The course provides an introduction to the way in which language and culture reflect each other.

It also aims to introduce arenas in which language and culture are linked.

We will examine how language structures thought; how people talk as a means of accomplishing their goals; and investigate connections

between language and social structures.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Understand the fundamental concepts used in the study of language and culture.

Discuss the notions of language and cultures.

Understand how language and culture are related or interconnected to one another.

The course will examine the relationship of language and culture. It examines how meaning is related to sign and action. It investigates the spoken language and oral culture; the print language and literate culture; as well as the relationship between language and cultural identity. It will also discuss some current issues in relation to language and culture.

The assessment requirements for the course include:

An assignment: 30%Mid-semester test: 30%Final examination: 40%

Assignment The question or topic for the assignment

will be distributed during our first face-to-face.

Mid-semester Test The mid-semester test will cover units 1,

2, 3 and 4 of this module and chapters 1, 2 and 3 of your text.

Final Examination Questions for the final examination will

be based on units 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this module and 4, 5, 6 and 7 of your text.

Kramsch C. (1998). Language and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The text, Language and Culture by Claire Kramsch (1998) OUP, provides a broad and readable overview of a wide range of topics. Topics in this text will be referred to throughout the guide and you are to do the required reading as stipulated at certain points in your reading of the guide.

For other recommended reading, refer to the section under references at the end of the module.

Week Topics Hours

  1 Unit 1 Introduction 5 2-3 Unit 2 The relationship of language

and culture7

4-5 Unit 3 Meaning as sign7

6-7 Unit 4 Meaning as action 7 8-9 Unit 5 Spoken language, oral culture

7 10-11 Unit 6 Print language, literate culture

7 12-13 Unit 7 Language and culture identity

7 14 Unit 8 Current issues 5

Prof Dr. Chan Swee Heng I can be contacted at: The Department of English LanguageFaculty of Modern Language and CommunicationUniversiti Putra Malaysia43400 UPM SerdangSelangor Darul Ehsan Telephone: 8986101 Ext. 8728 (Department Office) Or 8707 (my office)

(You should try ringing my office first, failing which to reach me, then you may call the department office and leave a message)

My email I.D. is shchan@fbmk.upm.edu.myYou may also fax me at 03-89439951

What is Language?

Knowledge of a language includes knowing ‘the sound system, words, and the sentences or non-sentences of that language’ (Fromkin and Rodman, 1998: 4).

Differentiate between the terms linguistic competence (LC) and linguistic performance (LP). LC refers to knowledge of a language. LP refers to language in use.

Language is a ‘communication system that has work to perform, a system that speakers exploit purposefully’ and it is ‘used to do things, not merely to report them or talk about them.’ Finnegan (1994: 14),

Core and Scribner (1974: 8), argue that ‘language is said to be at one and the same time a vital force and an individual tool of communication and thought; it is, so speak, on both sides of the culture-cognition relationship.’

Henslin (2006:38-40) notes that language is the primary way people communicate with one another.

It’s a system of symbols which all us to communicate abstract thought (Henslin, 2004:40).

It’s a perspective which allows culture to exist.

Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior.

Culture is all the values, norms, and customs that people share with one another.

Culture includes language and beliefs.

Culture is all of the material objects such as monuments, three-piece suites, the lottery, fur coats, and fine automobiles.

Culture is ideas (like the belief in democracy and freedom) found within a society.

Culture is what individuals think is right and important as they interact

(Schaefer, 1992:67).

Culture is a way of life. When people talk about "the way of life" of people with a distinctive life style, whether they live in Appalachia or Norway, they are talking about culture.

It defines what is important and unimportant. Culture refers to everything that people create. Values, norms, goals, and culture in general, develop as people interact with one another over time.

Other Aspects of Communication:

In addition to language, we also communicate in other ways.

These auxiliary communication techniques are known as use of paralanguage.

Various forms of paralanguage -- include kinesics, gesture, tone and character of voice, and proxemics (O’Neil, 2000).

A. Kinesics Kinesics is body language, that is the

language of gestures, expressions and postures.

B. Gestures Some gestures are the same throughout

the world. e.g: a smile. Some gestures may be different in

different parts of the world.e.g: spitting on someone is a symbol or sign of contempt in Malaysia but it is an affectionate blessing if done in a certain way among the Masai of Kenya (O’Neil, 2000).

C. Tone and character of voice The meaning of an utterance can be

altered by tone and character of voice. e.g: are you okay? are you okay?

D. Proxemics Proxemics is the study of the distance

between individuals or groups when engaging in conversation.

e.g: establishing a comfort zone avoiding eye contact in a crowd

E. Use of Space

Culture tells us how to organise space in such a way as to control the nature of interaction.

e.g: Japanese offices are set up with the manager’s desk at the end of a row of desks used by subordinate employees. This maximises his interaction with the workers.

F. Use of Time

Culture tells us how to manipulate time in order to communicate messages.

e.g: punctuality, power relationship

G. Communicating with Clothes

The clothes we wear have many functions.

e.g: worn to provide supernatural protection, office wear, royal colour.

The appearance of a person tells us their gender, age, economic class and sometimes their intentions.

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Language is one of the main ways by which we send and receive messages.

Throughout the world there are some 5,000 different languages.Only 20% have a written form; 80% are only

spoken.

Our language is a product of our culture, and our culture is a product of our language.

Overview of Language & Culture

The language we speak influences what we see and think, and what we see and think, in part, influences our culture.

Therefore, one can not become truly fluent in another language unless he also understands the cultural context in which to use that language.

Functions of Language:

1. language expresses cultural reality.2. language embodies cultural reality.3. Language symbolises cultural reality.

o The ways that language and culture impose on nature correspond to various forms of socialisation or acculturation

o Culture brings order and predictability into our use of language.

o Social conventions and norms of social appropriateness are the products of speech communities.

o Culture liberates and at the same time, constrains us socially, historically and metaphorically.

Language and Thought Processes

The Whorfian Hypothesis:

Linguistics relativity and determinism. If the environment and what it

comprises are known only through the varying selective and organising mechanisms

of language, what we perceive and experience would then be arbitrary.

The notion of linguistic relativity implies that the world is differently experienced in different language communities and more strongly, that language causes these differences.

Certain aspects of language behavior challenge Whorf’s proposal that the absence or presence of a lexical distinction can be taken as an indicator of a corresponding perceptual or conceptual distinction.

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The central idea behind their theory, is that language is not merely a tool for reporting experience, but more importantly it is a shaper of ideas.

In other words, a language does not merely record and transmit perceptions and thoughts, it actually helps to shape them.

Language controls the way we think and perceive the world. It is the guide for our mental activity.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

S&W went into Native America and saw that people constructed their world differently, and their language reflected that.

Navajo, for example, had "one, two, three, some, and many" as counting categories (where we typically have 2, singular and plural). Lakota do not categorize green separate from blue or black. Hopi divide things into categories like "breathing things" and "moving things" and "round things".

All of these have linguistic features. We have an "s" we add to plurals. One tree, two trees, three trees. A Navajo would have one tree, two treeX, three treeA, some treeM and many treeP (all different forms of the plural).

In English, verbs are treated the same whether it's a laptop that "runs", an person that "runs" or water that "runs". Each of those would be conjugated differently in Hopi due to the different category.

So, S &W see this, and wonder ”Did language cause people to see the world in these categories? Or did the way they see the world effect language?".

Most linguists think they got much of it wrong, but they put the seeds down for some interesting work on how language and culture are intertwined, and how a change in the language necessitates a change in the culture and vice versa.

What does it mean to mean something?

Meaning is related to social reality. Meaning is often manifested through

denotation, connotation and icon.

What are the conditions that are needed for the sign to take on meaning?

1. reality has to be given a name for each of the entity segmented. e.g.the dictionary entry of the thousands of words from A-Z that are used in English.

2. segments must be recognisable and have applications that are repeatable. e.g. a car is a car in any place.

3. There must be room for extension in the use of the term. e.g. X is Y, X is a kind of Y and X is like Y. e.g. Chomel is a cat. Chomel could be is a special breed of cat. Chomel could be a name for other kinds of cats.

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To examine how language affects the way people view the world one can look at the words used in certain languages for certain things.

Reality must be captured in memory. Only then can the linguistic in it be stored for future use.

For example, various cultures have different ways of dividing the color spectrum, thereby illustrating that they view the world differently.

Language and our View of Reality

35

Color Spectrum

EnglishEnglish

ShonaShona

BassaBassa

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Each culture has certain items which are very salient (important) to that culture.

Japanese: many words for fish and sea products. Some names of a fish change as they grow.English “seaweed” - Japanese nori, wakame,

konbu, mozuku, hijikiDifferent words for rice depending on if it is raw

or cooked and how it is served. Raw uncooked rice - kome Cooked rice served in a bowl - gohan Cooked rice served on a plate - raisu

Culturally Salient Words

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nori

Japanese Seaweed

konbu

hijiki

wakame

mozuku

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kome

Japanese Names for Rice

gohan raisu

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English: many words for types of meat, ways to cut, and ways to cook.

Culturally Salient Words (con’t)

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Some words and phrases are so connected to the language and culture that they are used, that they are difficult to translate into another language.

English: fair play, privacy or independence

Japanese: filled with language that humbles the speaker and raises the level of the person being spoken to.

No single verb for “lock” - must say “close with a key.” (kagi de shimeru)

Language-Culture Connection

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Each language associates certain words with certain ideas or concepts.

Activity: Write down the first words that come to mind in the order that you think of them, for the word you will see next.

Language-Culture Connection (con’t)

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marriage

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Americansequality sharinglove togetherness

Frenchpassion sexuality

Japanesechildren familyend-of-the-line pessimistic

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baby husband banzai independence bridal party life bride knife cake married lifeceremony name changechild partner’s

parentsdowry proposedress ringengagement ring shotgun

weddinggroom wedding

dresshappy wifehoneymoon

Survey of Japanese Univ. StudentsMale Female

bouquetcakechildchurchcongratulationsdivorceflowerhoneymoonJune brideresponsibilityringtearswedding dressWeddingreceptionwhite

Connotations are derived from how people use the words and the associations. It goes beyond literal meaning.

e.g . the word theatre. In ancient times, it was associated with disease, sin and depravity – all negative in nature. Today, it connotes high culture.

A. Similes As _____ as a peacock. As_____ as a church mouse. As_____ as a doll.

B. Metaphors She speaks in a _______voice to attract

his father’s attention. (very sweetly). He _________under her intense stare and

confessed the crime. (gave up resisting). He was raving _____to find out that his

son had cheated in the examination. (very angry)

C. Proverbs Too many cooks spoil the _____. An apple a day keeps the _____. A bird in the hand is worth two in _____.

Words and their meaning are also often associated with sounds.

e.g: the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, the giant saying Fie, fa, fo, fum as he enters his house and smells human blood.

What kind of image does the sounds conjure?

OTHER INFLUENCING FACTORS IN LINKING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

1. Encoding Meaning is situated in experience.

2. Semantic Networks Some semantic properties are those

related to class of words, and their relationships.

e.g: woman, girl, lady belong to the same word class.

Some words are synonyms while others are antonyms.

3. Discourse Communities and Practices

Discourse communities are limitless. Groupings are identified with dialects,

registers, repertoires, roles and reputations.

Dialects are affiliated to language users, registers refer to varieties in the context of situational use.

Registers may refer to very specific terminology used only by a distinct community or in a distinct environment.

Register can be viewed along the continuum of formality to informality.

e.g. In describing a person as nutty illustrates intimate use, crazy is casual, while demented would be formal.

Context of Situation: Within a community, different patterns

of speaking are evident depending on contexts.

e.g: there would be differences between speakers according to status, like that of children and adults, superior and subordinates, difference in sexes, and occupations.

Interpretation of the following utterance: “I didn’t see the stop sign”. - to a policeman - to a friend after jamming on the

brakes. - to a friend who waited for your arrival.

Context of Situation and Context of Culture:

The context of situation often cannot be divorced from the context of culture.

Behaviour which is culturally linked accompanies the interpretation of signs manifested through language.

Together with verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal signs (contextualization cues), interlocutors will be guided in making the situated inferences.

Actions that are carried out through verbal means are called speech acts.

Coherence Breakdowns: Kramsch (1998) terms the act of

imposing meaning onto utterance according to the situational and cultural context as establishing pragmatic coherence.

Coherence breakdowns arise as a result of mismatch in expectations or discrepancies in participants’ inferences and frames of expectations’ (Kramsch 1998: 29)

e.g: use of silence

The Co-operative Principle: Grice suggests that there is a set of

assumptions guiding the how people conduct conversations.

Grice proposes a general co-operative principle which comprises four basic maxims of conversation.

The four maxims are (Fromkin and Rodman: 1996; Levinson, 1983: 101):

Name of Maxim Description of Maxim Quantity Say neither more nor less

than the discourse requires. Relevance Be relevant.

Manner Be brief and orderly; avoid ambiguity and obscurity.

Quality Do not lie; do not make unsupported claims;

i.e. try make your contribution one that is true.

The topics covered are:

1.Introduction to Language and Culture

2.Functions of Language3.Meaning as Sign 4.Meaning as Action