Article-Languages Influence on Thinking (Philological Room) Language Learning Forum

Article-Languages Influence on Thinking
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ChiaBrain
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Message 1 of 8

03 June 2012 at 5:17pm | IP Logged

Fascinating article...

"New cognitive research suggests that language profoundly influences the way people see the world"

WSJ Artcile
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prz_
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Message 2 of 8

03 June 2012 at 6:01pm | IP Logged

The Article wrote:

Do the languages we speak shape the way we think?

Of course! I don't know why, but the students of certain Slavic philologies I know tend to see the world as most of the people speaking the language they learn see.

Edited by prz_ on 03 June 2012 at 6:16pm
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rivere123
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Message 3 of 8

03 June 2012 at 7:51pm | IP Logged

Ever study astronomy? It made me feel very small.
Economics and Politics? It makes me cynical.
History? It gets you thinking.
So this doesn't come as much surprise, but the effects are pretty interesting. Good article.

Edited by rivere123 on 03 June 2012 at 7:51pm
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ChiaBrain
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Message 4 of 8

03 June 2012 at 9:21pm | IP Logged

I found this example absolutely fascinating...

Quote:

For example, in Pormpuraaw, a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, the indigenous
languages don't use terms like "left" and "right." Instead, everything is talked about in
terms of absolute cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), which means you say
things like, "There's an ant on your southwest leg." To say hello in Pormpuraaw, one
asks, "Where are you going?", and an appropriate response might be, "A long way to the
south-southwest. How about you?" If you don't know which way is which, you literally
can't get past hello.

...
As a result of this constant linguistic training, speakers of such languages are
remarkably good at staying oriented and keeping track of where they are, even in
unfamiliar landscapes. They perform navigational feats scientists once thought were
beyond human capabilities. This is a big difference, a fundamentally different way of
conceptualizing space, trained by language.

... my colleague Alice Gaby and I traveled to Australia and gave Pormpuraawans sets of
pictures that showed temporal progressions (for example, pictures of a man at different
ages, or a crocodile growing, or a banana being eaten). Their job was to arrange the
shuffled photos on the ground to show the correct temporal order. We tested each person in
two separate sittings, each time facing in a different cardinal direction. When asked to do
this, English speakers arrange time from left to right. Hebrew speakers do it from right to
left (because Hebrew is written from right to left).

Pormpuraawans, we found, arranged time from east to west. That is, seated facing south,
time went left to right. When facing north, right to left. When facing east, toward the
body, and so on. Of course, we never told any of our participants which direction they
faced. The Pormpuraawans not only knew that already, but they also spontaneously used this
spatial orientation to construct their representations of time.

Edited by ChiaBrain on 03 June 2012 at 9:27pm
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Axystos
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Message 5 of 8

03 June 2012 at 9:54pm | IP Logged

That reminds of the experiment where German and Spanish speakers had to describe objects like keys and bridges (Described here) and the speakers gave more masculine / feminine features to objects with a masculine / feminine article, respectively.
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Pisces
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Message 6 of 8

03 June 2012 at 10:29pm | IP Logged

A similar article was discussed in this thread - http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=31982&PN=3&TPN=4 - between pages 2 and 5.

Edited by Pisces on 03 June 2012 at 10:29pm
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ChiaBrain
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Message 7 of 8

04 June 2012 at 4:22am | IP Logged

I came across an article somewhere about some study where they found that subjects that
talked about a problem or issues in a foreign language were more objective about it.

I can't find it now, though!
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meramarina
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Message 8 of 8

04 June 2012 at 5:10am | IP Logged

Here's a link discussing decision-making in a non-native langage:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/04/language-and-bias/

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