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How does our language shape the way we think
Cognitive development and language
Effect of language in communication
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We all know that speaking any language involves using our brains, but how does this effect the way we think? For example; people who are deaf may use sign language or read lips and communicate more with body language, other languages assign genders to inanimate objects, and in the U.S.A we use egocentric directions whereas some other countries use cardinal direction. In “Does Your Language Shape How You Think”, Gay Deutscher explains that the language we speak and the dialect we use can influence how humans perceive their surroundings and the world itself (447). According to Tom Munnecke in “Nothing Is Missing”, he describes how frustrating it can be, to be bilingual, because you can be thinking in one language, but have to translate your thoughts to another language (455). Lera Boroditsky in “Lost in Translation”, describes how language along with the culture influences our thoughts and how language can change the way a person thinks and reacts in everyday situations (469). Language is not just a use of communication, it has a huge impact on the way we think, act, and perceive the world we live in today.
In many other languages; such as, Italian, French, German and Spanish, genders are assigned when speaking about inanimate objects, but in English inanimate objects do not have an assigned gender. Deutscher points out “When your language routinely obliges you to specify certain types of information, it forces you to be attentive to certain details in the world and to certain aspects of experience that speakers of other languages may not be required to think about all the time” (449). In English when speaking about inanimate objects we can just say “it” or “thing” and point, instead of speaking the...
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...direction seems like nonsense to them and pointless. Boroditsky states, “They perform navigational feats scientist once thought were beyond human capabilities” (471). If the aboriginals were to visit a big city any where in the world their minds would be blown and confused on how the rest of the world uses their sense of direction, just as I would be if I lived with the Aboriginals in Australia.
My native language, English, is one of the most used languages in the world so obviously I’m not saying that everybody who speaks English has the same thought process but it does influence our life’s when compared to other languages. The way we think is definitely influenced by our language, but how much it influences our thought process? Nobody knows that answer, but research and beautiful minds that were shaped with the influence of language will continue to find answers.
Languages Impact Children’s Ability to Reason about Mental States?. The Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota, Apr. 2010. Web. 7 Sep. 2013. .
The word gender refers to a general classification of human beings into male and female with socially and culturally constructed characteristics, behaviors, attributes and roles preconceived and labelled as appropriate for each class. The society and culture today have placed human beings in a box which to a large extent dictates how we act in the world.
Understanding more than one language has positive effects on the brain’s ability to think. In comparison to multilingual individuals, monolingual English speakers are at a considerable disadvantage when it comes to learning, cultural awareness, and effectiveness in global affairs.
In "Lost in Translation," by Lera Boroditsky, the concept that the perception of the world is different for people who speak different languages is proved through various global experiments. The author uses the purpose and audience of the piece to strongly support her main concept. The audience intended for this piece is the Wall Street Journal. Furthermore, the audience is a vast array of people with higher education, and business career individuals. The purpose of the piece is the realization of a profound connection between language and the perception of the world and way of thinking of the foreign language speaking people. Additionally, this piece challenges the world to rethink the way language is taught and received. Boroditsky uses
...eriments that cover this topic and it seems as though there is evidence to support this fact. For example, English speakers will be more likely to use agentive descriptors than Spanish speakers due to their respective language structures (Fausey & Boroditsky, 2010, 155). If the mind simply received information and processed it without interpreting it in its own way for each individual, why would language differ when describing the same situation? People that receive the same information have different interpretations of it, which shows that the mind does change the basic information that is received from the other systems that we have. It seems as though the mind’s interpretation of an event differs for individuals that speak different languages. This is proof that the mind goes beyond the information given and in fact constructs a new reality from that information.
Learning multiple languages opens doors for people not only in their local communities, but on a global scale. It has also been proven to advance cognition by improving conflict management, executive controls, and sound recognition. Students who are bilingual have two active languages in their minds and create flexible minds by constantly processing and translating in both languages. These mental activities are displayed to be beneficial through impressive academics. For these reasons, bilingual education in the United States is critical. Language is the single most important asset in human civilization. Prior to it, cave men communicated through grunts and images. Not only does language tie people together, but it also has an impact on one’s mentality and personal
What really is a language and how does it affect the world around us? Language is just a structure of words put together to communicate with one another. When one speaks all they are doing is causing their vocal cords to vibrate to produce different sound waves. This sounds so simple, but there are thousands of languages spoken throughout the world and each language is usually connected to a certain place. When someone travels to a different place where a language is foreign to them it can be life-changing as in The Naked Eye. Language constricts our thoughts and identities with the world around us. I’m arguing that language is as much of a necessity in our world as food or water, it’s the basis on how we get through each and every day.
Throughout history, language has been a significant part of how humans are able to communicate with each other. Communication is a vital part to the way humans live and even survive with each other. Languages are all unique, and they can possibly be a factor in the way humans solve problems or think in general. In the essay “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?,” Lera Boroditsky delves into this complex topic. She specifically focuses on the topic of language and how people’s thinking can actually change depending on the language that they speak. To effectively prove her argument, she has conducted many experiments with her students and colleges that test the way that groups of people complete tasks differently based on their language.
According to the estimates, bilinguals make up more than half of the global population (Grosjean, 2010). Bilingualism can be described as the ability to use two with certain degree of proficiency, whereas linguistic skills of monolinguals are restricted to just one language (for further definitions of bilingualism, see Moradi, 2014). Being bilingual means that both languages are always active to some degree, even in contexts that require just one of the languages. The ability to manage attention to two languages the entire time requires higher involvement of the non-linguistic executive control system (Abutalebi & Green, 2007; Bialystok, Craik, & Luk, 2012). Numerous behavioural studies have demonstrated a beneficial effect of bilingualism
Language is an important part to culture, it allows people to communicate with one another, while learning and sharing information as well. The importance and extent of which language can influence a particular culture was studied and made well known by the scientists, Benjamin Lee Whorf and Edward Sapir. According to the article, How Language Shapes Thoughts, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is based on the idea of language being able to shape the way that individuals think. Although this theory was once hard to believe, there is now evidence that shows that language does in fact influence the way an individual thinks. Language can shape the way people perceive time, space, how things are remembered, and also influences the learning process. Some
In her article, How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think, Lera Boroditsky (2009) explains how the results of her experiments support the idea that the structure of language shapes the way we think. In one of her experiments, she found that English speakers would place cards showing temporal progression in temporal order from left to right, Hebrew speakers would place them right to left, and that the Kuuk Thaayorre would place them from east to west. This shows that the written language affects how time is represented to them. In another one of her experiments, she asked German and Spanish speakers to describe some items and found that the masculinity or femininity of the noun in their respective languages affects how it is ultimately described. This can also be seen in how artists represent the human form of abstract entities like death. Boroditsky concludes that “Language is central to our experience of being human, and the languages we speak profoundly shape the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we live our lives.” (Core reader p. 49) I would like to add that language is also the foundation of a person’s culture, pride, and self by exploring articles written by Eric Liu, Amy Tan, and Gloria Anzaldua.
Language has a significant impact on cognitive development as according to Vygotsky language precedes thinking. (Powell, Katherine C, Kalina, Cody J p241) A common language is necessary for people to interact socially. Language is...
LANGUAGE FLUENCY is also affected for bilinguals because they became confused and double minded before choosing appropriate words for particular object in particular
From the beginning of the twentieth century, the roles of religion have slowly been declining in societies. With the up rise of science and logic, more and more people are turning to logical thinking instead of looking to a religion. Scientists are arguing that there is no proof of a God or any other signs of a superior power. Secularization has made its way into all societies, with the fight of religion versus science being the biggest concern. After reading from philosophers and scientists, it is easy to see why religion is being phased out of societies.
As the title of this paper states, “How our World is Changing” our world is constantly changing. Our world changes everyday without most of us ever seeing or noticing any changes, but as we look back in history we can see some tremendous changes. As history is studied these changes become apparent and truly jump out and become real.