Language of Thought and Fodor - Essay Example

Language of Thought and Fodor Jerry Fodor is a distinguished social thinker and at the Rutgers of New Jersey. (www.wikipedia.com). A notable feature of his career has been his ability to shape a body of knowledge out of the combination of philosophy and cognitive functioning. His theories are contained in various books that he has authored including those like The Language of Thought, published by the Harvard University Press in 1975. His theories and concepts revolving around the functioning of the human mind has been revolutionary. This paper is based on his book titled The Language of Thought, as it seeks to prove that Fodor was right in saying that the nature of human thought requires the existence of a language of thought that is not one's native language. At the very onset, it is imperative to highlight the main features of the nature of human thought. Human thought is that course or process which enables a human being to make rational choices and recognise symbols. This process goes beyond language, according to Fodor. It is contained in the laws of nature and the reaction that a human instinctively offers in the study of these laws. Here, it is imperative to speak about language so as to compare and contrast the two before proving Fodor's theory. (Fodor, 1975) The knowledge of a language is akin to the art of knowing about an entire culture, nation and people. Language may be defined as a form of expression that reveals a person's identity and gives him or her a sense of belonging. But how does a language structure a person's experiences To begin with, the role of language in one's life is one that fulfils the need to belong. This sense of belonging springs from one's immediate environment where there is focus on the language one speaks along with complementary elements like accent, nuances and other such features that form the general social and cultural terrain of the particular place. Language offers people first hand knowledge of a variety of symbols that one comes to associate with a place. This in turn generates a more enriching quality to one's experiences. (Mercer, 1996) In knowing and learning a language, whether by birth or subsequent settlement, there is a certain amount of satisfaction that helps contribute to one's sense of identity. This also has certain mental implications as it shows the person's basic aptitudes, besides brining him or her face to face with the challenges of implementing the language. This makes a person draw from experiences of the past, learn from present experiences and contribute to future experiences, which will shape his or her overall life experiences. This also renders a certain amount of creative and communicative competency to a person and his or her sense of confidence with which he or she carries out interactions with people. If Fodor is to be believed, then the competency of a person comes from being able to effectively use language to portray what is within. For this, it is imperative to portray the most elementary human thought in a language that transcends words, diction and pronunciation. This connects language with experience. (Fodor, 1975) In this regard, it is necessary to shift focus to the process of learning of a language and garnering communicative competency. This process is important in every individual's life as the knowledge comes only after learning. The very process of learning is a journey throughout which an individual is brought face to face with experiences. These experiences form his or her general perspective on things. In this way, there is a certain level of competency which in turn, springs from the areas and experiences that a person finds comfortable to deal with. Learning a language is a crucial part of describing how a language shapes a person's experiences. (Girvin, 2000) Learning a language has always been a great challenge. While this is a matter of creating awareness, it is also a matter of creating certain comfort level that will trigger communicative competency in that language. To be more precise, the teaching of a language can take place on the basis of the communicative approach - i.e., through reading, listening and repeating exercises that will prompt greater teacher - student interface and thus help correct any deviations on the spot. A vital element of this approach or model is communicative competency which is the goal that a language learner strives to achieve. (Johnson, 1996) This communicative competency becomes the very fabric of a person's life when it comes to understanding circumstances, people and cultures. This fact has special importance in the area of cognitive development. The cognitive development is the most basic and important sensor that differentiates between kinds of experiences. This sensor has to be honed right from the beginning of an individual's life so that there is an affiliation in the child's mind towards a language, a culture and a place. In honing this part of one's cognitive development, there is scope to increase his or her competency. The power of language and being able to communicate with someone plays a large role in the cognitive development. This helps the person develop in terms of trusting the teacher and sharing with the family. The ways and means of teaching or learning a language can be formal or informal depending on the person's stage in life. (Mercer, 1996) In this regard, it has been Fodor's belief that the knowledge of a language simply complements a person's ability to connect symbols and portray his or her theories regarding life through the experiences and languages one learns. (Fodor, 1975) The outcomes of learning a language are as follows: Experience Identity Exposure Aptitude Knowledge and Skills Communication Patterns Cultural Affiliation Here, it is clear that the development of communication skills is the ends for which teaching and learning programs and methodologies are simply the means. This helps define the learning process along quantitative and qualitative parameters besides shaping one's experiences. These parameters are as follows: The general competences of language learners or users consist in particular of their knowledge, skills and existential competence as well as their ability to learn. This creates a relevant context for literacy which stems from the communities where the flow of the same happens at various stages of learning. These competencies help a person listen and understand what is going on around him or her. Based on what the person hears, there is a certain sense of judgment regarding certain feelings and sentiments shaping up in the mind. (Girvin, 2000) These judgements form the very basis of human understanding and they must be depicted in a language that is not the same as the native language. The practice will help differentiate between people and experiences as well as emotions. (Fodor, 1975) These shapes are then used to show what a person has an aptitude for. In this sense, the general competency level is the most basic form in which a language structures a person's experiences and development. (Mercer, 1996) According to Fodor, the language of the mind must not be mixed with the language that one uses otherwise as this will hamper a deeper philosophical process. (Fodor, 1975) Knowledge, also known as declarative knowledge, has been defined as knowledge that follows experience to take the form of empirical knowledge. As far as the level of reception on a student's part goes, one needs to delve deeper and ask questions regarding his or her multilevel background knowledge, perspectives, and language skills. This accommodates the aim of effective management of decisions and production within teams, with strong communication approach orientations. This sets the stage for linguistic appeal created by a certain language in context of the language that one has been exposed through. Through shared reading, the teacher identifies those factors that influence how a student pronounces a certain word or frames a certain sentence. This creates scope for correction and building a model where through shared reading, the student and teacher can help each other. This also gives an impetus to other students to help each other. (Mercer, 1996) In this, the basic focus is on creating an environment where human understanding can grow. It is therefore important to make use a language of understanding to pursue this line of thinking and functioning in the social arena, where the mind will be able to name and categorise the experiences accordingly. (Fodor, 1975) Considering the fact that knowledge comes from shared experience, factors like shared values and beliefs held by social groups in other countries and regions, as well as a sense of common history, etc., are essential to intercultural communication where students are made to interact on the basis of topics like native place, so as to promote a certain comfort level in taking to the language naturally. (Girvin, 2000) This communication must then transcend the native language to help people understand and interact on a wider platform where the philosophy of humanity may be pursued and taught. (Fodor, 1975) While the learning methodology may be culture-specific to a certain extent, they relate to various universal parameters and constants. Owing to the fact that knowledge is conditioned by the nature, in context of richness and structure which helps in picking up another language, linguistic competency is triggered by a good working relationship between knowledge and communicative competence. (Johnson, 1996) The existence of knowledge is important to any field of study. By garnering knowledge, a person starts to respond to certain sounds, words and finally an entire language. This in turn, helps him or her form an opinion about certain things. These things define a person's experiences in general. The knowledge at this level may be very culture specific but it has strong implications in the sense that there is a certain yardstick by which he or she measures future interactions and experiences that take place outside this knowledge base or cultural base. (Byram, 1994) Skills and know-how relates to the ability to carry out procedures than on declarative knowledge, through various forms of existential competence which facilitate knowledge recall even at a relaxed level. This depends largely on repetition and experience for the acquisition of certain facts. This is a method for creating intrinsic motivation in the affective filter hypothesis where recall of information depends on the processing of the same. This is in turn, dominated by the motivation, which has to come through communication. (Girvin, 2000) In this regard, the learning of a new language is facilitated especially where the use of shared reading for a communicative approach is concerned. This is owing to the fact that the hypothesis facilitates the exercise of drawing parallels with certain aspects of language learning through the exposure of the learner to some amount of illustrative material in the learning process. (Byram, 1994) Through the existence of language, a person learns certain basic skills and first hand knowledge about how certain things works. This is a matter of instinct and comes from within. The existence of a separate language to recognize this is always helpful. (Fodor, 1975) This in turn, helps build confidence within the person when he or she is in a circumstance where these skills are needed. The medium of language is a strong one, especially for the listener, who grows to know and implement certain skills. Along with language, these skills become second nature. (Mercer, 1996) Existential competence has been defined as the summation of a variety of individual characteristics, personality traits and attitudes. These characteristics, creates a willingness to engage with other people in social interaction in order to attain a certain level of self identity. This type of competence goes beyond personality characteristics to include culture related interface which can be sensitive in nature as far as inter cultural perceptions and relations are concerned. (Girvin, 2000) The perceptions about personality are an important part of learning a new language. This aspect helps people relate with each other depending on the words that are associated with traits and people who had previously had these traits. This helps a student identify the basic elements of the language, through the shared knowledge of the culture attached with it. The words then become symbols that speak of past and present experiences. These symbols in turn, come to have a bearing on reactions to future experiences. This is a part and parcel of the existential competence that one garners through the learning of a language. This helps people relate with the realities surrounding them as they implement the language. (Mercer, 1996) Existential competence comes from variations in the scope a student identifies when learning a new language - especially when he or she is ready to take the risk of cultural misunderstanding to gain further insight into communicative competency. This relates to the affective filter hypothesis due to the fact that the learner has reached a stage where such variations are considered as learning curves in concepts like 'learning styles' or 'learner profiles'. (Johnson, 1996) This level of cultural misunderstanding helps develop the range of experiences. Further, with the use of language and specific words, the learner is able to grasp the essence of these experiences. These are stored for future use. In this way, the existential competency becomes a matter of survival as the student tries out various situations at the risk of cultural misunderstanding when trying to interact with people. Thus language becomes a benchmark upon which he or she operates in a bid to find commonalities that might foster friendships, define one's identity and learn something about the other person's identity and finally, shape experiences. (Fodor, 1975) Ability to learn: through a mobilization of existential competence as well as declarative knowledge and skills, the ability to learn is conceived as a tool of creating awareness in terms of practical use of the language. This leads to a process of discovery which in turn hones the ability to learn draw on various types of competence to accommodate another language, culture or even a new field of study. (Johnson, 1996. p 56 to 97) This final point is probably the most important one. The fact that a person knows at least one language is enough to ensure that there are a lot of things that he or she has the aptitude to learn and practice - besides new languages. This is a fundamental step that shapes one's preferences in life and shows the person what he or she has an affinity for. The ability to learn a language is the ability to affiliate with a skill set and implement the same in one's own experiences. (Girvin, 2000) Conclusion Thus, in the final analysis it may be seen that the language of thoughts is a much needed factor in the development of understanding regarding the human nature, as this cannot be properly achieved with one's native language only. While the knowledge of one's language is an important factor that helps a person imbibe a sense of existential competency within his or her life, it is also seen that the language of thoughts is equally important in getting a person to analyse himself and the world around him. This is a reality which exists within every human being. Without the language of thought, it would not have been possible for a person to garner any kind of competency through the knowledge of one's native language. (Fodor, 1975) References: 1. Johnson, Keith (1996). Language Teaching and Skill Training. Oxford: Blackwell. 2. Mercer, N; Swann, J (December, 1996). Learning English: Development and Diversity. London: Routledge. 3. Girvin, A. (2000) The Routledge Language Cultural Reader. London, Routledge. 4. Fodor, Jerry A (1975). The Language of Thought. Harvard University Press. 5. Byram, M; Morgan, C (1994). Teaching and Learning Language and Culture. Multilingual Matters. Read More