Language and Culture

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.


• 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.


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.


• 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.


• 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


• 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


• 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.


• 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.


• 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.


• 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

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