7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know.

Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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Theory of Knowledge

7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.
Teng Ieng Leong 002152-016 dkj330 Session: November 2011

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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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I know what I want to talk about, but I cannot express it, I cant find the word.

As a

Cantonese Chinese, I always experience this situation as English is my second language. In this case, the lack of vocabulary is a perfect example demonstrating how vocabulary is used to communicate and express our knowledge. However, to substantiate the claim that the vocabulary does more than communicate our knowledge, it is necessary to define vocabulary.

Vocabulary within a language is sets of words with defined and agreed meanings. Vocabulary is like a piece of a puzzle, it helps humans to make meaning, but it is only one element of the complex communication called language. It is also a tool for

communication and recording to assist human relationships and memory respectively. Therefore, it can be justified that vocabulary is not the essence of a thing; it has an innate limitation to fully describe a reality. In fact, most people may argue that the long reliance on vocabulary to express knowledge has prevented people from understanding the depth of reality and thus, limits what we can know. Although this

claim is valid to a certain extent, I cannot fully agree with that. I believe vocabulary to be of language, but not the exclusive factor that restricts or assists the gaining of knowledge, instead, language as a whole should be considered. In addition, our understanding of reality also shapes languages. This will be analysed by exploring the nature of language, the role language plays when acquiring knowledge and how vocabulary is shaped by knowledge.

By definition, vocabulary is an element in a language so it is not language itself. Since all languages have their own rules (grammar) for combining vocabulary in
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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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correct order so that the meaning of a sentence can be determined, it is not only vocabulary which tells us what we can know. While vocabulary is just words in a

language with general agreement for correlating an object (Lagemaat, 2005, p.49), the claim that vocabulary shapes what we can know is over-simplified. Taking the example of myself when learning English as my second language: Instead of writing from Wendy, I always put Wendy from which made no sense. This was my

common mistake in writing a letter, even though the vocabulary I used was totally correct. This is because the grammatical structure in the Chinese language is From this, it can be

different from English, which I was not able to comprehend.

justified that it was the language as a whole that shaped my way of thinking, that is how the words were comprehended, not only the vocabulary.

Beyond my personal experience, vocabulary in many languages can change meanings depending on the context. Taking an example from the Japanese

language, in which a large number of vocabulary items share the same spelling, words can have completely different meanings depending on the context. For

example, the word atsui: its meaning can be hot, thick or on the point of death according to the context. Also, the punctuation in a language changes the meaning of a vocabulary such as yes? and yes! Therefore, understanding the grammar and the context of a sentence such as the object and the subject is required before the context of the vocabulary. This again, shows that vocabulary is not the only

factor that can shape what we know and that language as a whole should be considered.

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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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Furthermore, the nature of language is creative. From grammar to vocabulary, it is being created. In accordance with this, the vocabulary we have does not restrict the acquisition of knowledge because it can always be invented to express a certain body of knowledge. Taking literature as an example, Shakespeare created over 1700 new words and phrases in his plays (Mabillard, 2000, p.1) in order to gain more explicit and vividly emotional expressions, and vocabulary created in fictional literacy pieces can reveal deep truths of human nature. Therefore, vocabulary does not shape what we can know.

Of course, it can always be argued that without Shakespeares ingenious creation of new vocabulary such as cold-blooded and green-eyed (Mabillard, 2000, p.1), the majority of us, as normal people, would not be able to fully understand the depth of human nature. However, do we have to know human nature only by the

classifications of language? The answer can simply go back to our basic ways of knowing in TOK, we can know through other pathways such as emotion. In human

psychology, for example, if we acquired knowledge only through the vocabulary, such as happy and sad, our field of knowing would be too shallow to understand a situation called dilemma because as mentioned, vocabulary is not the essence of reality. As a result, our intuitive way of knowing emotions, help to understand a

much more complicated psychology.

Although we do acquire knowledge largely based on language, language does not play the only role in knowing. An absence of vocabulary does not necessarily mean According to Mehler (2006,
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an absence of awareness of certain types of knowing.

7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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p.21), actual experiments, such as the experiment done by Bertenthal, Proffitt and Cutting has shown that new born babies learn from mimicking people together with a number of trials and errors through sense perceptions. Therefore, new born babies

do not have any vocabulary, yet they can learn through perception, experiences and reasoning (Mehler, 2006, p.12). Likewise, in evaluating the role that vocabulary

plays in history, it can affect our acquisition of knowledge to some extent because we are not able to be eye witness to the events that have happened in the past so vocabulary is used to record past events for studying. However, as an IB history

student, I am able to gain knowledge through perception and reasoning to interpret a picture such as propaganda and thus receive knowledge. For this reason, the After all, from

vocabulary we have does not necessarily shape what we can know.

my first example, I knew the meaning that I wanted to convey, even with a lack of vocabulary.

In fact, vocabulary should be considered as a product of knowledge; it does not affect the process of acquiring knowledge. I recall a childhood story which claimed that humans were proved to be self-restricted. When people were asked to draw on a piece of paper with a rectangle, most people tend to draw inside the rectangle even though the instruction given was just to draw on the paper; which implies that the vocabulary we have is like the rectangle, subconsciously restricting our thinking. However, I disagree with this self-restricted claim because I believe vocabulary is derived from understanding the world. This can be analysed in natural sciences when knowledge is discovered before the existence of a vocabulary. For example,

before the force of attraction of any particle of a matter with a mass in the universe
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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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was discovered by Issac Newton, people did not have a concept of gravitational force. Newton, however, broke down the limitation of language and acquired the knowledge of gravity (Jones, (n.d.), p.1). His acquisition of the knowledge of the Law of Gravity

was through a complex process of reasoning, he then assigned a vocabulary to describe the force he discovered. Likewise, in Mathematics, the concept of

numeracy did not derive from vocabulary; it is from the empirical knowledge of the world through reasoning and perception. This can be seen in the teaching of

concepts of numeracy to a child; raw visual referents (such as fingers) are used, but not vocabulary, to analyse differences and similarities of amount and sizes (England, 2007, p.1). This shows that knowledge comes first while the vocabulary of a

language is just a response to the newly found knowledge.

Finally, I believe that it is knowledge which shapes vocabulary more than vocabulary shaping knowledge. A vivid example of this is the lack of time technology in the

knowledge is the calendar of the Amondawa tribe (Palmer, 2011, p.1). The fact that they lacked this technology shaped their language as it left them without a vocabulary of time. The claim that vocabulary does not necessarily shape what we can know is also manifested here. The Amondawa tribe, although without the vocabulary of time, showed no difficulties in learning the concept of time in Portuguese (Palmer, 2011, p.1). This demonstrates that vocabulary does not always restrict what we can know.

In conclusion, vocabulary can affect or connect the acquisition of knowledge to some extent. However, in order to consider restrictions to access knowledge, instead of
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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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vocabulary, which is too simplistic, language as a whole should be considered. In addition, language is not the only factor that can shape our knowing, instead, other ways of knowing such as emotions should also be included. Although vocabulary in

a language can shape what we can know, it is not an absolute. In considering the nature of language, which is created through perception, reasoning and understanding of the world, vocabulary can be seen as a product of knowledge rather than shaping knowledge. Therefore, it is likely that the knowledge that we have shapes the language and hence affects the vocabulary. Thus, it is not possible to

claim either vocabulary can or cannot shape our knowing as both claims have validity.

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7. The vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge; it shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge.

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Bibliography England, A 2007, Teaching Math to Preschoolers Counting, Numbers and Other Mathematics for Toddlers and Pre-K, viewed 01 June, 2011, <http://www.suite101.com/content/teaching-math-to-preschoolers-a35264>.

Jones, A (n.d.), Law of Gravity, viewed 01 June, 2011 <http://physics.about.com/od/classicalmechanics/a/gravity_4.htm>. Lagemaat, R 2005, Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma, Cambridge University Press, UK. Mabillard, A 2000, Words Shakespeare Invented, viewed 01 June, 2011, <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/wordsinvented.html>. Mehler, J 2006, Natre humain, viewed 01 June, 2011 <http://www.tmue.edu.tw/~kid/course/hsinhsi/report_review_g10.pdf>. Oxford University Press, 2011, vocabulary, viewed 01 June, 2011 <http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.com/dictionary/defining-vocabulary>. Palmer, J 2011, Amondawa tribe lacks abstract idea of time, study says, viewed 01 June, 2011, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13452711>.

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