Summary
In Bosede’s Task 2 post, she reflected on Dr. Boroditsky’s lecture about how language shapes thought, drawing on her personal background. Born and raised in Nigeria and speaking multiple languages, she connected her experiences to several lecture points, including how a second language provides new ways of thinking, affects perception of space and time, and influences memory and responsibility. She consistently used personal examples to illustrate these ideas.
Why I Chose This Post
I chose this post because I wanted to compare my reflections on Task 2 with someone who approached the lecture from a different perspective. Bosede used Wix to present her work, which has a structured layout with multiple pages and links to tasks. It takes a few more clicks to access content compared to my single-page UBC blog, but it is visually appealing and makes it easy to explore her reflections. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, they just offer different ways of navigating and engaging with the content.
Reflection
It was fascinating to see how our selected six points differed, except for a shared focus on grammatical gender. As a single-language speaker, my perspective was more classroom-oriented. With many ELL learners in my class, my reflection focused on supporting their learning rather than drawing on personal multilingual experience. In contrast, Bosede’s multilingual background gives her a deep, lived understanding of how language shapes thought, memory, responsibility, and perception. I was particularly struck by her description of Igbo proverbs, which emphasize group responsibility over individual blame. Dr. Boroditsky mentioned this in her lecture using a different example, but seeing it connected to Bosede’s personal experience made the idea feel more real and meaningful.
This made me wonder how my students’ learning and worldviews might be shaped by the languages they speak, even in subtle ways. While I don’t speak multiple languages, I do see how my students’ use of language affects how they communicate, make meaning, and understand concepts. Bosede’s post showed me how knowing multiple languages can enrich understanding of language, and my own experiences with different cultures help me reflect on supporting students from diverse linguistic backgrounds.