Lesson 7: Words and not Words: an

Exercise in Describing and Listening

Context
Because this lesson is designed to show how difficult it is to express even a simple idea in such a
way that the receiver will properly understand it, it is best used at the beginning of the course or
as a refresher at other appropriate times. Students are encouraged to consider whether all sorts of
knowledge can be communicated in words.

Aims
y To consider the relationship between perception and language.
y To develop an awareness of problems involved in communicating ideas and knowledge.

Class Management
The class should be divided into groups of five or six students. Each group should appoint a
leader.
In advance of the lesson, teachers will need to make a copy of Picture A and Picture B for each
of the student leaders. All the other students, the followers, will require two pieces of graph
(squared) paper each.
One hour of class time should be allowed for the completion of the two activities. Additional
time will most likely be required for group discussion and reflection.

Focus Activity
The lesson consists of two different activities, A and B. They may be taken in any order. During
activities A and B, the followers are required to listen attentively to the leaders’ instructions and
draw a series of figures on the graph paper. After activities A and B are completed, the teacher, a
student or a group of students could award marks to the pictures completed by the followers.
Once activities A and B are completed, results can be discussed as a class.

Teacher Support Material—Theory of Knowledge Lessons from Around the World © IBO, August 2000 Lesson 7—page 1
Lesson 7: Words and not Words: an Exercise in Describing and Listening

Student Handout

Activity A
One student is appointed the leader. The rest of the group are followers. The leader describes Picture A
verbally. The followers are to listen and, without collaboration, attempt to draw the picture, with the same
shape, the same size and the same orientation, on their graph paper. There should be no other
communication other than the leader’s description. No questions are allowed from the followers.

A
Picture A

Activity B
This activity is similar to activity A: another picture such as the one below should be used, but the followers
are now allowed to ask for additional information.

B
Picture B

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Lesson 7: Words and not Words: an Exercise in Describing and Listening

Discussion Questions
y Compare the process of the verbal transfer of knowledge, as done in activities A and B, with
the transfer of knowledge between teacher and student in a school lesson. What similarities
and differences exist?
y Compare the process found in activities A and B with the process of a student acquiring
knowledge by reading a text. What similarities and differences are there?
y By what means can our ideas and opinions be made more clear to others in a conversation or
when writing?
y What is the difference between information and knowledge?

Related Questions
y If language works according to sets of rules and conventions, how much scope do we have as
individuals to break the rules, to challenge conventions, to be creative?
y Are vagueness and ambiguity shortcomings of language that must be eliminated in the
interest of knowledge, or can they be also viewed as positive aspects of language?

From Other Times and Places

From the writings of Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941) we learn that:
The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every
observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be
organised by our minds—and this means largely by the linguistic system in our minds.
From this he concludes his principle of linguistic relativity
. . . which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe,
unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar.
This allows for a different view of one’s relationship to reality, and to the role of language in this
relationship. After all, the linguistic distinctions that we use so frequently lead us to believe that
the world is really made up of all those things that I talk about all day. This may be why our language
has all the terms that it does—so we can refer to this huge variety of things out there.

Quotation

The crucial point to be considered in a study of language behaviour is the relationship between
language and reality, between words and not words. Except as we understand this relationship,
we run the grave risk of straining the delicate connection between words and facts, of permitting
our words to go wild, and so of creating for ourselves fabrications of fantasy and delusion.
Wendell Johnson

References
Farb, P, Word Play: What Happens When People Talk, (1993) Vintage Books, ISBN 0679734082
Minsky, M, The Society of Mind, (1988) Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0671657135
Hayakawa, AR & SI, Language in Thought and Action, (1991) Harcourt Brace, ISBN 0156482401

Teacher Support Material—Theory of Knowledge Lessons from Around the World © IBO, August 2000 Lesson 7—page 3