First person perspective, objectivity and language

In the research project The interplay between language and thought in understanding problems from a student perspective, we have analysed students’ understandings of a physical event. The investigation is done from a first person perspective since we are interested in students’ conceptualisations. In discussions about the physical event of throwing a ball, students describe the event in different ways. We are scrutinizing how they use language to express their understandings. The explanations given in the discussions of the event differ from student to student. Through a detailed analysis of different uses of expressions we are able to characterise the different meanings expressed by use of the same expression and how the use and meaning of expressions vary and change due to reflection over expressions and their meanings .We find a first person and agent perspective, in line with an intentional expressive view on language meaning and understanding, to be fundamental in understanding students use of language in their understanding and learning of subject matter.