Vorlesung: Sprache und Denken
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C1.1 · 8 of 34
Hören: Vorlesung
Lesson · 3 rules · about 3 min
Folge dem Gedankengang einer Vorlesung, während er sich entfaltet: die alte Sicht, die neuen Belege, das eigene Urteil des Redners, und das nach einmaligem Hören.
- 1Das Gerüst der Vorlesung
- 2Abgeschwächte Aussagen: nahelegen, vermuten, halten für
- 3inwiefern = in welchem Maß
Why this matters
Der Beginn einer Vorlesung an der Universität, einmal gehört, zu der Frage, ob Sprache das Denken formt: die Frage (inwiefern …), die traditionelle Annahme (lange nahm man an, Sprache sei lediglich ein Werkzeug, im Konjunktiv I), die neueren Belege (neuere Studien legen jedoch nahe, dass …) mit drei nummerierten Beispielen, die eigene Einschätzung des Redners (ich halte diesen Einfluss für real, aber …) und der Plan für den zweiten Teil. Bei einer Vorlesung oder einem Vortrag kommt es darauf an, dem Gerüst der Argumentation zu folgen: Frage, Annahme, Gegenposition, Bewertung, Ausblick. Dazu gehört, die Verben zu hören, die jeden Schritt markieren: annehmen, nahelegen (vermuten lassen), vermuten, belegen, bewerten, ankündigen. Der Konjunktiv I markiert die wiedergegebene Ansicht (sei lediglich ein Werkzeug); der Indikativ, also die normale Verbform, markiert, was der Redner selbst vertritt; jedoch markiert die Wende.
Translation
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. In today's session we deal with the question of to what extent our language influences our thinking. I stress: to what extent. The question is not whether but to what extent language shapes our thinking – for that there is some connection is hardly disputed by anyone today. What is disputed is the degree. For a long time it was assumed that language was merely a tool for expressing thoughts. Thinking, according to the classical view, proceeds independently of any particular language; words come only afterwards, as labels for finished thoughts. This view had the advantage of explaining why in principle everything can be translated from any language into any other. Newer studies, however, suggest that the structure of a language influences perception. I'll give you three examples. First: speakers of languages that have no words for left and right but use only compass directions orient themselves measurably better in space – even indoors they know where north is. Second: someone who speaks a language in which light and dark blue have two different basic colour words distinguishes these shades faster in tests. Third: in languages with grammatical gender, subjects describe the same objects differently – a bridge is described by German speakers rather as elegant, by Spanish speakers rather as sturdy, which seems to be connected with the gender of the word. How should this be assessed? I consider this influence real, but much smaller than is often claimed. The effects are measurable in experiments but small; they disappear as soon as the subjects are offered another strategy. So there is some evidence that language steers our attention but does not limit our thinking. Anyone who claims that people cannot grasp a certain thought without a certain word goes too far, in my assessment. However, this influence is hard to measure and remains controversial – even among specialists who know the same data. In the second part of the session I will address the methods of these studies: how does one test at all whether a language influences thinking without the test itself being distorted by language again? After that we'll look at concrete examples from bilingualism research. Please read the paper I have put on the learning platform by next week.
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Exercise
Hören: Vorlesung · C1.1
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