Week 6 RAT

Each question is worth four points. You should assign a total of total of 4 points for each question, but can divide the four points amongst multiple alternatives. Your score will be the points assigned for each question corresponding to the correct alternative (i.e. the BEST answer(s) among the four options).

Hall, "The Work of Representation"

1.Which of the following approaches to explaining how the representation of meaning through language works does Hall support?

Intentional, where the speaker imposes his/her unique meaning on the world through language

Reflective, where language functions like a mirror, to reflect the true meaning as it already exists in the world

Correlative, where meaning resides in both the object and the speaker


 * Constructionist, where we construct meaning using representational systems - concepts and signs

2.Representation

is a 'system' because it consists of different ways of organising, classifying, arranging and relating concepts


 * all are true

involves two related systems, mental representation and language

is the production of the meaning of the concepts in our minds through language

3.Which is FALSE? Mental representation:

classifies and organises the world into meaningful categories

meaning depends on the system of concepts and images formed in our thoughts to stand for or 'represent' the world

gives meaning to the world by constructing a set of correspondences between things and our conceptual maps


 * only includes concepts for things we can perceive (see, feel or touch), we cannot form concepts for abstract ideas

4.Language

is a social system, how we represent or exchange meanings or concepts


 * all are true

rather than the material world, is the system which conveys meaning

any sound, image or object which functions as a sign and is organised into a system capable of carrying meaning

5.Which is FALSE? The constructionist approach to representation

recognises the public and social character of language

argues that meaning is constructed by the system of representation, rather than residing in things or words/concepts

none are false


 * denies the existence of the real or material world

6.Which is FALSE? Meaning

is produced via the practice or 'work' of representation

requires some fixing for the purpose of linguistic stability

is constructed and therefore never fully fixed


 * none are false

7.Linguistic codes, which set up the correlation between our conceptual system and our language system,

can vary significantly between one language and another

construct and fix meaning (the relationship between concepts and signs), signs alone do not


 * all are true

are social/cultural conventions which stabilise meaning but change over time

Brannen, "Japanese Language & Culture - In light of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis"

8.Which is FALSE? The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

none are false


 * states the language a persons speaks determines the way he/she thinks

argues the structures of the language one habitually uses influences the manner in which one understands his/her environment

states we experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation

9.Which is FALSE? Linguistic relativity argues

that the structure of a person's language influences the manner in which they understand or perceive reality

none are false


 * that all languages are related

we are all locked into our cultural perspectives or 'mind-sets', and language is the best key to that conceptual universe

10.Whorf's notion of a linguistic system (words and grammar)

hypothesises all higher levels of thinking are dependent on language

argues it is not merely a reproducing instrument (to express ideas) but the shaper of ideas

argues thinking is largely a cultural, rather than psychological, problem


 * all are true