Youtube Exercise » English Grammar Homework

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

TED-Ed Student Talks

288K views 9 years ago

Warm-up Questions

What do you think it means that the language you speak can affect your thoughts?
Can you think of an example where different languages might describe the same event in different ways?
Do you believe language changes how people see time, space, or numbers? Why or why not?

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Start With: Word Definition

Order: Alphabetical Random

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How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Introduction: Language and thought (00:00 – 01:24)

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1. What can the six-year-old boy do that many adults cannot do confidently?

Name different types of uncles
Point north accurately
Count to ten in a different language
Explain a nursery rhyme

2. What is suggested as a possible reason for this difference between the child and the adults?

Compasses work differently in Australia
Native language influences thought processes
Adults have worse eyesight
Schooling prevents learning directions

3. How has the idea that language shapes thought often been viewed in the past?

As crazy, irrational, and hard to test
As irrelevant to science
As only true for children
As obvious and already proven

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Grammar differences and the Pirahã example (numbers and abstraction) (01:24 – 05:16)

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1. In Turkish (as described), what must the verb include that English verbs usually do not?

The number of people involved
The speaker’s age
How the information was obtained (e.g., seen vs. heard)
The exact location of the event

2. What is the key claim about the Pirahã (Pita nah) language in this segment?

It requires speakers to mark gender on every verb
It has no words for numbers
It uses complex verb conjugations for tense
It has many words for colors

3. What conclusion is drawn from the research with the Pirahã about exact numbers?

Without number terms, people do not develop the ability to determine exact numbers
They can determine exact numbers as well as anyone else
Exact number ability is purely genetic and unrelated to language
Learning English immediately creates number concepts

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Space, time, and framing events through language (05:16 – 08:46)

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1. What kind of spatial terms does the Kuuk Thaayorre language (as described) use for everyday directions?

Numbers and distances in meters
Only left and right
Only near and far
Absolute cardinal directions like north/south/east/west

2. How do English speakers usually arrange time-order cards in the study described?

From left to right
In a circle
From right to left
From top to bottom

3. What is one way language can influence how others experience an event, according to the final example?

By always using numbers instead of names
By removing all verbs from the sentence
By changing the weather description
By shifting attention away from the agent (who did it)

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

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1. What is the speaker’s main message about language?

Language mainly affects pronunciation, not thinking
Language is only a tool for translating thoughts that already exist
All languages encode exactly the same information
Language helps express thoughts and can also shape them

2. Which topic is used as evidence that language can train certain cognitive skills?

Navigation and spatial orientation
Sports performance
Musical talent
Memory for faces

3. Why does the speaker discuss many different languages (e.g., Russian, Indonesian, Mandarin, Turkish)?

To illustrate how languages require different kinds of information and may shape attention
To show that only one language is logical
To teach viewers how to become fluent quickly
To prove that grammar rules are unimportant

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

How the language you speak affects your thoughts

Do you think language limits what people can think about, or does it mostly change what people pay attention to? Explain.
If a language forces you to give extra information (like gender, evidence, or direction), how might that change your daily habits?
Do you agree with the idea that lacking number words could limit exact number thinking? Why or why not?
How can the way we describe an event (active vs. passive vs. leaving the agent out) influence responsibility and public opinion?