Filsafat Bahasa

FILSAFAT BAHASA

Berdasarkan pengamatan terhadap perkembangan sejarah filsafat bahasa maka filsafat bahasa dapat dikelompokkan menjadi dua macam pengertian yaitu:

Pertama, perhatian filsuf terhadap bahasa dalam memecahkan dan menjelaskan problema-problema dan konsep-konsep dalam filsafat. Pada periode abad XX para filsuf semakin sadar bahwa banyak problema-problema serta konsep-konsep filsafat dapat djelaskan melalui analisis bahaa misalnya berbagai macam pertanyaan filosofis seperti kebenaran, keadilan, kewajiban, kebaikan dan pertanyaan-pertanyaan fundamental filosofis lainnya data ijelaskan dan diuraikan melalui analisis bahasa atau analisis penggunaan ungkapan-ungkapan bahasa.

Kedua, filsafat bahasa sebagaimana bidang-bidang filsafat lainnya seperi filsafat hukum, filsafat manusia, filsafat alam, filsafat sosial dan bidang-bidang filsaft lainnya yang membahas, menganalsis dan mencari hakikat dari objek material filsafat. Bahasa pada hakikatnya adalah merupakan suatu sistem tanda dan objek tanda (significant dan signifie)

Kedudukan Bahasa dalam Filsafat

Bahasa pada hakikatnya merupakan suatu sistem simbol yang tidak hanya merupakan urutan bunyi-bunyi secara empiris, melainkan memiliki makna yang sifatnya nonempiris. Dengan demikian bahasa adalah merupakan sistem simbol yang memiliki makna, merupakan alat komunikasi , penuangan emosi  manusia serta merupakan

a. Fungsi  Bahasa dalam Metafisika

Secara etimologi istilah metafisika brasl dari bahasa yunani ‘ ta  meta ta physica’ yang secara harfiah di balik fisika atau dibalik hal-hal yang bersifat fisik.  Metafisika adalah suatu cabang filsafat yang membahas secara sistematis  dan reflektif daam mencari hakikat segala sesuatu yang ada dibalik hal-hal yang bersifat fisik dan bersifat particular.

Berdasarkan uraian tersebut maka metafisika berupaya untuk memformulasikan segala sesuatu yang bersifat fundamental dan mendasar dari segala sesuatu dan hal ini dilakukan oleh para filsuf dengan membuat eksplisit hakikat segala sesuatu tersebut dalam hal ini hanya dapat dilakukan dengan menggunakan analisis bahasa terutama karena sifat metafisika yang tidak mengacu pada realitas yang bersifat empiris.

b. Fungsi Bahasa dalam Epistemologi

Epistemologi adalah salah satu cabang filsafat yang pokok, secara etimologis i istilah epistemologi berasal dari bahasa Yunani ‘Epistemologi’ yang berarti pengetahuan . Berdasarkan bidang pembahasannya epistemologi adalah cabang filsafat yang membahas tentang pengetahuan yang membahas tentang pengetahuan manusia yang meliputi sumber-sumber, watak dan kebenaran pengetahuan manusia (pengetahuan apriori dan aposteriori).

Selain dalam pengetahuan apriori peranan penting bahasa dalam epistemologi berkaitan erat dengan tori kebenaran. Terdapat tiga teori kebenaran dalam epistemologi, yaitu:

Teori kebenaran koherensi yang menyatakan bahwa suatu pernyataan itu dianggap benar bila pernyataan itu bersifat koheren atau konsisten dengan pernyataan-pernyataan sebelumnya dianggap benar.

Teori kebenaran korespondensi yang menyatakan bahwa suatu pernyataan itu dianggap benar bilamana materi pengetahuan yang dikandung dalam pernyataan itu berkorespondensi atau berhubungan dengan objek atau fakta yang diacu oleh pernyataan tersebut.

Teori kebenaran pragmatis yang menyatakan bahwa suatu pernyataan dianggap benar bilamana pernyataan itu mempunyai kegunaan praktis bagi kehidupan manusia (Suriasumantri, 1984:55-59).

c. Bahasa sebagai Sarana dalam Logika

Dalam kehidupan manusia bahasa tidak hanya memiliki fungsi sebagai alat komunikasi saja, melainkan juga menyertai proses berpikir. Selain memiliki fungsi komunikatif , bahasa juga memiliki fungsi kognitif dan emotif. Kegiatan berpikir dapat digolongkan dalam dua pengertian yaitu pertama ‘berpikir tanpa menggunakan aturan-aturan atau hukum-hukum’, kedua ‘berpikir dengan mempertimbangkan aturan-aturan atau hukum-hukum’ dan bentuk ini sering diistilahkan dengan ‘bernalar’. Dalam istilah lain menurut Plato dan Aristoteles bahwa berpikir adalah berbicara di dalam batin, mempertimbangkan, menganalisis, membuktikan sesuatu, menarik suatu kesimpulan adalah merupakan sebagaian kegiatan berpikir manusia (Poesporodjo, 1984:4).

Adapun bentuk-bentuk pemikiran dari yang paling sederhana adalah sebagai berikut: pengertian atau konsep, proposisi atau pernyataan, dan penalaran atau reasoning. Pengertian adalah sesuatu yang abstrak dan diwujudkan dalam bentuk simbol bahasa. Pengertian yang dilambangkan dengan kata disebut sebagai term. Tidak ada pengertian yang berdiri sendiri dalam pikiran manusia. Rangkaian pengertian itulah yang disebut proposisi. Pengertian hanya terdapat dalam proposisi.

Dalam proses pembentukan proposisi sering terjadi pengakuan dan pengingkaran. Berdasarkan kaitannya dengan bahasa yang digunakan dalam pembentukan proposisi,  maka kekeliruan dalam menentukan simbol term dapat berakibat sesatnya kesimpulan. Sebuah kalimat yang dengan struktur sintaksis tertentu dapat mempunyai arti lebih dari satu, dan bervariasi dalam konteks yang berbeda. Ketidaksamaan dalam menentukan arti kata atau arti kalimat, dapat menimbulkan kesesatan dalam penalaran. Beberapa kesesatan karena bahasa adalah sebagai berikut:

Kesesatan karena aksen atau tekanan

Kesesatan karena term ekuivok (term yang mempunyai lebih dari satu arti)

Kesesatan karena arti kiasan (metaphor)

Kesesatan karena amfiboli (amphibolia)

Book: Keys to Educational Psychology Introduction to Educational Psychology, Cognition, and Learning

Review of Cognition and Learning

Cognition and learning are important for educational learning. We need cognition in order to process the knowledge we get, while learning is all data that taken place as attribute in knowledge. Cognition and learning are major areas of study in the field of Educational Psychology. It is likely that you are reading this chapter because you are interested in studying the topic and you wish to gain some insight into thinking and learning processes in an educational context. Studying and learning means thinking about the ways people process information, solve problems, make decisions and expand their knowledge.

According to this book, cognition is a broad term that describes the ways in which people process information, solve problems, make decisions and expand their knowledge. Learning is a process to get the knowledge and information. Studying cognition and learning is an exciting and challenging task that requires students to be interested in subdisciplines such as cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, instructional psychology, philosophy and educational matters.

The Development of Cognitive and Learning Theory

There is little scientific consensus regarding definitions of cognition and learning. Instead, definitions generally depend on the assumptions made by a particular theory of cognition and the context in which it is studied, while definitions (and theories) of learning are strongly informed by the cognitive theories on which they are based.

There are three parts that are important in this part. They are response acquisition period, knowledge acquisition period and knowledge construction period. During the response acquisition period, cognitive theory was largely influenced by the work of behaviourists and learning theory was formulated accordingly. The knowledge acquisition period was characterized by information-processing theory, which strongly influences educational practice even today. As we shall see, information-processing theory is severely criticised by some for its inability to explain complex, real-world problem-solving. The knowledge construction period featured constructivist theories of cognition that emphasized the social and contextual dimensions of cognition.

Cognition and Learning as Response Acquisition

In this chapter, there are six main points that will be discussed. Those six points are very important for students to learn about cognition and learning as response acquisition. The knowledge acquisition period was characterized by a shift in emphasis from behavioral responses to information-processing. The information-processing approach to cognition is largely modeled on the way computer processes information.

Situated cognition: The context in which people think and the meaning that they derive from physical and social events. Associationism: A theory that describes cognition as simple associations between different events. Operant conditioning: An associative form of learning in which behaviours are regarded as associations between events, and responses are strengthened through positive reinforcers (rewards) or negative reinforcers (punishments) (Long, 2000). Classical conditioning: A form of associationist learning in which an association is formed between a stimulus and an involuntary response. Positivism: The philosophical position that an objective truth exists and that such a truth can be discovered through sensory experience only. Gestalt psychology: A theory proposing that human experience and consciousness form an integrated whole, and are understood as such rather than by being broken down into simple units.

In Western psychology, the scientific study of internal, cognitive processes began gaining popularity in the mid-20th century not only owing to Chomsky's critique of Skinner's work, but also because of a rapidly changing social context. It was during this time that technological developments and inventions. The move from the study of cognition as observable behavior to internal cognitive processes heralded the beginning of the knowledge acquisition period.

Cognition and Learning as Knowledge Acquisition

Cognition and learning are the main topic in this chapter. They are becoming main topic since the knowledge acquisition use them in term of psychology. The knowledge acquisition period was characterised by a shift in emphasis from behavioural responses to information-processing. The information-processing approach to cognition is largely modelled on the way computer processes information.

In this part, we will discuss about some sub-topics, namely Cognitivism: A theoretical approach that locates cognition in the mind and views it as problem-solving through computation. Knowledge: Information that is internally represented in the mind of a person. Declarative knowledge is factual knowledge about the world, while procedural knowledge is knowledge about our skills and how we do things. Learning: Broadly, a relatively permanent change in behaviour. Metacognition: A process of thinking about what you know and what you are doing and thinking, and how you can improve your learning (Gibbons, 2002).

The knowledge acquisition period was very productive with regard to the study of cognition and learning. Information-processing theory was especially influential in shaping educational practice, and it continues to be so to a great extent. It highlighted the importance of attention and memory processes in learning, and led to educational practices that encouraged educators to capture their learners' attention using interesting material.

Mnemonic strategies: Lists, acronyms or rhymes which students can use to memorise information. The awareness of the social and cultural contexts in which people think and learn was partially responsible for the onset of the knowledge construction period. This period can be seen as a reaction against the positivist assumptions of the modern study of cognition. Constructivist approaches place much more emphasis on the active role of the learner through the belief that knowledge is not passively received, but actively construed by the learner. Constructivist views also make it necessary for us to consider the contexts in which people construe knowledge, and thus socio-cultural theories of cognition belong to this period.

Cognition and Learning as Knowledge Construction

As we know that in constructing knowledge, all we needed is cognition and learning. We cannot learn something without cognition, while having no cognition and we want to learn something. In this part, we will learn about some topics related to cognition and learning as knowledge construction.

Constructivist theories of cognition and learning generally assume that the knowledge human beings possess does not exist in a perfect form outside human existence. Instead, knowledge is seen as the result of human beings interacting actively with their world. Constructivist theory assumes that people are actively involved in construing knowledge and that such knowledge is always construed within a particular social and cultural context.

Constructivist theory allows us to view knowledge from a different perspective. It recognises that all knowledge is subjective and created in the human mind, not discovered in nature. Instead of being seen as a process by which knowledge is acquired or discovered, learning is viewed as a process of active construction. Rather than making claims about the truth, constructivist theory is more interested in investigating whether a particular statement is viable within its context. If the knowledge we as humans create allows us to cope with the world, such knowledge is considered to be viable. We need to be aware that knowledge may be viable in one context, but not in another. For example, viewing intelligence from a constructivist point of view, we must concede that the kinds of behaviours that different societies may regard as intelligent would vary greatly according to the context in which a particular society lives. In Western society, intelligence has become synonymous with logical, ordered and analytical thinking, and the kinds of tasks used to assess intelligence also measure how well people perform those intellectual, academic skills. Western society tends to focus on academic performance while paying less attention to social and emotional skills, which are favoured in non-Western contexts far more than analytical problem- solving skills. However, increasing recognition is given to the fact that intelligent behaviour comprises much more than academic performance: it may also involve superior social and emotional skills.

The main topic in this part are: Zone of proximal development: The distance between a child's actual develop- mental level, as determined by inde- pendent problem-solving (that is, when a child can solve a problem without any adult guidance), and the level of potential development, as deter- mined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1935/1978).

Conclusion

After discovering this chapter , at least we have known the main topics where cognitive and learning are very important for response acquisition, knowledge acquisition and knowledge construction. In this chapter you have been introduced to some of the major theories of cognition. As you ponder the questions that have been posed, consider that you are beginning to become a 'cognitive theorist' and that you can make a contribution to the development of cognitive theory by thinking further about cognition. Formulating cognitive theory is not simply the function of researchers or academics - it begins the moment you start to question knowledge about cognition and reflect on how current theories can be developed.