We began the ToK language day with a look back at the mini exhibitions we had written on the previous ToK Day. We read an example of an exhibition and highlighted it, and then proceeded to give it a grade based on the ToK marks scheme. The example we looked at had the question: What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge? We highlighted various crucial elements of any ToK exhibition in different colors, and gave the exhibition a grade based on the marks scheme given by the IB. Each group of students shared which grade they gave and why they gave it. Finally, we looked at the moderator’s response and compared it to our given grades. We then moved on to looking at our topic of the day: language. What is language? Language is a means for humans to express themselves through traditional spoken language or by signing or writing symbols. Language has two key elements: Grammar and vocabulary. We proceeded to conduct an exercise which was based on a text, “The Montillation of Traxoline”. This text makes grammatical sense, but uses almost exclusively made-up vocabulary. There are also various challenges when we interpret language, such as metaphors, irony, ambiguity, and vagueness. We also learned that language is a cultural tool, and that to understand meaning you must interpret context. How do cultures create languages? There are multiple theories. Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf believe in the theory of linguistic determination. Noam Chomsky believes in nativism, and Daniel Everett believes that all languages are tools of the culture using them.

Our next big activity was watching two TED talks, one by Michael Corballis and one by Dan Everett. Michael Corballis says that no one knows how language works, and that most people only ever learn one or two languages. Corballis presents various theories of how language was created. He introduces Chomsky’s theory, which suggests that mutation in one individual created language. The acceptance of this theory, would, however, destroy Darwin’s theory of evolution. Corballis also shows the bible’s theory on the creation of language. In order to disprove Chomsky’s theory, Corballis talks about teaching language to apes and monkeys. He shows that they are unable to talk but can make simple gestures and sentences using sign language. Sign language is purely gestural, and only uses the hands and expressions on the face. The idea that monkeys can understand some language and use a modified form of gestures assumes that a sudden mutation is not possible. The language that originally started in our hands was reduced into a language with rules and conventions, implying an evolution similar to that of our biology. The freeing up of our hands allowed them to become tools and language was adapted into speech using only our face. Each change to language has been massively important, including the introduction of reading and writing, which effectively gives language memory. Language then also gained distance with the invention of machines like the telephone and the radio, and later the internet. Modern smartphones also signify a gradual return to visual language, for example through the use of emojis. Dan Everett’s TED talk largely focuses on our distant ancestor, homo erectus. Everett argues that homo erectus was one of the most successful creatures ever, and that one of its biggest successes was the invention of language. While homo erectus couldn’t make the wide range of sounds that we are accustomed to today, it was able to make two sounds, a sufficient amount for simple communication. This primitive language allowed homo erectus to evolve, use tools, travel the world, and make technological advances. Dan Everett finishes his TED talk by introducing a few more ideas about language as a concept. He states that in order to have a language, you need signs, such as icons, indexes, and symbols. He also talks about the three types of grammar, and that languages evolve and are constantly changing.

After the lunch break, everybody came rested and with fresh energy to carry on with the ToK day. We continued to look at how language and knowledge are interlinked, but chose a different approach than before. We started directly by listening to a recording of Franz Hohler‘s Totemügerli, an old story from Bern, told in Swiss German, about two friends encountering the feared „Totemügerli“, ending with one of them going missing. Beforehand, our teacher asked us whether we understood Swiss German. Most of us were confident and answered with a yes, ready to listen to the recording. But as we listened and tried to understand the content of the story, all of us had a small surprise: Although it was clearly Swiss German, none of us could actually understand what story Franz Hohler was telling. In the next step, the class was handed the written down story, and listened to the recording again. And surprisingly – most of us could understand the content way better, although we listened to the same audio as before. We now realised the difference in language between written and spoken language, which we had not seen before. After reflecting on this as a class, we passed on to the next part of the afternoon.

Now we had a fun exercise before us, namely the „Dialekt Test“. This was a small test which each of us undertook, and which should determine from where in Switzerland our accent came. It worked in the way, that one was given a word in Swiss German, for example something simple like „apple“, and then was given multiple choices on how one would pronounce it, and finally had to select the answer. After doing this, the application gave us heatmap on which we could see the origins of our accent. Here, many students in our class were surprised as well, because many of us thought that our accent would mainly originate from Zurich, the city most of us live in, but many still got results from different regions, often ones which were neighbouring Zurich. Nevertheless, none of our accents were from regions further away, for example the Wallis. In the quickly following discussion amongst us, some questions quickly arose: „Why are there so many accents in Switzerland?“, „Why are all these accents so different?“. We quickly found an answer to both of these questions, namely the geography. Because of its geography, Switzerland‘s multiple regions are cut off by many mountain ranges which are separating them. In earlier times, before the days of our connectivity through vehicles like cars, a different version of Swiss German started to develop, which are still carried on until today.

Overall, this was another interesting and exciting ToK day, which all of us enjoyed, and surely gave everyone something to think about on their way home.

Ruben Margelist and Sebastian Meier, 5i