Consider what you may know or believe about infant development, and in particular the development of language. The first years of life have come to be understood as profoundly impactful with lasting influence. What have been your thoughts about the birth to five time, lasting or fleeting?
~watch the posted Ted Talk about language. Answer the items below:
~Clearly identify and incorporate into any part of your answer one of the six core values (integrity, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, service, social justice, competence). Review a different one each week.
~Based on the description in the video, explain why you consider yourself a citizen of the world or a culture-bound listener. Do you know or have you tried to learn a language other than English? If so, what was that experience like for you? If not, what has prevented you from learning or trying to learn another language?
~How does your own understanding of language influence your experience as a social work student and as a professional social worker? This does not mean if you speak another language, but how you think about language, eg, what sort of values and ideals do you place on language, languages spoken, the way someone speaks, the ways in which people use language to communicate, etc.
~ Consider this commonly expressed sentiment: “If someone lives in another country, they should speak the language of that country.” Specifically applying the concepts from the video, course readings and material, and the NASW Core Values, how would you respond to either a friend, family member, classmate, or co-worker making this statement?
~ Pose a question to your peers related to the topics and content for this week (language, infancy, the importance of human relationships, culture, etc). You can consider something you want to know about, something you found surprising, something you did not agree with or was surprising, etc.
