Language is an aspect that plays a significant role in enabling people to gain knowledge. By communicating with one another, people can exchange ideas and increase their understanding of various issues. Nevertheless, any language will at times create a jail that prevents people from exchanging knowledge and ideas. Embracing widely used language like English has been vital to the development and progress of the world. The paper will analyze the importance of language in pure science as well as other real-life situations. The essay will then end by providing a counter-argument and a conclusion on the subject.
Language is one of the factors that play a significant role in the communication of scientific ideas. It is essential to note that pure science depends on theories and predictions to execute their tasks. Precisely, applications in pure science embrace lab tests that are conducted to find solutions to practical problems. Looking for a scientific solution, however, encompasses ways of knowing. For instance, reasoning and imagination are vital to solving scientific problems. In some cases, however, words or terminologies that are supposed to be used in the discovery may be non-existence thus hindering the way in which we reason and imagine. In other cases, the language that is used to communicate a new idea or finding may not be easily understood by a majority of the people, an aspect that will significantly hinder such people from gaining knowledge (Lewkowicz 2013, p. 47).
On the other hand, the finding of research may be interpreted in myriad ways depending on the use of language. For instance, the understanding of the result of scientific discovery will undoubtedly vary among individuals depending not only on an individual’s comprehension and depth of a language but also one’s perceptions, intuition as well as interpretation. While a correct interpretation will result in a gain in knowledge, wrong perceptions and interpretations will be detrimental in the communication of the scientific knowledge (Kuteeva. and Airey 2014, p. 535).
Besides pure science, language is also fundamental in other real-life situations. A significant part of activities that we as humans carry out each and everyday embrace gaining of new ideas and knowledge. In fact, a majority of our daily activities embrace communication with one another through the use of language. The acquired knowledge can also be kept in our memories so that we can use it in future. Nevertheless, there are some cases where the language that is used to convey a subject cannot be memorized. In such cases, future understanding and gaining of knowledge of a related subject may be affected especially in the new learning depends on the previous subject. With the increase in integration of the linguistically diverse world, the importance of memory is apparent (Folkman 2013, p. 1914).
Although the use of language is inevitable in conveying scientific ideas, we cannot say that its use in pure science is absolute. By doing so then we will be implying that the development of science in the absence of language will be a standstill. For instance, if low memory prevents a student from gaining knowledge, he/she can repeatedly read a topic until it sticks in his/her mind. On the other hand, education and human development can improve one’s reasoning skills that play a greater role in determines how one gains knowledge (Goertzel 2013, p. 33).
In a nutshell, the role that language play both in pure science and real-life situations is vivid as it determines how we perceive, reason and imagines. Without language, life on earth could be unbearable due to a lack of means to gain knowledge. Through language, however, scientists can reason and exchange ideas to solve a problem. Moreover, language is vital to our memory, perceptions as well as imaginations.
- Folkman, S., 2013. Stress: appraisal and coping (pp. 1913-1915). Springer New York.
- Goertzel, B., 2013. Chaotic logic: Language, thought, and reality from the perspective of complex systems science (Vol. 9). Springer Science & Business Media. pp.32-49.
- Kuteeva, M. and Airey, J., 2014. Disciplinary differences in the use of English in higher education: Reflections on recent language policy developments. Higher Education, 67(5), pp.533-549.
- Lewkowicz, J.A., 2013. Authenticity in language testing: some outstanding questions. Language testing, 17(1), pp.43-64.
