Language+in+Areas+of+Knowledge+Questions

Back to Home>Back to Perception and Language The below additional questions are take directly from the IB Subject Guide for Examinations beginning in 2008. They are useful to consider if you are looking for additional stimulus.

Language and areas of knowledge

 * How do the words we use to describe an idea affect our understanding of the world? For example, is “globalization” a synonym for “westernization”? What is the meaning of the term “anti-globalization”? Does it matter which words we use?
 * How does the language used to describe the past (for example, a massacre, an incident, a revolt) change history? Does something similar occur when different terms are used to describe natural phenomena (greenhouse effect, global warming, sustainable development) or human behaviour (refugee, asylum seeker)?
 * How important are technical terms in different areas of knowledge? Is their correct use a necessary or sufficient indicator of understanding? The following illustrative examples relate to the Diploma Programme subject groups.
 * Group 1: metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, synecdoche, genre, sonnet, haiku
 * Group 2: preposition, active/passive, pluperfect, genitive, creole, dialect
 * Group 3: cost–benefit analysis, price elasticity, evapotranspiration, neo-fascism, push–pull technology, ontology, cognitive dissonance, enculturation
 * Group 4: symbiosis, allotrope, ergonomics, trophic level, entropy
 * Group 5: irrational number, asymptote, dot product, isomorphism, minimum spanning tree
 * Group 6: dynamic content, L cut, sonata, dramaturgy, trompe l’œil
 * To what degree might each area of knowledge be seen as having its own language? Its own culture?