Language in Thinking and Learning: Pedagogy and the New Whorfian Framework

Abstract

In the field of linguistics, the ideas of Benjamin Whorf continue to generate as much controversy as they did when they first became known more than half a century ago. This continued interest in Whorf's theories about relationship between language, mind, and experience has now extended beyond the realm of linguistics. Today, anthropologists, cognitive psychologists, and even education researchers are rediscovering Whorf's insights with enthusiasm. In this article, Penny Lee argues that Whorf's theory complex, which includes the linguistic relativity principle (sometimes also referred to as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis), has important implications for education, particularly with respect to the role of language in teaching and thinking. From the theory complex, Lee draws a new Whorfian framework that provides some starting points for educators to reflect on language-mind-experience relationships, and, ultimately, to improve their classroom practice.