Language and Culture - Literature review Example

Running Head: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Name Course Course Instructor Date Submitted It is quite evidence that language and culture are inseparable. Language is defined to be primary system of what human communication entails. In a broader perspective language can be defined as a symbol that represents thoughts which are very essential in transmitting culture across borders. Culture on the other hand is defined as the set of value that governs a particular society. It is for this reason researchers are trying to investigate whether language teachers should primarily focus on emphasizing what unites individuals across culture or should they just emphasis on the differences (Crozet & Liddicoat, 1999). Basing this argument on a multilingual and multicultural background, language teachers require a solid base of knowledge that will assist in facilitating language and culture. It is quite evidence that language learning or teaching is perceived to be one related to cultural learning and teaching thus creating variability across various socio-cultural groups. According to (Crozet & Liddicoat, 1999), it is from this definition that language teachers are able to understand culture thus creating an ability which respond constructively to differences in language and culture among students. It is from this and many other reasons that this study will focus on giving a clear argument on the emphasis that language teachers requires in defining both differences and unity across cultures. With increased globalization and continue influx of international scholars, the world is been interconnected by different culture and languages. Holmes (2008) asserts that, emphasis on unity across cultures or differences has widely become essential not only for future occupation but rather a well educational cultural setting. It is important to for language teachers to make emphasis that today, education is been seen as an indispensable tool within our societies which ensures that teaching on behaviors and values are essential in sustaining one culture thus creation of awareness that can either divide or unite individuals across cultures. Language teachers should acquire substantial knowledge that will ensure that student are been united across culture thus opening their mind to different view in regard to a particular culture. It is been argued that effectiveness of uniting or dividing people across culture, has made language teachers to realize the need of adapting new situation as a way of approaching differences in culture. It is therefore essential for language teachers especially those teaching English as second language or English as a foreign country to adapt a culture sensitive practice so as to contribute toward achieving a responsible pedagogy by so doing students are able to unite across culture thus assisting one another while working as a group (Holmes, 2008). Further, research indicates that sensitivity exhibited in intercultural act as a central platform in role of language in relation to education towards improving relationship across various cultures. For instance, it have been discovered that a second language classroom to be an excellent place that assists in the expansion of cultural diversity. It is indicated that different theories that seem to surround language acquisition enable a second language student to acquire knowledge that intertwines him to that particular culture thus promoting unity (Stern, 1992). Language has been considered to establish a sphere of inter-culturality. Due to this there have concern that there are no major link between linguistic ideology and social factor thus a growing concern for such an establishment (Kramsch, 1993). Global unification requires one to consider other individual culture in relation to his or hers. Language teachers should therefore incorporate the use of language as an approach that widely transmits transfer of information across different cultural backgrounds thus unifying them together. As opposed to differences in language and culture, it is quite essential that language teacher to focus on bringing individual from different cultural background together during teaching so as to reduce level of differences that may exists between them. In addition, it is very essential that they are able to adapt the method of teaching culture by use of interpersonal process. By so doing teachers are able to make learners understand various cultural facts defining otherness promoting oneness (Crozet and Liddicoat, 1999). There are three categories in which language teachers should focus on when describing cultural competence. These categories are sociolinguistic ability which incorporates both verbal and non verbal communication, knowledge of cultural area which should entail on methods needed to analyze and observe different culture and finally, attitudes displayed while tolerating other people culture (Kramsch, 1993). By way of accessing student capability along these three dimensions assist teachers in preparing their students in appreciating culture different from their own. These three dimensions ensures that cultural literacy being emphasized by language teachers deals widely in learning the various behaviors that usually necessary in determining cultural unity and differences and one’s ability to adapt them. Research indicates that when teachers are aware of cultural variation among his or her students, they are able to ascertain unity and differences exhibited by his student. This is very essential in the sense that the language teacher is able to develop tactics that will put emphasis either unifying or dividing across culture (Kramsch, 1993). Basing on the unification across culture argument, a teacher is able to understand who a student adapts while working in a group comprising of individuals from different culture. Here, a language teacher is able to understand variation in students’ communication and by way of regulating their participation he is able to emphasis unity across cultures. Further emphasis of unity across cultures can be achieved when language teachers constantly expands their language use repertoires by way of restructuring their student in small groups where individuals student will educate his friend on their culture (Kramsch, 1993). According to Stern (1992), students with the help of their language teachers should understand that culture is very essential in understanding the development within an individual culture can be compared to a manual since it helps individual to follow values so as to become skilled within their societies. It is at this point that teachers should facilitate the use of language by way of communication which assists in implicating different views of the world. Here, language teachers define language as a method that widely transmits division and unity implicated on culture (Stern, 1992). Clearly, it is from this reason that language teachers educates that there is a great linkage between language and culture due to the fact that language shapes what is known as world conceptualization. It is evident that all associations across the globe are done through the unification of language and culture. Stern (1992) asserts that, language teachers view the use of language as a psychological function of culture especially in the learning of a second language. Here, students are either unifies or divided across culture in the sense that they are expected to establish a new reality from their cultural experience within a new social context. By so doing it is quite evidence that in any social cultural interaction made there is a shared social world. It has been noted that various conflicts are likely to occur when a teacher and her student are perceived to come from a different culture background. Today, language learning and teaching has widely been affected by inter-culturality (Stern, 1992). It is quite evidence that this has come to cover the space initially occupied by culture within the language curriculum thus creating competency aiming at establishing an emphasis in the learning process. Further, the incorporation of inter-culturality in the language curriculum clearly gives a concise shift from linguistic to that of educational objective. Stern(1992) asserts that, the emphasis of teaching and learning of language sociolinguistics through communicative competency refers to what the speaker has to know about a particular speech community before being able effectively and appropriately communicate. The non native speakers of a language need to know the appropriate contextual meaning of the terms in usage in order for effective and appropriate communication to occur. To eliminate differences and foster cultural unity, the non native speaker ought t not only be conversant with the language codes but to be able to know what to say, how to say it and to whom should it be said to with reference to the context. The speaker has to make an effort into learn and understand the cultural knowledge that will be essential in the usage and interpretation of the linguistic forms. The speaker will be able to assess which of the utterances made are grammatically appropriate and relay the message that was intended (Stern, 1992). According to Wardhaugh (1998), the linguistic competence is normally gauged on the feasibility, occurrence and appropriateness of a grammatical utterance. in eliminating the differences that might occur in the usage of different languages in different cultures the emphasis on teaching language based on the unification factor will enable the learner and the new user of a language to be able to assess the context in which the utterances rare being made. This includes the knowledge of what the different culture and language expects the speaker to speak or be quiet. The learning of language as a unifying agent of the different cultures is able to give the language user the ability to know how to give information, ask queries and how to enforce discipline or give commands in a culture (Wardhaugh, 1998). The knowledge of this is able to give the non native language speaker and learner the ability to integrate within the culture without causing tension as he/she will be able to appreciate the culture. The content of the speakers utterances have to fit the specific social context through which the language is being used and the purposes of the utterances. The linguistic learners have to be able to distinguish referential meaning from social meaning. The instructors have to ensure that the learners are able to distinguish between the two as this is a show of communicative competence (Kramsch, 1993). The competence in communication requires the knowledge of communication skills. This includes the knowledge of who the culture through knowledge permits to speak at particular given instances. The language teachers through sociolinguistic emphasize on the learner to have knowledge of the communicative behavior. The aim of the teacher’s emphasis on this aspect is to develop the learner’s ability to know how they are able to communicate with persons of different statuses or roles (Wardhaugh, 1998). The learners are also able to assess as to which non verbal communications are appropriate in a given setting and social context. Through this, the learner is able to avoid communicational conflicts that arise as a result of the differences in the communication patterns that have a negative effect of inhibiting communication. The result of t is would be the creation of this is the eruption of differences which may act on creating differences among the cultures. Cultural factors are known to deeply interweave with language which is usually reflected in structural and morphological form of language. It is from this perceptive that language teachers should widely emphasis that language should be a unifying factor across cultures. In addition to this, the learner needs to be aware of the communicative intentions of the speaker (Stern, 1992). All the cultural aspects are essential to the learner of a second language. This incorporates the knowledge of how the native speakers view their language and the attitudes held by the speakers of the particular language. Learners whose learning experience zeroed in on the importance of language as a unifying factor are able to appreciate the values and attitude towards language that are different from theirs. This will be able to help the learner to identify the areas of a language that are considered a taboo and the sanctions that accompany the violation of such rules (Crozet & Liddicoat, 1999). Through teaching and attaining of cultural competence, the learner is able to identify him or herself as being a cultural being. The learner is able to identify with the everyday life cultural dimensions as they view behavior being shaped by culture. Learners are able to view other people’s cultural life as natural but able to identify the beliefs and other parts of the culture that is different from theirs. This is able to make the learner be able to attain self knowledge. Self recognition is considered a step towards cultural recognition competence. Cultural recognition competence requires the need to train learners on the need to be able to make an observation of their own behavior (Holmes, 2008). The attainment of cultural acceptance creates an avenue for the learner to be able to extend the cultural recognition to others. This involves the extension of cultural recognition to the other people’s behavior. This enables us to identify the importance of interaction among cultures in the creation of culture recognition. The enhancement of skills in effective cross cultural communication is enabled by negotiations across cultures. Cross cultural negotiations enable the learner to be able to identify the reason as to why people of different cultures and behaviors are different from ours and be able to make a justifiable conclusion on the actions and statements of others (Crozet and Liddicoat, 1999). Wardhaugh (1998) asserts that, in a deeper depth, multicultural contexts widely define multi-linguistic and the vice-versa is true. These two contexts entail the full realization by language teachers on various cultural backgrounds with their linguistic relativity. Learners are able to realize this from analyzing both native and target culture putting emphasis on language meditation. Researchers from both social scientists and linguistic indicates that the use of language mediation is considered as a central element which highly comprise of an interpretive framework analyzed and created by a social world. This clearly indicates that without definable linguistic experiences of unification then it is quite obvious that the same cultural experience cannot be achieved within the same depths or through emphasizing on differences that divide individual across culture (Wardhaugh, 1998). Researches indicate that culture defined by an individual is widely related to their languages. Clearly, language teachers put emphasis that there are certain aspects of languages most particularly lexicon highly reflect cultural importance and its importance in uniting individuals as opposed on emphasis placed by language teachers on their differences. The grammar of a language reveals how the community segments and organizes time and space. Different cultures have different ways through which they interpret time grammatically. In some cultures the past might be used to represent the present and vice versa. For instance in the classical Greek, the language users use the past tense to refer to things that are ahead. Other language varieties of the Quechua culture also use the past to refer to instances of the future. To them the past can be seen since it has already been experienced unlike the future thus its best lace is to be in front of the eyes. According to the Quechua culture what cannot be seen like the future must stay in the back. The learning of sociolinguistics as a unifying factor across cultures is able to help us identify the cultural differences that exist in language communities in terms of segmentation of culture and be able to appreciate their usage in the view of eliminating the misunderstanding that might be caused by the difference in the application of grammatical rules (Wardhaugh, 1998). In conclusion, it is essential that acquiring of cultural knowledge often is a target of language usually called fifth skill in language learning. Therefore, for this and many discussed emphasis language teachers should teach their student that cultural differences along with structural difference of language are very vital. Emphasis created by language teachers about unity and differences across culture ensures that students are able to adapt to any culture regardless the language in questions. The aims of language teachers’ emphasizing on what unites individuals across cultures widely entail the development of both cultural and lingual competence. Clearly, cultural knowledge is itself an educational objective linked to language. It is further for one to understand that cultural awareness created by language teachers in emphasizing whether languages should unites or divide across culture, does not only enable language proficiency on outcome but rather as a proficiency. From various findings, language teachers belief that there major challengers defined in both culture and language in a classroom especially when addressing issues related to culture and language. To avoid such challengers that may bring a sharp division in class, it is very essential to understand that students who are learning a particular language as a second language are prone into making errors. Rather than using these errors to criticize them, the teacher is expected to embrace the error through correcting them thus promoting unity among students from different cultures. In addition, foreign students should feel a sense of closeness while in class regardless of their language and culture. By so doing a language teacher will be highly emphasizing unity across culture as opposed to differences in it. Language has been regarded as a cultural act by researchers and language teachers. This is because the predictability of the multicultural and multilingual societies. The diversification of societies necessitates the need for the societies to have an intercultural understanding. The language pedagogy is expected to utilize language as an agent of enhancing cultural relations and understanding as opposed to aspect created when language teachers emphasize on differences. In this era of the world where the globalization has made persons to be enmeshed in a in a solitary interrelated global system needs and integration of the financial and trade systems. Language plays a vital role in the determining how the trade pacts will be and are negotiated among different nations of diverging cultures. Language on the other hand through the interpersonal encounters is equally important variables of economic performance in the maintaining of the tourist industry that has witnessed immense growth in the globalization age. Language has been utilized as a means to create understanding and creating awareness of the differences that exist in the modes of trading thus the need to emphasize on the teaching of language based on its unification (Crozet and Liddicoat, 1999). References Crozet, C, and Liddicoat, A. (1999). "The challenge of intercultural language teaching: Engaging with culture in the classroom", in Striving for the Third Place: Intercultural Competence Through Language Education, eds J. Lo Bianco, A.J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet, Language Australia, Melbourne, pp. 113-125. Holmes, J. (2008). An introduction to sociolinguistics, 3rd ed, Pearsoned Education Limited, England. Kramsch, C. (1993) "Teaching language along the cultural faultline", in Context and Culture in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press,Oxford, pp. 205-232. Kramsch, C. (1993). "Teaching language along the cultural faultline", in Context and Culture in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 205-232. Stern, H. (1992). "The intralingual-crosslingual dimension", in Issues and Options in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.279-299. Wardhaugh, R. (1998). "Ethnography and ethnomethodology", in An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 237-254. Read More