How language affects diversity | Elin Jones | TEDxYouth@ISHS
Summary
TLDRThis engaging talk explores the undeniable power and influence of language on our perception of the world. Highlighting the fluid nature of languages with 7,117 living languages identified by Ethnologue, the speaker illustrates how language nuances, like gendered words in Welsh, can shape biases. Citing the Loftus and Palmer experiment, the presentation underscores how language can significantly alter eyewitness accounts. The speaker challenges the audience to consider the biases inherent in everyday language use and encourages mindful communication to foster inclusivity and genuine societal change.
Takeaways
- 📚 The script discusses the certainty of death, taxes, and languages, highlighting the ever-evolving nature of communication.
- 🌐 It mentions the Ethnologue, a directory of languages, which estimated 7,117 living languages in January 2020, emphasizing the diversity and richness of human communication.
- 🌱 The speaker points out that every culture has at least one language, which is essential for its perpetuation and identity.
- 🔠 The script touches on the complexity of languages, including the distinctions between spoken, written, and signed forms.
- 🌟 It argues that language has significant power to shape our worldview and the way we perceive others, often underestimated.
- 🙌 The audience is asked to reflect on their multilingual abilities, indicating a diverse and inclusive environment.
- 🐉 A personal anecdote about the Welsh language and the gendered nature of its nouns illustrates how language can carry cultural biases.
- 🧐 The script uses the example of a Welsh dragon to show how language bias from one's first language can affect the use of a second language.
- 🚗 It references the Loftus and Palmer experiment of 1974 to demonstrate how language can influence memory and perception, affecting legal practices.
- 🏳️🌈 The speaker shares a personal experience with gendered language in permission forms, highlighting the impact of such misuse on inclusivity and representation.
- 🤔 The script concludes with a call to action, encouraging the audience to be mindful of the words they use and their potential to perpetuate biases or foster inclusivity.
Q & A
What is the origin of the phrase 'death and taxes' mentioned in the script?
-The phrase 'death and taxes' is attributed to Christopher Bullock from his comedy 'The Cobbler of Preston,' dating back to 1716. It signifies the certainties of life.
How many living languages were estimated by Ethnologue in January 2020?
-Ethnologue estimated that there were 7,117 living languages in January 2020.
Why is language considered a constant in human culture?
-Language is a constant in human culture because every culture has at least one language, which is essential for its perpetuation and communication.
What is the significance of the Welsh language's grammatical gender in the script's anecdote about the red dragon?
-In the Welsh language, words can mutate based on the gender of the subject, which led to a humorous situation where a person insisted that a dragon, portrayed as female in Welsh, could not be a woman due to their English language bias.
What is the Loftus and Palmer experiment of 1974, and what does it demonstrate about language?
-The Loftus and Palmer experiment of 1974 is a psychology study that demonstrates how the choice of words in questioning can significantly influence eyewitness testimony and memory, showing the powerful impact of language on perception.
How did the Loftus and Palmer experiment influence judicial interrogation practices?
-The findings from the Loftus and Palmer experiment led to changes in judicial interrogation practices to make eyewitness testimony more reliable by being cautious about the language used to avoid leading or suggestive questions.
What is the issue with gendered permission forms as described in the script?
-Gendered permission forms, by using phrases like 'my son/daughter' or 'he/she,' can inadvertently exclude non-binary individuals and foster a sense of exclusion from the wider community.
Why is the phrase 'manning up' considered problematic in the script?
-The phrase 'manning up' is considered problematic because it sets a false expectation about masculinity and can create an environment where men find it harder to have meaningful emotional relationships, reinforcing gender stereotypes.
What is the main challenge presented to the audience in the script?
-The main challenge is for individuals to become more aware of the words they use, to recognize any biases they may carry, and to consider how their language choices can include or exclude others, with the goal of positively affecting those around them.
How can language misuse in everyday life contribute to larger societal issues?
-Language misuse in everyday life can contribute to societal issues by reinforcing stereotypes, biases, and exclusion, which can affect how certain demographics are viewed and treated in society.
Outlines
🗣️ The Power of Language and Cultural Bias
The speaker introduces the concept that while death and taxes are certain, language is also a constant and powerful force in shaping our worldview. They highlight the adaptability of languages, which number over 7,000 according to Ethnologue, and emphasize the influence of language on perception. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about the Welsh language and its gendered nouns, illustrating how language bias from one's first language can affect the use of a second language. This is exemplified through a story about the Welsh flag's red dragon, which is female, and the confusion it caused when someone used the male term in a joke. The speaker invites the audience to consider the biases they might carry through language.
🎈 The Loftus and Palmer Experiment: Language's Impact on Memory
This section delves into the famous 1974 Loftus and Palmer experiment, which demonstrated the significant impact of language on eyewitness memory. The speaker uses the analogy of balloons moving and crashing into each other, asking different groups of the audience to describe the event with slightly varied language. The experiment showed that the choice of words can influence the perceived speed of the collision, highlighting the power of language to shape perception and memory. The speaker points out that this understanding has led to changes in judicial interrogation to prevent the misuse of language that could skew testimonies.
🏳️🌈 Challenging Language Misuse for Inclusivity
The speaker discusses the misuse of language in everyday life, such as gendered permission forms that can inadvertently exclude non-binary individuals and others who do not fit traditional gender binaries. They share their experience participating in a journalism course, where they wrote about this issue, and the negative impact such language misuses have on marginalized groups. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing and challenging these biases in language to foster a more inclusive society. They conclude by issuing a challenge to the audience to reflect on the words they use and how they might perpetuate biases or exclusion, encouraging them to consider the changes they can make for positive impact.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Language
💡Cultural Bias
💡Ethnologue
💡Loftus and Palmer Experiment
💡Gendered Language
💡Misuse of Language
💡Dialects
💡Non-Binary
💡Inclusion
💡Representation
💡Eyewitness Testimony
Highlights
Introduction of the concept that, along with death and taxes, language is a certainty in life.
Ethnologue's estimation of 7,117 living languages in January 2020, emphasizing the diversity and adaptability of languages.
The idea that every culture has at least one language for perpetuation and the complexity of language families and dialects.
The power of language to shape our worldview and the people around us, often underestimated.
The audience interaction with a show of hands for those who speak a language other than English.
The impact of language bias from one's first language on a second language, illustrated with a Welsh family anecdote.
The Loftus and Palmer experiment of 1974 and its influence on judicial interrogation to improve eyewitness testimony reliability.
Demonstration of how different words used to describe the same event can significantly alter perceptions and responses.
The average speed difference of 8.7 miles per hour in eyewitness accounts due to the choice of words.
The misuse of language in everyday life and its potential to foster exclusion or inclusion.
Personal experience with gendered permission forms and their impact on non-binary individuals.
The challenge of casual representation for non-binary students and the consequences of language misuse.
The phrase 'manning up' as an example of language that sets false expectations and affects emotional relationships.
The interconnectedness of language misuse, diversity, and inclusion, and the need for change.
The call to action for the audience to reflect on the words they use and their potential biases or impacts.
The potential for real change through collective effort and conscious language choices.
The conclusion and applause, signaling the end of the presentation and its impact on the audience.
Transcripts
it is impossible to be sure of anything
but death and
taxes so goes a saying from christopher
bullock and his comedy the cobbler of
preston
all the way back in 1716
a perfectly valid analysis on the
certainties of life
but to start us off today
i want to pitch a slightly different
phrase to you
[Music]
it is impossible to be sure of anything
but death taxes and languages
in january 2020 ethnologue the closest
thing that exists to a directory of
languages
estimated that there were 7
117 living languages
many more will have already died
every culture has at least one language
or it wouldn't be able to perpetuate
and all of this isn't even getting into
dialects or the murky area between
languages where you can start
classifying families
we are capable of creating complex and
nuanced means of communication
time and time again
and the languages that we do have are
constantly adapting to our needs
the form a language takes for example we
have spoken written and signed as some
of our most common
that changes
but the fact that we use languages
remains constant
i've found that people tend to
underestimate how much power
language has to shape how we view the
world and the people around us
so to start us off
who speaks who here speaks a language
other than english show of hands
that is a really impressive turnout
now i have a question for you
have you ever found that a bias set in
one language and the surrounding culture
can sometimes transfer over to your
other language
i'll give you an example
my family is welsh
that is the that's the country with the
dragon on the flag in case you need a
reminder
that's the welsh flag and that's me in
my welsh national outfit
in welsh
words can mutate based on the specific
gender of what you're talking about
the words for dragon for example are
drag and thread
that is male and female respectively
and now
i'm going to let you in on a little
secret
that you probably won't know unless you
speak welsh
the red dragon the one on the flag is
actually a woman
that's actually not a secret you can
find it online but it's your free fun
fact for parties
so my mother once told me a story
and in it her co-worker was trying to
tell a joke about the red dragon
this was in welsh of course
and
the problem happened when he was
misusing the male version of the word
my mother corrected him
and he was adamant
that a dragon could not be a woman
what was happening there was his first
language was english and in english and
our surrounding culture
we are more primed to accept dragons as
male
we are more likely to default to using
for example he him pronouns
when referring to dragons
in other words his first language
brought a bias into a second that
affected his ability to tell a joke
related to the misuse of language i now
want to bring up a famous psychology
experiment
you may have heard of it it's the loftus
and palmer experiment of 1974.
now if you haven't heard of it don't
worry we're going to do a quick rundown
but basically
this there were changes made there have
been changes made to judicial
interrogation because of this experiment
to help make eyewitness testimony more
reliable
and what it did was it examined language
use
and
i'm going to try and explain it
using balloons which is why i brought
these up with me
and i want you to watch what i'm going
to do now
that's it not much spectacle but it is
important i promise
now
[Music]
i want to know how fast those balloons
were just moving but i'm going to ask
different groups in here slightly
different questions
so i'll make our groups first
we'll say group one from about here to
there
group
two to here and the rest of your group
three
then over on this side we'll split you
down the middle group four and group
five
i'm not expecting any actual answers
don't worry no need to panic
but group one
about how fast were those balloons
moving when they hit each other
group two how fast were they moving
when they smashed into each other
group three what about when they
collided
group four and five what about when they
contacted or bumped respectively
you may not think that these little word
changes would affect your answer but
you'd have to think again
substitute the balloons for cars
and you have give or take the loftus and
palmer experiment
these are the average speeds each group
from the actual experiment gave
i'll save you some maths and tell you
that that is a difference of 8.7 miles
per hour between smashed and contacted
all of those people saw the same car
crash
just like everyone here saw the same
balloon crash
that difference was generated purely by
language
language is powerful and complex and yes
it does have the ability to shape how we
view the people and the world around us
that's why after this experiment and
others like it there were changes made
to interrogation to make it harder for
interrogators to misuse language to get
the answers they wanted to hear
now
both of these stories are linked back to
misuse
yes they are wildly different scales
there's a big difference between an
office joke
and a court case
however they do make it very clear that
casual misuse of language occurs a lot
in everyday life
i have another example that is very
close to my heart
earlier this year i was invited to
participate in an after-school
journalism course
we had to write one article by the end
of it and i chose to write about one
little thing that had been annoying me
gendered permission forms
now these forms
well none of permission forms are
gendered i will clarify that
straight out of the gate
these forms were using using phrases
like my son slash daughter or he
she when my child or they would be a
perfectly sufficient replacement
and this was one of these little
language misuses that affected me
personally
because a lot of my friends are lgbt
plus and i myself identify on the
non-binary spectrum
i interviewed some people from this
school's gender and sexuality support
group for my article
and the conclusive statement from all of
them was that they really hated these
little misuses
there was something
quite sad about it
because these were great people
dealing with issues like isolation and
everyday exclusion
they were fantastic to talk to
incredibly resilient and very funny
but what they were talking about was sad
plain and simple
and the worst thing is that for people
like them and for people like me
these forms can accidentally foster
exclusion from the wider community
this exclusion normally isn't
intentional never assume malice when
ignorance would be a sufficient
explanation
however that does not change the fact
that consistently seeing your
demographic excluded from something so
basic and every day
person's way that very few other things
do
and there are consequences beyond
non-binary
[Music]
students non-binary students get no
casual representation and this could in
turn
lead to people who misuse language by
refusing to use they as a preferred
pronoun later in life
because there has not been this exposure
that begs the question how can we expect
genuine and meaningful change
in how we view certain demographics
when things that everyone is exposed to
sets a default that we know isn't true
anymore
they set a false expectation
think of the phrase manna as another
example this one doesn't affect me
personally of course
but
it's supposed to be about embracing
masculinity and becoming better
but it honestly falls short
all it does
is create an environment where men find
it harder to have meaningful emotional
relationships with their fellow fellow
men
romantic or platonic
and for everyone else who hears it it's
the same as the forms
it sets a false expectation
to me
these all of this
these phrases
these little misuses these forms they're
all linked back to one big mess of
issues
about
misuse of language
about diversity about inclusion
[Music]
and
again
there is that question
how can we expect meaningful change in
how we see certain demographics when we
misuse language so casually
[Music]
now
i don't expect magical change overnight
i'm reasonable
but step by step with enough people
working at it there can be very real
change
so
my challenge for you
is that after today
you take the time
to pause
and to think
what words are you using that are
carrying biases
what words are changing the speed of the
car crash
or if it helps you the balloon crash
what words are including or excluding
others
and what words can you change to
positively affect the people around you
thank you for your time
[Applause]
you
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