Nov11/May12 #7 "The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know."

[tdlc10]

Im also doiong this title but i dont know were to start or how to start. I always have trouble starting off the essays.

i could please use some advice.

thanks

[TurtleR]

I remember back in grade 10 french, my french teacher taught us that "raccoon" in french is "raton laveur" I think. One of the students pointed out that it was really interesting because apparently, it translated literally into "rat washer" (or something like that) and this was because raccoons actually washed their hands before eating.

I think that in certain languages, vocabulary can be useful in reminding us about facts as well. I don't know if this helps "shape" what we know, but through analysis of our vocabulary, we can actually learn more individually. For example, I remind myself that the biggest size of coffee available at Starbucks, the "Trenta" has around 30oz. This is because Trenta means thirty in italian, as well as other romance languages.

I also agree with all of the above points.

[dessskris]

I think that in certain languages, vocabulary can be useful in reminding us about facts as well. I don't know if this helps "shape" what we know, but through analysis of our vocabulary, we can actually learn more individually.

that's a good point

and if anyone needs some examples, I could give some in Bahasa Indonesia. quote my post though or I'm unlikely to read your reply.

e.g. durian (fruit), the word 'duri' means thorn so it helps us imagine the fruit also... another example would be rambutan (fruit), the word 'rambut' means hair so it also helps us imagine the fruit.

and lots and lots of more examples. which can be funny too.

[Anima Vilis]

i've read all the replies and I am sure there are few points of view which I haven't considered before. Even though my essay is nearly finished I'm sure I'll use some of them

there's one thing which haven't been mentioned, which is language used specifically for manipulation, which allows people present theories which make no sense, but are filled with emotions and are convincing to people just because of a proper use of vocabulary. I'm also mentioning language at war, which is mostly the same, only the other way round - the statements are told in a non-emotional way, so that people are more likely to accept them. For instead saying 'neutralise them' instead of 'kill them', or 'he is no longer a factor'instead of 'he is dead'.

[CkyBlue]

i've read all the replies and I am sure there are few points of view which I haven't considered before. Even though my essay is nearly finished I'm sure I'll use some of them

there's one thing which haven't been mentioned, which is language used specifically for manipulation, which allows people present theories which make no sense, but are filled with emotions and are convincing to people just because of a proper use of vocabulary. I'm also mentioning language at war, which is mostly the same, only the other way round - the statements are told in a non-emotional way, so that people are more likely to accept them. For instead saying 'neutralise them' instead of 'kill them', or 'he is no longer a factor'instead of 'he is dead'.

Oh mabbe you should mention that! Emotion as a way of knowing integrated into language and vocabulary. You could write a whole new paragraph on that discussion the "scope and limitations" of emotion as a way of knowing. Perhaps the tone of voice as you said, the presence or absence of emotion having to do with that.

But do you think that might be going off topic? It mentions vocabulary communicating our knowledge, not language, as they as very different concepts. Glad you're almost done your essay anyway, I'm doubting you might mention that.

[jess1ca]

Pickles, what do you mean by vocab and language being very different concepts?

I would touch on emotion as an AoK for this essay, but the main AOK is still language. You only have 1600 words and my teacher said while lots of connections are good, it's quality over quantity.

[CkyBlue]

Well, compare these two sentences.

"The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge"

"The language we have does more than communicate our knowledge"

Vocabulary places a harder emphasize on just words that we know, while language may have many other factors, such as culture, slang talk, and past experiences. Vocabulary on its own does not explain expressions, idioms or narrative writing, it is a literal sense, while language in itself encompasses literal and figurative.

[jess1ca]

Well what I was thinking is that vocabulary is part of language. A French speaker's vocabulary is different from an English speaker's.

So I was planning on comparing different languages for my essay. Would that make sense?

[~Lc~]

You could knit pick how differen't vocabulary tend to mean different things when translated. Another good point on this is how there are differen't sayings. For example I told a Cypriot friend yesterday "don't worry I won't "cramp your style"" which is a very modern saying popped out some American neighborhood God knows where. He didn't understand it and I had to explain of course. But this is in all languages.

Another goodd life example I've recently experienced was something my old boss said about her daughter. She is French and her husband Cypriot so the daughter understands French, Greek and English. She pointed out that she noticed the daughter had a differen't development of her linguistic brain. Because of the miltilingualism she understood concepts rather than associate words to things. So a chair wasn't a chair, it had 3 words associated to it, so the chair was something that you can sit on that could be called anything. If this makes sense?

[Abdominal Procrastinator]

I'm doing this topic as well and I find that Sapir-Whorf, Clockwork Orange, 1984, and other cliched stuff like that is too overused. DO you people have anything else that is unique?

Well maybe you could aid in the acquisition of that idea... Isn't that what IB Survival is for?

[ajbiki2012]

So, the big question: is religion a legitimate area of knowledge? I was pretty much finished with my first essay draft which touches heavily on religion when I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me that religion is not even on the IB's WoK-AoK polygon. I don't know what to make of this!

[The Filipino Limner]

how would you define 'vocabulary'?

I found out that vocabulary doesn't only refer to words that we know but also things like facial expression and body language. how do you say that when giving a proper definition, then?

I think its the totality of everything, of what we know in the world that is described by the word vocabulary. It isn't just the superficial vocabulary, of what does this word mean, but putting everything together. That is the true voabulary.

[Keel]

how would you define 'vocabulary'?

I found out that vocabulary doesn't only refer to words that we know but also things like facial expression and body language. how do you say that when giving a proper definition, then?

I think its the totality of everything, of what we know in the world that is described by the word vocabulary. It isn't just the superficial vocabulary, of what does this word mean, but putting everything together. That is the true voabulary.

Disagreed. Vocabulary can never convey "the totality of everything". There is no vocabulary to describe the feeling felt when you jump into a cool pool on a hot summer’s day or when you are skydiving at 30,000 feet with a parachute that does not work. It is not possible to incorporate the entire universe which changes with respect to time into simple words. That is why emotion and sense perception exist, they serve a function similar to 'vocabulary' but it is a sense which only we can access yet not understand at the same time.

[BlueberryQueen]

Hey guys, I am having quite a problem here trying to link my ideas to areas of knowledge. For example, let's say we pick the same examples that were mentioned somewhere in this thread: baby that does not know language yet but loves his mum and emotions. How could I relate these ideas with areas of knowledge? Feel kind of lost at the moment, first essay in TOK, and it will be submitted to moderators!!!

P.S. Please quote my message when helping me, this way I will receive it sooner. Thanks in advance!

[Loeszie.]

I have the same problem, I have no idea how to link what I am talking about to areas of knowlegde. I am talking about the following things:

- languages that lack vocabulary for certain concepts and the impact this has (e.g. numbers and therefore cannot count or solve mathematical problems)

- people that lack subject-specific vocabulary cannot transfer knowledge efficiently (e.g. someone who studies economics cannot transfer his/her knowledge to someone that does not study this subject and thus does not have the vocabulary)

- meanings lost in translation

I'm really worried about this essay, and when I ask my teacher for help all she does is say that I should be able to do it by now, and if she does try to help she usually goes off-topic or she starts telling me all about her life/experiences which doesn't help since it should be my own essay. And she told us to read some 'brilliant' essays that are on the school computers, do you think that would really help, since these essays are about totally different titles?

[anaf]

hiii im planning on doing this title also but im having difficuly with the counterclaim aspect of the essay.. i dont really know what to put.. if someone could help i would sincerely appreciate it =)

try Saphir-Whorf's hypothesis, apparently his research demonstrates that vocabulary doesn't shape what we know.

Hope it helps,

Im also doiong this title but i dont know were to start or how to start. I always have trouble starting off the essays.

i could please use some advice.

thanks

I'm also doing this title and just started the essay a few hours ago and I was completely lost as well. What I did is that I firstly read all the three pages of the forum (this gave me some ideas and it might help you as well). Afterwards you can google the question. Look at the sources of the documents you will find, this will be quite helpful and don't hesitate using Wikipedia for your research (don't cite it, look at the external link, they're pretty good).

Hope it helps!

[Bad Boys of Boston]

hiii im planning on doing this title also but im having difficuly with the counterclaim aspect of the essay.. i dont really know what to put.. if someone could help i would sincerely appreciate it =)

try Saphir-Whorf's hypothesis, apparently his research demonstrates that vocabulary doesn't shape what we know.

Hope it helps,

Im also doiong this title but i dont know were to start or how to start. I always have trouble starting off the essays.

i could please use some advice.

thanks

I'm also doing this title and just started the essay a few hours ago and I was completely lost as well. What I did is that I firstly read all the three pages of the forum (this gave me some ideas and it might help you as well). Afterwards you can google the question. Look at the sources of the documents you will find, this will be quite helpful and don't hesitate using Wikipedia for your research (don't cite it, look at the external link, they're pretty good).

Hope it helps!

Um anaf, if you're planning to reply to different people then you can use the multiquote function to reply to many posts in one post.

You simply click multiquote on the posts you are planning to reply to, then click add reply at the bottom of the page.

You'll get something like I did here.

[blindpet]

Look up the sapir worf hypothesis on determinism. I remember they had found a culture that had no past or future tenses. They argued that this culture could not conceive of time.

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[Fyre]

Hello! I'm doing this question for my TOK essay as well and my plan is to refute the claim and state the opposite, that what we know shapes our vocabulary. Is this ok? I was planning on using the natural sciences, history, and one other area to prove this. For example, when a new species is found in biology, a scientific name is given to that species so that we understand what animal is being discussed. I just want to know if I'm going the completely wrong way in writing this essay.

[flotat]

hi im doing this topic for my tok too

for language i chose to compare the inuits vocabulary and ours for the word snow

i just don't know how to make use of mathematics for this ... I did all the languages part i'm missing history, bio and maths.

i remember my teacher saying something about the pictures in science I just can't remember i see him next thursday but while I wait.. if someone has example for me on this, I'll really appreciate it

thanks

Edited November 11, 2011 by flotat