Optional theme
Knowledge and language
How the language available to a knower shapes what can be expressed, distinguished and thought, and what happens to knowledge in translation, metaphor and technical vocabulary.
IA prompts that fit this theme
The wording is the guide’s, exactly. A student who changes a word of it loses marks, so quote it as it stands.
- IA prompt 06How does the way that we organize or classify knowledge affect what we know?Classification is done in language, and a category with no word for it is hard to hold onto.
- IA prompt 10What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge?Translation, register and technical vocabulary are where knowledge is most often lost in transmission.
- IA prompt 25How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?The three terms are ordinary words doing technical work, and the distinction partly depends on usage.
- IA prompt 32What makes a good explanation?Explanations are made of language, so their virtues include intelligibility to an audience.
A school selects two of the five optional themes alongside the core theme. All six themes.