The preponderance of jargon is aimed at concealing ignorance

By MUNGAI KIHANYA

The Sunday Nation

Nairobi,

30 September 2007

A few years ago, an interesting question appeared in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations. It went something like this; “Which of the following is the odd one out: (A) Swimming, (B) Hockey, (C) Cricket, and (D) Basketball”.

Pupils from urban areas answered (A), reasoning that swimming is the only sport in the list that is not played with a ball. However, candidates from rural schools chose (C), arguing that a cricket is an insect while the rest are sports!

Unfortunately, I don’t remember the year of that exam, but Ruturi Amos has the details of another one. He writes: “This is a question that appeared in the 2006 KCPE science paper .

“Question 49: Which one of the following statements is correct about at stone thrown a few metres directly upwards by a passenger in a moving lorry? The stone will fall (A) In front of the person, (B) Behind the person, (C) On the person, or (D) Behind the lorry.

“The correct Answer is C [but] I’m not comfortable with that. How many metres are ‘a few’? Supposing the road is inclined? Isn’t the weight of the stone affected by the wind? Please react to this.”

Here is my take: Physical science is a lot richer in grammar than it is in vocabulary. Unfortunately, too much emphasis is placed on the latter and, as a result, the true meaning of a topic is often lost (hence the preponderance of technical jargon – which is usually intended to conceal a lack of understanding).

As an example, geography text books teach that the motion of the earth around the sun is “called” revolution and the spin on its axis is “called” rotation. Consequently, when you ask a child the meaning of rotation, they will say “it is the spinning of the earth on its axis”!

But that is not entirely correct. The word “Rotation” describes the spinning of any object on its axis – car wheels and cooling fans also undergo rotation!

In my opinion, pupils should be taught that “the Earth revolves around the sun and it also rotates on its axis”. The teacher should then explain the meanings of the words “revolve” and “rotate”. In that process, the students will get a very clear picture of how the plant moves.

Isn’t it more important to understand HOW the Earth moves than to know WHAT the motions are “called”?

Regarding the question spotted by Ruturi, I would rephrase it this way:

“Which one of the following statements is correct about at stone thrown directly upwards by a passenger in a bus moving on a flat road? The stone will fall (A) In front of the person, (B) Behind the person, (C) On the person, or (D) Behind the lorry.”

The stone is now confined inside a bus (not a lorry!) on a flat road. This version deals with all the issues. What do you think Mr. Ruturi?