As I watched Lera Borditsky’s (2017) lecture, I was surprised by some points she made, interested in others, and related personally to a few. I am not bilingual and have actually struggled in learning other languages. In my teaching I have not taught an EAL course, however I do try to make adjustments to my lessons to better accommodate students whose primary language is not English. This lecture had me thinking primarily about those students, trying to put myself in their shoes.

[05:05] Why do some languages not have numbers or colours? It is interesting to think how often these are used to describe or understand something. Perhaps these cultures do not value these as much and may rely more on estimation or practical values rather than exact numbers.

[11:32] How people organize time. This is another concept I had never thought of before this lecture. Perhaps a very narrow minded outlook, I just assumed this was somewhat universal. I found it interesting how the language you read (left to right etc) impacts how you organize time. I particularly liked her example of the logo for diapers being read differently in Arabic. A small example that points to the potential for much greater misunderstanding across cultures.

[15:05]  It is almost hard to understand how many different ways language can be understood and represented. For example, the use in some languages to utilize cardinal direction or more exact location. As someone who has never taught EAL this has me thinking about my students and how I may better be able to support them when they are learning English within my courses.

[24:00] I thought this discussion on language attributing different gender to certain words really interesting. Most notably, the underestimation of threat that hurricanes with female names pose. I personally relate to gender impacting how people perceive you in both personal and professional arenas. This shows just how engrained these gender stereotypes are in society.

[35:00] Mathematics is often seen as the universal language however she makes it clear that it is different around the world and in different cultures. I found it very hard to believe that some languages do not have words for exact numbers. I am respectful of others and their backgrounds however I am wondering if this could this be linked to lack of education or do they find no need for this type of language? However, if you have not learned or experienced this type of communication, you must not be able to think about numbers and quantities in the same way? It is hard to even imagine how different my daily communication would be without numerical texts and communication.

[45:00]  Language allows us to think about the world differently but we do not often think about these difference. This is very true and applicable to schools and teaching.

[57:00] I think this is my biggest take away from the presentation. An audience member asked “is texting changing language?” Borditsky (2017) responds stating that language is continuously changing and evolving. This change in communication that texting and other social media forms bring are not something to be afraid of as this shift through generations is inevitable. I think this was a very informative lecture that opened my mind to looking at language and how it is extremely connected to the way we think.

References:

Boroditsky, L. (2011). How language shapes thought. Scientific American, 304(2), 62-65.