language, mind and social interaction

8/16/2019 Language, Mind and Social Interaction

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LANGUAGE, MIND AND SOCIALINTERACTION



Linguistics is the scientific study ofhuman anguage, it !ega!ds the "ays

in "hich mem#e!s of a $a!ticu a!discou!se community conce$tua i%e

thei! e&$e!ience, encode it into ainguistic fo!m, and then use that

code in socia inte!action'



Language $o"e!fu y conditions a ou!thin(ing a#out socia $!o# ems and$!ocesses' This e&$ ains "hy the

systematic study of anguage necessa!i y!ega!ds #oth cognition )the "ay in "hich

anguage st!uctu!es thoughts in thehuman mind* and communication ) the

"ay in "hich anguage se!+es sociainte!action*



Indeed, as "e ac ui!e anguage du!ingchi dhood, "e a so disco+e!-

. ou! identity as indi+idua s )"hen "euse it to !efe! ou!se +es and ou!ideas*

. ou! identity as socia #eings )"hen"e communicate "ith othe! $eo$ e*



This is "hy Linguistics has a significantim$act on diffe!ent disci$ ines, such as,

socio ogy, cogniti+e $sycho ogy,anth!o$o ogy, $hi oso$hy, anguage

ea!ning and teaching, neu!oscience,a!tificia inte igence'Cogniti+e $sycho ogy is at the #asis of the

$sycho inguistic +ie" de+e o$ed #y NoamChoms(y, socio ogy, on the othe! hand,

info!ms the socio inguistic +ie" ad+anced#y Michae /a iday'



LANGUAGE AS COGNITION

In Choms(y0s Transformational-GenerativeGrammar the aim of Linguistics is not

sim$ y to focus on ho" anguage isst!uctu!ed' In fact, he is $!inci$a y

inte!ested in unde!standing mo!e a#outanguage in o!de! to unde!stand mo!e

a#out the $!ocesses of the human mind'



Choms(y sta!ts f!om the o#se!+ation that a thoughdiffe!ent g!ou$s of $eo$ e s$ea( diffe!ent

anguages, a human anguages a!e simi a! y

go+e!ned #y common !u es, o! $!inci$ es, thata!e uni+e!sa '

E+e!y anguage has !u es that go+e!n$!onunciation, "o!d fo!mation, and sentenceconst!uction, $!o+iding a means fo! ma(ingasse!tions o! !e uest, as(ing uestions and soon'



This means that anguages diffe!f!om each othe! on y at a e+e ofthei! su!face st!uctu!e, #ut thei!

dee$ st!uctu!e is the same,!ef ecting the gene!a !u es of a

uni+e!sa inguistic system ty$icaof the human s$ecies'



This uni+e!sa inguistics system is a geneticendo"ment of a human #eings' Choms(ydefines it as an innate Language

Ac uisition De+ice )LAD* genetica y$!og!ammed in the human #!ain' The LAD$!o+ides a se!ies of common g!ammatica$!inci$ es, o! Uni+e!sa G!amma! )UG*,and thei! !ea i%ations as +a!ia# e$a!amete!s to #e ada$ted to the +a!ying1settings0 of the diffe!ent anguages'



The $!esence of the LAD in the human #!ain"ou d e&$ ain "hy anguage de+e o$mentin chi d!en occu!s so easi y and

s$ontaneous y, and does not !e ui!e anye&$ icit teaching of the g!amma! !u es onthe $a!t of the adu ts' Mo!eo+e!, chi d!ena!e e&t!eme y c!eati+e in thei! use of

anguage, #ecause they can say andunde!stand "o!ds and sentences that theyha+e ne+e! hea!d #efo!e



In Choms(y0s $e!s$ecti+e, the!efo!e,anguage is e&c usi+e y a cogniti+e,a#st!act (no" edge de+e o$ing in thehuman mind com$ ete y detached f!omthe conte&ts in "hich it is used' This, infact, !e$!esents anothe! "ay of oo(ing at

anguage, that is, as a socia y moti+atedsystem de+e o$ed to a o" sociacommunication'



LANGUAGE ASCOMMUNICATION

In /a iday0s Systemic Functional Grammar the $u!$ose of Linguistics is conce!ned"ith the study of anguage as sociasemiotic, that is to say, as a system ofsigns that have been developed toserve the communicative needs of

people living in a social context.



In othe! "o!ds, /a iday intends anguagenot as a #io ogica e+o ution of the human#eings0 #!ain )as in Choms(y0s theo!y*, #utas a socio2cu tu!a e+o ution $!om$ted #ythe human #eings0 need to communicate"ith each othe! "ithin thei! o"ncommunities'



This means that anguage has e+o +ed "ithin as$ecific community in such a "ay that it fu fi sth!ee main functions-

. the Ideationa 3unction, conce!ned "ith $eo$ ethin(ing "ith anguage in o!de! to inte!$!ete&$e!ience'

. the Inte!$e!sona 3unction, conce!ned "ith$eo$ e acting "ith anguage in o!de! toachie+e inte!$e!sona communication'

. the Te&tua 3unction, conce!ned "ith theinguistic o!gani%ation of a message'



These functions in /a iday0s +ie", a!e!ea i%ed diffe!ent y in diffe!ent anguages#ecause they a!e coded into semantic andsyntactic st!uctu!es that !ef ect the

diffe!ent 1socia semiotic0 of diffe!entcommunities' 4ithin each community, thissemantic and syntactic code )!e$!esentingthe 1g!ammatica system0 of its anguage*a o"s the e&$!ession of the socia#eha+iou! of $eo$ e using it in +a!ioussituationa conte&ts'



4ithin the g!ammatica !esou!ces of thei!code, $eo$ e a!e f!ee to choose thosest!uctu!es that #est con+ey thei!e&$!essi+e and communicati+e intents'



5ERS5ECTI6ES ONCOM5ETENCE

Choms(y states that Linguistics shou d !ega!de&c usi+e y an a#st!act (no" edge of anguage,"hich he defines as competence. Then he

dissociates com$etence f!om the actua use ofanguage, o! performance ' Cont!a!y to this +ie",

De /ymes a!gues that anguage is not sim$ yan a#st!act, idea i%ed (no" edge of !u es, #ut itis a so the use of these !u es to achie+ecommunication )communicati+e com$etence*'



Gum$e!% and Le+inson c aim that the !u esof use in the +a!ious anguages a!ediffe!ent #ecause they !ef ect the diffe!entsocio2cu tu!a e&$e!iences of thei! use!s) inguistic !e ati+ity, that is, the idea thatcu tu!e, though anguage, affects the "ay"e thin(, es$ecia y ou! c assification of

the e&$e!ienced "o! d*'



T/E E75ERIENTIALIST5ERS5ECTI6E

A mo!e !ecent Cogniti+e2 3unctiona a$$!oach tog!amma!, info!med #y the E&$e!ientia ist +ie" inCogniti+e Linguistics succeeded in #!inging

togethe! these t"o theo!ies unde! a common!ationa e' To Cogniti+e2 functiona inguists,anguage is systematica y g!ounded in human

cognition since it is a conce$tua system that

eme!ges f!om $eo$ e0s e+e!yday e&$e!ience ofthei! o"n $hysica and sociocu tu!aen+i!onments



LANGUAGE IN SOCIOCULTURALCONTE7TS

No" "e sha sta!t #y e&amining anguage+a!iation and ho" it is con+entiona y c assifiedinto +a!ieties, dia ects and accents'

. 6a!ieties a!e gene!a +a!iations occu!!ing"ithin the code of the same anguage )8!itishEng ish, Ame!ican Eng ish*

. Dia ects a!e oca , !egiona +a!ieties that diffe!f!om the standa!d anguage code in !e ation tomo!$ho ogy, e&icon, synta&, and $hono ogy'



Accents a!e !egiona +a!ieties of a anguage thatdiffe! f!om the standa!d code on y in !e ation to$hono ogy )+a!ious Ame!ican, 8!itish and

Aust!a ian accents*' 6a!iation in accents hasa so a socia dimension, and this is oftendefined in te!ms of socia status and $!estigeof the s$ea(e!s' In 8!itain the $!estige accentis the Standa!d Eng ish, the +a!iety de+e o$edand s$o(en in the South2East of Eng and, thatis to say, in the a!ea that inc udes London,

Cam#!idge an O&fo!d' Standa!d Eng ish is a soca ed Recei+ed 5!onunciation and codified inthe $honemes of the Inte!nationa 5honetic

A $ha#et'

f



Language +a!iation, the!efo!e, can #e summa!i%ed into-. Diato$ic 6a!iation, de$ending on the $ ace "he!e it

occu!s' 3o! e&am$ e-. Eng ish s$o(en as the fi!st, nati+e anguage in Eng and,

Scot and, 4a es, Canada, Aust!a ia, USA. Eng ish s$o(en #y as a second anguage in the e& 8!itishco onies of Af!ica, Midd e East, South2 Asia9

. Eng ish s$o(en as a second anguage "ithincommunities of immig!ants i+ing in Eng ish2s$ea(ingcount!ies9

. Eng ish s$o(en #y $eo$ e i+ing in non2Eng ish s$ea(ingcount!ies, "ho use o! ea!n it as a fo!eign anguage o! asa ingua f!anca in inte!cu tu!a o! inte!nationacommunication'



Diast!atic 6a!iation, de$ending on the socia statusof its s$ea(e!s' 3o!, e&am$ e- Eng ish s$o(en#y London "o!(ing c asses )Coc(ney*: #y Ne";o!( <e"s, #y east2coast 4AS5 )4hite Ang o2Sa&on 5!otestants- US u$$e! midd e c assdescending f!om the fi!st "hite Ang o2Sa&onco oni%e!s $!ofessing the 5!otestant Re igion:#y Eng ish a!istoc!acy, etc' In othe! "o!ds, ou!$!onunciation, of #oth L=)ou! nati+e anguage*and L> )ou! second o! fo!eign anguage*!e+ea s a com$ e& system of socia meaningsthat "e ac ui!e in the cou!se of ou! ife'



. Dia$hasic 6a!iation, !e ated to the$!agmatic dimension' The inguistic sty eo! !egiste! diffe!s acco!ding to thesituationa conte&t in "hich thecommunication ta(es $ ace'

. Diamesic 6a!iation, de$ending on thecommunication means o! channe s'

. Diach!onic 6a!iation, !e ated to thehisto!ica de+e o$ment of a anguage'

language, mind and social interaction

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