"It's on the tip of my tongue...": Creatively understanding word-finding disorders
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When words fail: Creatively understanding word-finding disorders
Sometimes a term is very close yet remains unreachable. The workshop "It's on the tip of my tongue..." will focus on the causes and expressions of word-finding disorders on October 28, 2026, at the Knowledge Workshop Bielefeld. The offering combines scientific insights with practical, creative strategies for everyday life.
Between language moment and communication barrier
The phenomenon of word-finding is part of everyday language experience: A name, an object, or a precise formulation seems familiar but cannot be retrieved at the crucial moment. The workshop will consider how ordinary word-finding problems differ from pathological disorders, such as after a stroke or in neurologically induced speech and communication disorders.
Language art with paraphrases and gestures
The focus is on creative ways to make thoughts understandable when the right word is absent. Participants will experiment with paraphrases and gestures and develop their own strategies from them. This way, language is experienced not as a rigid system but as a flexible space where meaning can also arise through descriptions, images, and body expression.
Science conveyed understandably
The format was developed by Lotta Heidemann and Mareike Hartmann as part of the special research area 1646 "Linguistic creativity in communication" at the University of Bielefeld. Without any required prior knowledge, the workshop offers an understandable access to linguistic and therapeutic perspectives on word-finding.
A literary experience of speaking
Even though there is no classic reading on the agenda, the workshop has a special closeness to literature: It directs attention to the materiality of language, to sound, meaning, gesture, and narrative detours. The reading milieu of thoughtful reflection on words transforms an everyday communication problem into an enlightening cultural experience.
Conclusion: Discovering language together anew
The event awaits its visitors with professional impulses, practical exercises, and an open view of linguistic diversity. Those who want to better understand word-finding disorders and learn creative communication paths will experience an informative author encounter with the language itself at the Knowledge Workshop.
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