My reflection: As a teacher, I am aware that I teach using my hands, I have signals for my students for okay (thumbs up) and I have been using gestures to help preserve my voice. I certainly use gestures to be more dynamic and engaging especially when teaching French.  I think language has certainly shaped that way that we think as it is something we communicate and interpret.

Dr. Boroditsky’s presentation made me think about how technology is changing our language today. For example, slang and abbreviations especially in text.  How is text messaging changing the way we think? And is language being destroyed?

After viewing the TED talk with Alexander MacDonald (the tap dancer), it made me think back to when I used to dance.  Movement is a form of language in the way that it expressing some meaning from both the dancer and the viewer.  There is a connection to movement as dialogue and dance as communication. It has reminded me of how we can express ourselves using movement.  Alexander quoted his drama teacher, “if science and technology are possible, it’s the Arts that make it live longer.”

Here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHqAdZxYOQo to a dancer who uses movement as an extension of body language.  I agree that body language is a crucial component to communication.  Even though there is nothing written in the movement, you can almost “read the text” and understand the message just by watching the movements.