Grade 11 TOK

Unit 2: Knowledge and Language

Lesson 3: Critically Examining Language
As IBDP students, you are by now familiar with the task of providing analysis on a range of
different texts. Whether it is examining textual and visual features in Language and
Literature or picking apart arguments in History, critical examination of language is
something that you are becoming increasingly more adept at.

But how regularly do we consider the role of language in areas outside of school? And how
can we ensure that we consider not just the implications of our own understandings but how
other communities of knowers around us may perceive the same ideas or knowledge?

Task 1 Personas, Personas, Personas

Think of the items or objects you recently used for our Mini-Exhibition in Unit 1. Now imagine
that you are one of the following people who are required to speak about the object. For
each persona, write a short paragraph using language as creatively and flexibly as possible.
What do you notice about how your language changes based on your persona?

● An advertiser creating a television advertisement for your object

● A politician speaking about the dangers of your object and why it needs to be banned
● A museum curator who is interested in having your object as part of a display
● A student writing a piece for the yearbook about your Mini-Exhibition experience

As we have already discussed in class, the purpose and intended audience of a text should
never be far from our minds when we think critically about language. But there is more to
thinking about language than simply who or what it is intended for.

As much as language is used to convey information, it is also used to manipulate our

emotions. Advertisers frequently use different techniques to appeal to as wide a range of our
emotions or needs and desires as possible in order to sell more of their products or services.
Politics has, in part, always been about perception, about creating a sense of trustworthiness
within your audience so that they will continue to support you. Politicians who are unable to
connect with their audiences or lack charisma often struggle to reach the highest positions or
maintain their grip on power once they are there. Lawyers are often required to develop
imaginative defences or attacks that help their side of the argument succeed. Whatever your
reasons may be, the creative use of rhetoric, using language that is designed to play on
people’s emotions and ultimately persuade them to act or support you, is a fascinating
aspect of human nature.

Task 2 Language and the TOK Knowledge Framework

As with all of our units of study in the course, we need to think about the knowledge
framework.
This consists of questions that relate to four key areas: scope, perspectives, methods and
tools and finally ethics. Some examples of knowledge questions from each of these are
listed below.

For each category, select ONE knowledge question and write a 8-10 line response to it.
When you have finished, swap your responses with a friend in class. For each of the
responses you read, give them a mark out of 10 in which you assess the following:

● How clearly explained the response is with reference to an example to help

substantiate (support) the perspective
● How well the response deals with the connection between the question and the
component of the knowledge framework. Have they also additionally managed to
make links between the knowledge question and some of the 12 TOK concepts?
● The overall impression the paragraph makes (originality of examples used, creative
use of language, minimal to zero errors in terms of spelling or grammar, interesting
opening and closing lines).

Scope

1. Can all knowledge be expressed in words or symbols?

2. Is it possible to think or know without language?
3. Is being able to speak a language an example of “knowing how” to do something?
4. What role does language play in allowing knowledge to be shared with future
generations?

Perspectives

1. Does the transmission of knowledge from one person or generation to another

depend on language?
2. What knowledge might be lost if the world shared one common language?
3. If a language dies, does knowledge die with it?

Methods and Tools

1. How are metaphors used in the construction of language?

2. If language works according to sets of rules and conventions, how much scope do
we have as individuals to break the rules or challenge these conventions?
3. In what ways do values affect our representations of the world, for example in
language, maps and other visual representations?

Ethics

1. Does ethical language differ in any significant way from other types of language?
2. How can we know if language is intended to deceive or manipulate us?
3. Do ethical statements simply convey our feelings/emotions rather than making
claims?