HOW A STAR TREK EPISODE HELPS TEACH
LANGUAGE SKILLS

In the Star Trek The Next Generation episode called "Darmok," the Enterprise encounters an alien Tamarian ship at the planet El-Adrel IV and communication between the alien Captain, whose name is Dathon, and Picard is attempted by video/radio. The Tamarians cannot be understood, although they use English phrases including names and events from their culture and mythology. Captain Picard and his first officer discuss the meaning of the Tamarian's phrase "Darmok and Jelad at Tenagra." Picard and Dathon transport to El-ADrel IV's surface where They attempt to communicate.

Picard concludes that the Tamarian language is based on metaphors from Tamarian history and mythology. "Darmok and Jelad at Tenagra" refers to two Tamarian heroes who met at an island, joined together to defeat a terrible monster, and left together. El-Adrel IV is the home of a powerful and monstrous creature and the hope is that the Federation and the Tamarian people can become friends by jointly killing the monster on El-Adrel IV.

 

LANGAUGE WITHOUT SENTENCE STRUCTURE -- NON LINEAR COMMUNICATION

Before you can really understand langauage or the grammar of langauge, you must have a sense of the whole. For many students, grammar is a vague, often pointless set of rules they just have to learn. The purpose is not clear to many, even late in the high school years. Students frequently tell me that they really didn't understand the purpose of grammar rules until they took courses in another langauge and realized that to speak that language, you had to understand the grammar. For many students English grammar is so innately understood (even if incorrectly), that there is no need to understand that it is a viable structure.

In the "Star Trek TNG" episode "Darmok," the language of the aliens is based on analogy and metaphor, not, apparently a complete grammar system. One could raise many questions as to the validity of such a language. How, for example, is knowledge of the culture or mythology transmitted to the young anyway? And how about dealing with specifics. Is the culture rich enough to support an analogy for every situation? Could such a culture develop space travel? Would "Henry Ford at his first factory during transmission development" be enough to tell someone that there is a problem with a car transmission? Maybe not, but if you want to view langauge from another viewpoint, this Star Trek episode might help. Unlike Morse Code or the Braille system, this is not another way of expressing letters or words, but a whole new approach to language -- however unworkable.

Here are some Darmok expressions and their translations from "The Darmok Dictionary" at http://www.chaparraltree.com/sflang/darmok.shtml:

Kiteo, his eyes closed.
A refusal to see someone or something; "break off communications."

mirab.aumirab.auMirab, his sails unfurled.
Departure; "let's go."

Temba, his arms wide.
Giving; receiving.

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Copyright (c) 2000 Robert Morgan