language and culture
TRANSCRIPT
Tips for Teaching CultureChapter 2: Language and Culture
Fariba Chamani, 2016
Tips for culture & language
1. Understand the relationship between culture, language & thought
2. Identify different speech communities3. Recognize the Influence of gender on language4. Explore the differences between spoken & written
language5. Understand the meaning of language in context6. Identify speech acts in daily communication7. Understand the concept of face8. Recognize communication styles & register
1. Culture, language & thought
Kramsch (1998) Language & culture are bound together in three ways: 1. Language expresses cultural reality2. Language embodies cultural reality3. Language symbolizes cultural reality
Moran (2001) Language & culture are two sides of the same coin, each mirroring the other.
Sapir & Worf Hypothesis (Principle of relativity)
• Strong version Language determines thought, we are prisoners of language.
Damen (1987): languages create & define the realities people perceive.
• Weak version Language influences but does nit determine thought.
What the teacher can do
Teachers can help the students see the relation between language, culture & thought by making the connection explicit, to do so:
1) Teachers need to have a clear sense of their own view of the relationship between language & culture.
2) To clarify points for students by sharing personal experiences.
Identify different speech communities
• Each person belongs to different social groups formed by family ties, work, or by common interests or hobbies.
• Each community develops a certain way of speaking that its member use to identify with that community.
• The students should distinguish between these communities so that they can use the appropriate language for each community.
What the research say
• Agar (1994) uses the term languaculture to describe the interconnected nature of language & culture.
• Hymes (1974): communities are groups of people who use similar rules as guideposts for how they use language and how they understand others’ use of language.
• Hymes (1974): speech event is a specific context involving speech such as a classroom lecture, which usually consists of one or more speech acts that are culturally defined.
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students recognize speech communities by building awareness of the distinct vocabulary found in different speech communities.
• Teachers also can explain the concept of in-groups (a member) & out-group (a non-member).
Influence of gender on language
• There are differences in the way that men and women communicate:
1. Men view interactions in a hierarchical way, where one person is superior to the other.
2. Women want to feel a sense of closeness through empathy and see interactions in a non-hierarchical way
What the research say
• Tannen (1990): For most women, language of conversation is a language of rapport: a way of establishing connection and negotiating relationships.
For most men, talk is a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order.
Wood (1994): Women & men talk
Women
1. Giving & receiving equal turns in conversation.
2. Showing support & sympathy 3. Using questions to ensure
understanding4. Working hard to keep the
conversation going5. Being responsive to others6. Using concrete & personal terms7. Being tentative and apologetic
Men
1. No acknowledgement of feelings
2. Focus on gathering data & solving problems
3. Expressing superiority & maintaining control
4. Dominating the conversation
Melts & Borker (1982): Women & men talk
• Men & women have their own cultural differences, and they tend to hold deferring conversational assumptions, for instance:
• Nods & mm-hum by women= “I’m listening to you: please continue.
• Nods & mm-hum by men= “I agree with you or I follow your agreement so far.”
Melts & Borker (1982): Women & men talk
Oxford (2001): Females use language learning strategies significantly more than males, yet in certain cultures, males use particular types of strategies more than men.
• Maccoby & Jacklin (1974): Females show greater interest than males
More gender differences
• Oxford (2001): Females use language learning strategies significantly more than males, yet in certain cultures, males use particular types of strategies more than men.
• Maccoby & Jacklin (1974): Females show greater interest than males in social activities and less competitive than males.
What the teacher can do
Teacher can help students recognize the influence of gender on language by:
1. Helping them understand some of the differences between the conversation styles of men & women.
2. Making these differences explicit in the best possible ways.
Spoken & Written language
• Spoken language = Informal, repetitive, and interactive, long pauses, interruptions.
• Written language: Formal, more concise, less repetitive.
Kramsch (1998): Characteristics of conversation & expository writing
Brown (2007): Features of spoken language
Kaplan (1966): Culture-specific patterns of writing
Kaplan (1966): patterns of writing in academic essays of international students varied depending on language & cultural background:
• American & British wrote essays in linear fashion.
• Speakers of Hebrew repeated major points to reinforce them.
• Asian students made circular arguments in which the main point was revealed at the end.
What the teacher can do
• Many students cannot distinguish between what is appropriate in written English & what is appropriate in spoken English.
• Teachers can help students explore the differences between spoken and written language by making the differences explicit.
Meaning of language in context
• Fluent speakers of a language vary their speech depending on the context.
• Vocabulary choice, expression, and degree of directness are used differently in different contexts.
• Pragmatics studies language in context and especially conveying and interpreting of meaning.
What the research says
• Pragmatics involves analysis of the speaker’s meaning in context.
• Understanding the meaning of language in context will help learners be aware of polite behavior and the hidden meaning of language.
• Pragmatic failure occurs when speakers do not use or understand appropriate language in context.
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students understand the meaning of language in context by creating an awareness of the role of pragmatics in the language use.
• Asking students to take an expression that is polite and courteous, and make it stronger or more intense.
• Teachers can also use ‘critical incident’ (a brief story in which some cultural misunderstanding happens).
Identify speech acts
• Austin (1962): Speech acts refer to the use of words in order to do things or perform functions.
• Speech acts reflect the cultural norms, values & beliefs.
• A speech act contains three elements:1. The words spoken (locutionary)2. The intention of speaker (illocutionary)3. The effect of spoken word (perlocutionary)
Searl’s (1962) classification of speech acts
What the teacher can do
• Teacher can help students identify speech acts and develop pragmatic and sociolinguistic awareness through:
1. Cognitive awareness activities2. Perceptive skill development3. Productive use activities
Understanding the concept of face
• Face= public image of a person• Facework= specific social strategies used to
protect the positive image of the communicators (Ting-Toomey, 1999).
• LoCasto (2003): Chinese concept of face is twofold:
1. Acquired face: earned through social behavior in life
2. Ascribed face: what everybody is entitled to receive as a human being
Linguistic politeness
• Linguistic politeness: the use of language to carry out social actions in which face is is mutually respected (Levinson, 1987).
• When a face-threatening act occurs, the speaker can adopt a politeness strategy like an apology to soften the threat.
• Perception of face may be colored by patterns of cultural communication:
• Example: degree of directness across different cultures
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students build awareness of the concept of face by using contrastive approach to show varieties of face threatening responses to different situations.
Communication styles & registers
• Communication styles incorporate an individual’s word choice, discourse patterns, and nonverbal cues.
• Communication styles vary across different situations and cultures.
• Register refers to the use of language in a particular situation.
• Register depends on the degree of formality of situation and the relationship between the speakers.
What the research says
• Brown (2007): Communication style refers to a set of conventions for selecting words, phrases, discourse, and nonverbal language in specific contexts.
• Wolfson (1989): A communicatively competent person does not speak the same way all the time but she shifts style to indicate social distance.
What the research says
• Brown (2007): registers are identified by certain phonological variants, vocabulary, idioms that are associated with different occupational or socioeconomic groups.
• McCarthy (1991): register refers to the linguistic features of the text that reflects the social context in which it is produced.
• Choosing the appropriate level of formality is a challenge cross-culturally.
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students appreciate communication styles and registers by demonstrating a wide variety of these in classroom and by their choice of teaching materials.
Thank You