HOW LANGUAGE SHAPES THE WAY WE THINK (SLO 4)

TEDTalk – Lera Boroditsky, cognitive scientist

A. Before you watch, discuss: How can language influence the culture of a people?
B. Listen to the introduction of the video and complete the missing words from the excerpts. (0 - 2:27)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK7wGAYP6k&t=4s&ab_channel=TED

1. …We can transmit really complicated _________________ to one another.

2. …and then your brain takes those vibrations from your eardrums and ___________________ them into
thoughts. I hope.
3. …We're able to transmit __________________ across _____________________.
4. …Some languages have different __________________, they have different _________________, and
they also have different _____________________.
5. …Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, said, "To have a ____________________ ________________ is
to have a second ___________________"
6. Recently, in my lab and other labs around the world, we've started doing research, and now we have
actual _________________ ________________ to weigh in on this question.

The introduction gives the main idea of the topic. What is the main idea of this TEDTalk?

C. Listen to the body of the text. Write the details that she uses to support her main idea. Then write the
example(s) she gives to explain each. (2:28 – 10:55)
D. From the conclusion part of the video, put the ideas that the author says in order (a-g from 1-7)). Number
1 would be first, 2 second, and so on. (10:56 – 14:05)

1. “What we know about the human mind is actually incredibly narrow and biased.”
______
2. “Language can shape things that have personal weight to us -- ideas like blame and
______
punishment or eyewitness memory.”
3. “And that gives you the opportunity to ask, ‘Why do I think the way that I do?’ ‘How could I
______
think differently?’”
4. “Of course, if you don't count, you can't do algebra, you can't do any of the things that would
______
be required to build a room like this.”
5. “The beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible
______
the human mind is.”
6. “Half of the world's languages will be gone in the next hundred years.”
______
7. “Languages, of course, are living things, things that we can hone and change to suit our
______
needs.”

After watching the presentation, answer the final questions.

1. What was the purpose of this video?

2. What do you think the author wants her audience to do?