Interconnectedness of Language and Culture.pdf

We can view that interrelatedness between culture and
language in these three opposing aspects:
1. Language and culture are inseparable since language is
closely related to culture.
2. Language and culture are independent because speech
is a means of exchanging information which can be used
in aspects that are not connected to culture.
3. Culture and language are partly interconnected.
Theories in Language
and Culture

1. Ways of doing things and perceptions can be manifested
through the use and arrangement of words. Considering
this, people in society convey culture.
2. People postulate meaning in their daily activities and
experiences through language, and thus, language
personifies cultural reality.
3. The context of communication where language is used
embodies cultural reality and speakers distinguish
themselves using their language as their identity.
Claire Kramsch (1998) pointed
three ways by which language
and culture are related

Culture as part of language
• “Language is purely human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and desire by means of
voluntarily produced symbols” (Sapir, 1921).
• Language is a part of culture and a part of epidermal behavior.
It is predominantly held that the task of language is to put
thoughts into words, to communicate pieces of information and
to express feelings. Language fulfills many other functions as
maintaining a friendly societal relationship between people such
as greeting people, expressing needs, etc. (Risgar, 2006).

Culture as part of language
Kramsch (1962) phrased the main functions of language in three
aspects:
Ø Language is the primary vehicle of communication
Ø Language reflects both the personality of the individual and the
culture of history. In turn, it helps in shaping both personality and
culture.
Ø Language makes possible the growth and transmission of
culture, the continuity of societies and the effective functioning
and control of social group.
Teacher’s note: If we endeavor to learn another language, we need to be acquainted
with the cultural realities embedded in this target language. There must be a distinct way
of requesting or expressing gratitude and other appropriate ways of transacting in this
target culture.

Language, thought, and culture
Benjamin Lee Whorf shared his theory on the significance of
language in organizing our thoughts. He espoused that our ways of
looking at the world depend on the type of language that we use.
His example is on the word “snow”. The word may mean differently
to an English person and an Eskimo person who may have 50 ways
to describe the snow.
The same holds truth for Sinugbuanong Binisaya or the Cebuano
language, there are more than one word to mean “eat”. There is
“habhab”, “kaon”, “sima”, “timo”, etc. Language therefore is very
cultural. The Cebuano words for eat basically tells that culturally,
Cebuanos have different ways and practices for eating as
presented by the hue of meaning of words.
Teacher’s note: What are other concepts in your culture where you use different words to refer to
them, highlighting various aspects about your culture?

Culture and its elements
It is undeniable that we learn culture through interaction with
people. Culture is not inborn but rather learned as it is a social
product. Words are the best tools of cultural symbols, such as
epics, myths, and stories. This helps connect people. Aside from
words or language, rituals, beliefs and values are essential in the
formation of culture. Generally, the elements of culture include the
overall patterns of behavior, literature and language, arts,
prototypes and other products of human work and thoughts.

Vygotsky’s Theory
Lev Vygotsky, a psychologist, believed that social interactions
between and among people are a key element in acquiring
knowledge, just like how a child watches and learns from adults.
The more experiences a child has to imitate the greater his
intellectual skills and language development compared to those
with less experience and exposure.
He believed that every culture has specific dynamics for social
transactions.

Piaget’s Theory
Jean Piaget contends that when children are born they have an
embedded basic structure for cognition as well as for language.
As they mature, their built-in structure also adjusts to let them learn
more about complex language and other higher-order concepts.
In this theory, Piaget stressed that children create meaning from
the verbal and nonverbal cues received from their environment
and these meanings change as children learn more because of
maturity.
Piaget did not adhere to Vygotsky's idea of emphasizing culture
and learning.

Chomsky’s Theory
Noam Chomsky is known for his Language Acquisition Device
(LAD) which is a built-in box in the brain responsible for creating
and learning the language.
For him, practice is not important as children never acquire
language through it.
Furthermore, language structure can change, develop and evolve
given cultural interactions.

The history of language relied so much on the hands of the great
linguists from the time it started up to the 20th century. Language
literally and constantly evolves with time and its development
follows a timeline. In each stage that language passes through
are footprints of accomplishments of the great contributors from
ancient philosophers to modern linguists.
Language and History

From the time language was first studied and structured, the
transformation of language artifacts just kept coming. The changes
applied to language miraculously suit to the generation of its users.
With the numerous language experts the world has, there are just a
few noteworthy linguists whose contributions are widely adopted and
scrutinized by modern linguists.
Language and History

Linguists started to make a mark after Panini composed his Sanskrit
grammar in India in 400 B.C. followed by the remarkable linguists that
history records are all noteworthy. However, in the field of language
and history, the following linguists below are well remembered.
Historical Timeline of
Noteworthy Linguists

In 384 B.C.E Aristotle was born in Macedonia particularly in Stagira. His
father served as the physician of the Macedonian King, Amyntas. At 17,
Aristotle entered the academy which Plato established in Athens and
stayed there until Plato’s death. As the successor of Plato, he departed
Athens and lived in Asia Minor and the resided in Lesbos. Later between
343 B.C. – 342 B.C. , he was invited by Amynta’s son, Philip II of
Macedonia, to teach his 14 year old son, Alexander. In 336 B.C.,
Alexander took over the throne and conquered the entire of Greece. So
Aristotle, left and established his school of philosophy.
Aristotle

Aristotle’s huge contribution to the development of language started
when he demythologized language. He looked at it as an object of
rational inquiry, a medium of communicating and expressing thoughts
about anything under the sun. In Ogden and Richards (1923:11), he
explained that the “semiotic triangle” refers to (a) language is human’s
means of expression of, (b) thoughts that are purposefully connected to
(c) elements present in this world.
Aristotle’s contribution
to linguistics

In other words, he was establishing the relation between language
expressions including written words with the mental meaning produced
b these words. In this theory of truth, he provided that the properties of
either thoughts and sentences are truth and falsity. He identified the
primary parts of a sentence – the noun and verb, which functioned as
subject and verb in the sentence.
Aristotle’s contribution
to linguistics

He was born in Winchester on November 27, 1710 and was educated at
Winchester School and New College Oxford. In his lifetime, he worked as
a Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. Lowth was a clergyman
after he served as archdeacon of Winchester, rector of East Woodhay,
prebend of Durham, Bishop of Saint David’s, bishop of London, dean of
the Chapel Royal and privy councilor. His noble acts ended after he
died on November 3, 1787.
Robert Lowth (1710-1787)

In 1762, he published his book titled, “Short Introduction to English
Grammar” which became a standard textbook. The “Short Introduction
to English Grammar” instantly gained fame over other grammar books
that it was reissued approximately 45 times from 1762-1800. Lowth then
earned a reputation as a prescriptivist and that period gave rise to
prescriptivism.
Lowth’s contribution to
linguistics

The term prescriptivism refers to beliefs and practices where one’s
language is thought and superior and correct and should be promoted.
The explicit rules are laid down as the basis of the imposition on the
language users. He was one of the few grammarians to publish writing
about what is right and wrong in English grammar where he used
footnotes that contain essential information that explain why a particular
grammatical structure was right or wrong.
Lowth’s contribution to
linguistics

In 1857, Ferdinand de Saussure was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He was
interested in languages even at his very early age. At 15, he learned
French, Greek, English, and Latin and he also wrote essays on language
at that age. Having been influenced by a family of scientists, he entered
the University of Geneva and studied natural sciences. He stayed at the
university, but he had convinced his parents to permit him to study
linguistics in Leipzig in 1876 and luckily received his doctorate.
Ferdinand de Saussure
(1857-1913)

As a linguist, he was among the pillars of linguistics in the 20th Century
and known as a co-founder of semiotics and structuralism theorizes that
things could not be understood without analyzing the context where
they appear. Things might look self-evident at first glance, but
structuralism goes beyond what one sees and insists that context
contributes to the meaning-making process.
Saussure’s contribution
to linguistics

1. Saussure maintained the difference between langue (a set of
conventions and rules) and parole (language as used in daily life).
2. There was no intrinsic and particular reason why sign was utilized to
express a signifier.
3. The meaning of signs can be based on their relationships and
differences from other signs
In summary, structuralism
advocated three similar
concepts:

His name, when written in full is, Avram Noam Chomsky. He was born in
Pennsylvania in 1923. He pursued his interest in linguistic under Zellig
Harris, the profession who helped him earn his doctorate at the University
of Pennsylvania. During his time, he was also regarded as the Father of
Modern Linguistics, a philosopher, a social critic, a cognitive scientist,
and a political activist.
Noam Chomsky

As one of the linguistic intellectuals, he introduced the concept of
universal grammar and suggested that human has an ability to learn
grammar because the brain has a Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
that automatically works in language acquisition. Chomsky, who often
focused on the language learning of children, popularized this theory
since the 1980s.
He was not convinced that exposure to language alone can fully develop the child’s faculty to
acquire a language. Instead, he believed that basic language structures are already wired into
the human brain at birth. Besides, the human language has verbs and nouns, and so do other
languages even if the terms being used vary due to language differences.
Chomky’s contribution
to linguistics

Interconnectedness of Language and Culture.pdf

Interconnectedness of Language and Culture.pdf

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Interconnectedness of Language and Culture.pdf

More from Nathaniel Aliguyon

Recently uploaded

Interconnectedness of Language and Culture.pdf