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How is a prescriptivist approach to language used to consolidate socio-economic power?

How does being a descriptivist or prescriptivist change our understanding of language?

Is language “an instrument of power, a measure of humanity, a map for world-making”?

In what way is language ‘self-regulating’?

Is any aspect of language superfluous?

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How do events shape the development of language?

How can we tell if our ability to use written language is ‘declining’ over time?

How does the development of a language depend on its online presence?

Do academic traditions support or stifle the production of (linguistic) knowledge?

Does the transmission of knowledge from one person or generation to another depend on language?

How important is language in curating knowledge for future generations?

What impact has technology, social media, and new forms of language made on the way we communicate ideas and concepts?

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To what extent can words be translated?

Do words have an inherent meaning, or do our perspectives determine them?

Should we try to overcome ambiguity in language?

How do cultural factors affect our ability to produce knowledge about language?

Does language reinforce, or break down, our biases and perspectives?

Does learning other languages offer an insight into the way other cultures see the world?

Would we know more or less about the world if we all shared a common language?

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Can all ideas and concepts be expressed via words and symbols?

How are metaphors used in the production and justification of knowledge?

What is the difference between the definition of a word, and an explanation of a word?

How does the evolution of words shift our understanding of concepts?

Can knowledge be conveyed from one person to another in a non-language based way?

How can punctuation be used to “extend, contradict and play with meaning”?

To what extent do labels and names create ‘motivated seeing’ in knowers?

How can language be used to manipulate people’s emotions?

How does the form of expressing ideas change the way we understand the world?

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Does language shape our moral outlooks, or just reflect them?

To what extent are ethical knowledge claims the expression of feelings, rather than considered propositions?

How does the way we frame a question about values change its nature?

Does the expression of values require a different form of language than other ideas?

How do our values shape the way we use language to represent the world?

Are we morally responsible for the language that we use?

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What is the relationship between words and meaning?

Does language determine reality, does reality determine language, or is it a two-way process?

How important is the relationship between reason and language in the production and justification of knowledge?

Should we use language in a prescriptive or descriptive way?

Is it possible to know something without being able to put it into words?

Is language a shared or personal trait?

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Good KQs ask how we know about the world (second-order knowledge), rather than what we know about the world (first-order knowledge). Being able to tell the difference between first and second-order knowledge can be difficult, but it is the most important attribute of successful TOK thinking - and will form the basis of your essay and exhibition.

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Use our other free padlets on this area of knowledge - the quotes, real-world issues, and key thinkers - to explore and answer these KQs, trying to identify and challenge your assumptions as you do so.

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Although the KQs you see here relate primarily to language, many of them link to other AOKs and themes, so bear this in mind as you consider them.

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Knowledge questions (KQs) form the heart of TOK, providing us with the opportunity to discuss, explore, and sometimes argue about the way we acquire and use our knowledge about the world.