Blog 6

The advantage of ambiguity

Many questions come to linguists minds when thinking about language and one of the most pressing ones is why did language evolve. It has been thought that language was not developed to communicate because of how inefficient it is with its ambiguity but some researchers say that because of that, it is more efficient making it allowed to use short simple sounds over and over again. Some people even say that one can use the ambiguous nature of language to and certain degree of advantage. Even with ambiguous words, people learn to listen and understand what it means out of context almost automatically. Researchers have found that words that have few syllables, are used frequently and are easier to pronounce should have the most meanings. The reason ambiguity is more efficient is that when a speaker is talking, they want to get the most meaning out with not as many words whereas the listener wants to get a a full understanding of what the person is explaining. Instead of going over long more convoluted explanations, it's easier to have the listener infer some things using ambiguous language. 

I found this article refreshing because I think it is looked down upon to have ambiguity in language but it was never really questioned because it seems right that ambiguity wouldn't be as efficient. In actuality it is more efficient in a certain respect and it really opens up a new way of thinking about language and the natural progression of language. In this article it even said that the changing of languages was studied and one would think that the ambiguity would be cut out but it increased when the language naturally progressed. 

 

Blog 5

Forgetting a language: Why it happens and how to avoid it

I picked this article because I've had friends who have claimed that they couldn't remember a word in their native language but could remember in the language that was commonly spoken where they were currently residing. I've also heard about this in other blog posts from people who live in other countries but blog in English. What I found interesting was that one can forget a language as quick as it is obtained. Something like that would never occur to me but it does make sense that if you don't use it, you lose it. I think I agree with this article in a mediocre way because there isn't much passion in this article for me. Parts that I do agree with are staying consistent when trying to memorize a language and not staying with people of the same nationality when in another country if you're trying to learn the language and the culture. I don't think I wanted to learn more about this topic because I feel like it was almost common knowledge but nonetheless useful; I would also just like to experience that for myself. This topic doesn't affect the world as a whole but it does affect those who travel it and fill in the gaps of language and culture across the globe.

Blog 4

Secrets of Speaking with a Genuine Accent

I picked this article because even though people may speak the same language, there can be immense changes in vernacular and pronunciation depending on where one lives. What I found most interesting was that a tip to learn an accent in a foreign language was to listen to a native speaker of that language speak your native language to hear how they stress certain syllables and sounds. I pretty much agreed with this article different accents tend to use different parts of the mouth to achieve a unique accent. After reading this I kind of wanted to see the history of language and dialects. When did the British accent leave American society and does migrating and obtaining a different accent directly correlate to a completely new dialect of a language? This topic affects the world in a way but not in a big way. This mostly affects the culture of different regions.

Blog 3

Music education helps kids learn to read — study

I picked this article because I've heard that the arts in schools have an effect on students learning and ability to perform tasks. This is related to language because it is said that having music education helps students learn languages. Whether or not this is supported is discussed in the article. What I found most interesting is that being taught music may only help to learn some languages. Maybe this is because once people are at a certain age and their minds aren't as plastic, it becomes harder to learn a second language, therefore music would only help to a certain extent. I happen to agree with this article. It isn't entirely proven that music 100% helps students learn a second language. Although it isn't completely dis proven either. I think it's nice that the article isn't trying to sway people onto one side and that it actually takes all the data from research into account. This article did want to make me learn more about if music helps and if there are any studies out there that completely prove this idea or tear it to the ground. This affects the world because knowing a second language is unbelievably helpful and finding ways to make it easier for kids to learn them would be very beneficial considering that it's much easier to retain knowledge of a second language when one is young.