if we don't have the vocabulary build in our mind, we won't be able to understand the concept and the theory, but if we start from knowing the vocabulary and terms, if would be much easier and possible to understand the study. Therefore, my KI is, To what extent did perception benefit ourselves?

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  22. From SaskiaTOK's post, I extracted the following knowledge issue: To what extent does information or knowledge have intrinsic truth - unchanged by the circumstances in which it is presented?
    This can apply easily to a fact I'm sure we've discussed in TOK before, which is that the nature of, for example, an experiment changes when observed. Is there, then, some common truth that can be found in both the unchanged experiment and the observed experiment?

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