Social Constructionism - Research Paper Example

Running Head: LANGUAGE Language of the of the Language Social Constructionism Social psychology makes use of asocial intrapsychic cognitive and motivational processes, hence it was seen as being too reductionist and was criticised as such. In terms of social psychology, positivism is known as the means of studying man and his social world. Gough and McFaddens (2001) definition argues that positivism is a belief in natural science as a positive social force capable of generating sound knowledge and moving society forward. The sceptics involved in the era of the social psychology crisis however came to believe that as positivist methods entailed people (social psychologists) studying other people, they could not maintain objectivity in their experiments. In other words: it was claimed that any ideas, opinions and biases of the social psychologist acquired through their own life experiences may be of detriment to their findings. By this logic, biases could be identified in causal mechanisms such as stereotypes and attitudes, leaving conclusions to experimental findings somewhat ambiguous and dependent upon time and place. With this idea in mind, social constructionists therefore put forward the argument that there is no once and-for-all accurate or true version of the world (Beyer, 2004). Those of the social constructionist persuasion do not claim to oppose the nature of science, although they are sceptical towards its claim to uncover knowledge in its methods. Therefore many of the scientific ‘laws’ known previously to social psychologists were put into indefinite disrepute in the eyes of many. Social thought and action is explained primarily in terms of individual mental functioning and behaviour i.e. a failure to address the social nature of human experience. Critical social psychology offers alternative/adjunctive approaches to the study of contemporary social issues. It is possible to measure the durability of social psychological processes by adapting social constructionist methodology to examine historical and literary documents in the form of a critique. To this end, there is also a requirement for cross-cultural thinking in the research of critical social psychological to collate findings more accurately and on a global level. Indeed, Vivien Burr (1995) contests that ‘all peoples do not subscribe to our western view […] in some cultures people account for their actions by reference to invisible spirits and demons and would find our idea that behaviour originates in personality a very strange one.’ This echoes the need for the implementation of a better global understanding in social psychology. Social constructionism is widely regarded as a form of critique in it’s challenging of the conventional view shared by many social psychologists that although people perceive the world’s events in their own way, the determining of their personal judgment is reliant on others. By this reasoning, it is perhaps also at least partially dependent upon other relevant subjective experiences within social life, whether geographical, stereotypical, gender based or otherwise. It is strongly argued that social constructionism is directly responsible for the “critical” status given to modern social psychology. Gough & McFadden site four main fundamental ideals within social constructionism, which may also be applied to critical social psychology. First of all, the individual is always (and already) existent and located within society. Secondly, the individual is always situated within systems of difference and inequality within society to some extent. Thirdly, power within society is frequently associated with language and presentation. Finally, research should aim to challenge oppression and promote social change. Gough and McFadden believe that ‘the first and crucial point to make is that social constructionism represents a ‘turn to language’ in social theory.’ Therefore the representation, meaning and interpretation of events are what form the key elements comprising the social constructionists agenda whilst simultaneously providing a basis for critical social psychology. Since the introduction of the social constructionist theory, the main attention of critical social psychology has become focussed upon breaking down and studying differing accounts of everyday social activity. Social learning suggests that aggression is something that is learned and acquired by the self through direct experience (reinforcements) or simply by observing the behaviour of others (modelling). Using these methods, the self assimilates the ability to seek appropriate occasions to exercise this particular character trait. Through time, one learns appropriate targets for their aggression; which actions by others justify an aggressive retaliation and in which context these retaliations belong. Social Learning theory suggests that this link applies in particular to those people who view Television violence as being prone to violent behaviour. Albert Bandura (1965) conducted a study where aggressive models in a film were punished for their actions, others were rewarded, and still others faced no consequences (Leonard Jason, 2001). Children viewing the rewarded and no-consequence models displayed similar aggressive behaviour to that which they had previously witnessed. Consequences for aggressive behaviour are rarely shown on television; hence those children susceptible to such programming may believe its perfectly ok to exhibit similar behaviour to the care free characters they see on the television. Banduras findings also showed that those children who viewed the aggressive actions of the punished model were able to copy their actions when prompted to do so. This suggested that although they did not voluntarily do so at first, they had nevertheless acquired the ability to duplicate these aggressive actions. A further experiment by Bandura during the same period, studied whether a child may duplicate the actions of an aggressive cartoon cat on television. The results of which demonstrated that children were just as susceptible to learning aggressive character traits from the cartoon character as they were from the human model. These findings suggested that any form of aggressive behaviour illustrated on the television is easily taken on board by an impressionable youth. Although clearly this suggests that there is evidence to support this idea, it is nevertheless seen to be of an ambiguous quality. Although the only real means or regulating the violence on Television is to reduce it by imposing harsher censorship laws, the idea of creating awareness programs of the implications of re-enacting television violence has been successful to an extent. A theory to this effect was also provided by Huesmann et al (1983). They conducted an experiment where they placed a group of children in a treatment group (Jane E. Ledingham et al., 1993). This treatment group was given the task of creating a film to show children who had been "fooled by television or harmed by television violence [or had] got into trouble [for] imitating it". The group put together arguments to identify the negative aspects of television violence, these arguments were video-recorded, and the children were asked questions regarding them afterward. A comparison group comprised of another number of children performed a similar task involving a question and answer session following the creation of a videotaped presentation, this time giving their thoughts on "Why everyone should have a hobby". Huesmann et al. found afterwards that the treatment group were significantly more negative towards television and believed it to be considerably less realistic than pre-experiment than the comparison group. A follow up assessment four months later by both groups peers concluded that the treatment group were now significantly less aggressive than the comparison group, although both groups continued to view the same rates of violence on television as before. However Huesmann (1986) himself later concluded that It is implausible to believe at this point that any single new study is going to change the balance much From a social learning point of view, the causal influence of moral decline is said to be the constant abuse of the freedom of expression given to the media; hence there is a requirement for revised and improved censorship and regulation. The social learning ideology is a proponent of the understanding that there are numerous possible effects of television violence contributing to the selfs perception of aggression. “Acquisition” of aggression may be achieved from familiarisation of texts and scenes with a violent or aggressive context. Another contributing factor to an aggressive nature is the “maintenance” or the encouragement given to the individual concerned, in other words, their continual uncensored exposure to the theme of violence and aggression. Similarly, “priming” or “stirring up” aggressive thoughts (whether by means of playing violent video games or continuous exposure to violent television shows) is thought to be another contributing element to aggressive behaviour. By social learnings school of thought, any combination of these three effects can potentially bring about the “desensitisation” of ones self. Desensitisation is the term used to describe one who has began to lose their emotional revulsion toward violence. The viewers, in turn, accept this violence as a form of normal behavior and, therefore, begin to behave aggressively themselves (Lynn, Hampson & Agahi, 1989). The social constructionist perspective of aggression differs greatly from that of the social learning ideology. The ongoing nature vs. nurture argument suggests that the degree of aggression residing within ones self (like many other emotional states) is something that is instilled at birth and initially operates on a genetic level. The social constructionist argument analyses in more detail what qualifies as aggression and in which context it is used. In other words attempting to determine the legitimacy of using the term “aggression” or being “aggressive” when taking into account ones social background as well as their beliefs on moral and political issues. When one is said to exhibit aggressive behaviour, authorities can easily persecute the individual for it as this type of behaviour is widely deemed unacceptable by society. One can be defined as aggressive without the set of given circumstances being paid due attention. In the eyes of the establishment, punishment and retaliation is more readily justified when one has been provoked by anothers “aggressive” behaviour. From the social constructionists point of view, anger and aggression are concepts which are defined by their given social context, hence the definitions of which can be somewhat ambiguous. An aggressive state of mind is merely used by the individual to serve a form of social use. Furthermore, the social constructionist argues that any evidence relating television violence and aggression to one another is mainly of moral and political importance. Languages are Codes of Communication In order for knowledge to be passed on from one scientist to another, language plays a passive role in the communication of the scientific ideas. It is simply the means whereby meaning and information are conveyed from one speaker to another. Language conveys scientific knowledge to others in a clear and economical way. It plays a significant role in the area of scientific knowledge because it makes it easier for scientist to communicate their ideas with others. For instance, a scientist just develops a new scientific idea and he wants to communicate it to other scientist. This is where the role of language comes into play because it will be needed for the scientist to share his idea to other scientist clearly, with its appropriate meaning or content (Fairclough, 2006). Therefore, since language is used as a tool to communicate effectively among scientists, it is used to communicate effectively among historians. Thus, language plays a role of equal importance in different areas of knowledge. Next, for knowledge to be passed down throughout histories of discoveries, from generation to generations, the role of language is definitely necessary. This is because language is used to convey information to one another. Without a written document, the knowledge gained will be lost after a discoverer or a researcher of the respective fields of studies dies. For instance, in History, certain knowledge of events would be lost if there were no languages to write a diary or a document. In other words, there would be no sources left behind to bring forth the understanding of the event and to analyze the event. Therefore, language is constructive in translating the feelings and beliefs of people to somewhat which other people could actually read such as textbooks, and historical novels. As a result, language is equally important in the historical area of knowledge. Language is equally important in the areas of knowledge because it makes it easier to gather and accumulate knowledge in the respective areas (Pennycook, 1994). For example, in school, most of the things being taught to students are conveyed through language. This form of language can either be in form of teaching or through reading the textbooks. Language is a tool of communication and a culture barrier and in relation to matters of identity and culture language as inseparable parts. All through all areas of information, language, a technique of human communication that utilizes symbols to contribute to ideas, emotions, and knowledge, is used to communicate and converse views and manners. It is an established structure of communication that is important to all parts of information because it permits people to share their information in any part. More significantly, language is imperative because not including it, each area of information could not be uttered or conversed all over the humanity. So, as language is desirable in order to obtain, and converse information, it plays a position of equivalent significance in diverse areas of information like; in science, history, and in school wisdom practices. Language, moreover spoken or written, is our generally means of communication; thus making it an equal importance in different areas of knowledge. It is transmitted through learning and is part of our culture. It is a tool that allows us to discuss the past and the future, to express feelings, exchange ideas and experiences. Moreover, language expresses the association between words and things for which they stand for. As a result, the ability to put labels on things emerges. Therefore, without language, there is no means of communicating, thus making it difficult for knowledge to be passed on from one person to another. More and more people decide to learn a second or even third language. It gives us more opportunities to go through life. Everyone should know at least two languages. It helps us not only for travelling. It helps us to communicate more. It helps us to find more people and a better job. And when we learn new language, we not only learn communicating, but we also learn new culture. It can be helpful and interesting; it opens a whole new world for us. Knowing a foreign language increases your cultural sensitivity and enhances your travel enjoyment (Erasmus, 2008). Even being able to say "hello" and "thank you" opens doors with the people whose country you are visiting. It shows them you are making a sincere effort to be agreeable and to get the most out of your visit to their country. Language is a group of symbols, letters, words, and sentences, where each of them stands for something else. Letters stand for pronounced sounds, words symbolize particular objects and sentences are arrangements of the different symbols. Language is a way of communication between people and in fact it is a tool of our brain which enables people to think. Without language it would not be possible to express what you know, what you feel, and what you think. Language is actually one way of knowing. As John Simon says, language is with us always, as nothing else is. As different languages are spoken by different people, who are aware of different objects and things, there are symbols, terms that can be found in some languages but in others not. Conclusion Social psychologists such as Parker (1998) claim that social constructionism provides a necessary basis from which to form theories in critical social psychology (Gough & McFadden, 2001). From this logical stance, the social psychologist (or social constructionist) can question and dissect further what were formerly identified as ‘taken for granted’ connections between the use of language and reality in any given social context. Using this ideology, an interrogation of sorts can therefore be applied to concepts involving truth and reality by means of a critical examination. It is argued that hand in hand with the introduction of social constructionism, there gradually came great advances in social psychology in that a new ‘critical’ element was introduced. Although the functionality of social psychology remained as it always had, these new ethics brought about the decline of experimental work and invalidity to established experimental findings. Qualitative methods such as participant observation and role-playing became the norm in favour of traditional experimental work. Social constructionist theory is said to have facilitated the development of new concepts borne from feminism and Marxism. According to Gudykunst and Kim (2003), there are five factors for the importance of language in communication. First, it can produce a variety of meaning with different combination. Second, the elements are independent since people can distinguish them for their different sounds. Third, language can be used to represent itself. In addition, it can describe the past things which may not exist at present. Finally, language is changeable with varied meaning. All of these factors consist in the complicated ingredients of communication, thus they will be reflected more or less in the following illustration. Languages often appear to exist as static forms with little changes over a relatively long period of time, however, they are rather dynamic indeed involving a lot of changes such as vocabulary and grammar and such a phenomenon can be called as language evolution. The evolution of language has twofold meanings which are the biological evolution of language faculty and a changing system of communication (Stanford, 2005). In other words, language evolution is along with the development of human being bringing both positive and negative effects on inter cultural communication. On the one hand, it is evolution of language that makes it possible for people to communicate among different cultures. Both Nowak and Krakauer (1999) believe that all humans’ languages are thought to possess the same general structure and permit an almost limitless production of information for communicating as the result of language revolution. Firstly, language allows people to have contact with others. Gudykunst and Kim (2003) argue that language has at least three functions in communicating situation, which are providing one’s knowledge, expressing one’s own opinions and influencing others’ actions or thoughts. People could exchange ideas with each other by means of applying the use of language to achieve mutual understanding. Secondly, language can help us understand culture variations in both communication style and the context regulations (Martin and Nakayama, 2004). It is widely believed that the word “language culture” is better than saying language and culture separately (Agar cited in Gudykunst and Kim, 2003). For example, the difference in values between British and Chinese could be read apparently through some usage. Admittedly, the English speaking countries often emphasize the individual initiative while the Chinese people often pay more attention to others and give priority to others. British people would say “What can I do for you?” when they would like to offering assistance, whereas Chinese prefer to say “What do you need for help?” under the same condition. Moreover, the letter “I” appears as capital form almost every situation in Britain while Chinese people like to use self-depreciatory expressions when referring to themselves. Consequently, it might be implied that people can learn about different traditions and customs through languages. On the other hand, language evolution causes some disapproving matters as well. To begin with, according to Natural Virtual Translation Center (2006), 6,912 languages live in the modern world today and not every single language would be a vital one, that is, not all the languages are in the equal position. Owing to this, there should be the discrimination between dominant and subordinate languages. Reid and Ng (cited in Gudykunst and Kim, 2003) argue that language creates and reflects power. Also, Martin and Nakayama (2004) contend that the economic and social context have a strong impact on people’s attitudes to a particular language. Take English as an example, no one can deny that the most widely spread language has close relationship with the dominant position of western countries, especially the America. As a result of the unfairness in languages, some minority languages have already been in danger of extinction. It is estimated that over 50% of the worlds 6900 languages are endangered and that one language disappears every fortnight on average (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, n.d.). Another point is that languages are frequently used to label people into different categories since they often represent different appellations (Martin and Nakayama, 2004). When these labels are in equal or neutral position, it will be fine, such as ‘schoolboy’ and ‘friend’. Whereas, the problems would be serious when people use them to show antipathy or aggressiveness to others and then this may turn into stereotype or prejudice. For instance, the word ‘homosexual’ is likely to cause misunderstanding when used inappropriately. The following part will deal with the issues of language translation as an essential part of intercultural communication. It is generally held that the world has been developing into an open one for different cultures communicate and learn from each other instead of the one in which every member is self-contained. However, no one can learn all kinds of the languages in the world. Accordingly, people should rely on translation as a necessary tool of communicating in an inter cultural world (Martin and Nakayama, 2004). Kwintessential (n.d.) points out that there are different categories of translation on the basic of its purpose, which are general translation, administrative translation, commercial translation, financial translation, legal translation, literary translation and medical translation. It is generally acknowledged that successful translation in whatever area has been facilitating people’s understanding of unfamiliar things. For example, literary translation helps people to derive the nutrients from diverse cultures. It is the translation that makes it possible for worldwide people to learn Shakespeare, even sometimes translation itself would becomes art sublimation. Another good example will be given about commercial translation. Benz, the famous global auto company had been trying their best to accomplish the unification between sound and meaning when translating its brand name into Chinese. Finally, Benz was successfully translated as ‘been chi’ which means one can drive as freely and fast as one wish in Chinese. The brand name is not the only contributor to Benz’s leading position in Chinese market, however, the consumers cannot avoid thinking about whether the car has a loud and clear name when planning to buy one, especially the higher class consumer group who often pay more attention to spirit consumption. Therefore, it may be argued that proper brand names for international companies are very important when expanding a global economy, for not only the representation of corporate image, but also likely to bring potential for profit-making. On a larger scale, appropriate translation might strengthen people’s favourable impressions and smooth away inter cultural barriers to some degree, even sometimes it can help individuals or groups to obtain the global reputation. Nevertheless, translation will become trouble for the lack of translation equivalence which includes vocabulary or lexical equivalence, idiomatic or slang equivalence, grammatical-syntactical equivalence and experiential-cultural equivalence (Samovar, Porter and Stefani, 2000). Since the story tells about the feudal dynasty in ancient China, the primal name is full of poeticization and romance which could not be read from the translation one and this might be the result of experiential-cultural equivalence. To sum up, language is extremely vital in inter cultural communication. As the development of language revolution, it enables people to interchange the information and acquaint people with culture diversity. Simultaneously, language evolution also causes some negative effects, such as language extinction and culture discrimination. Apart from this, translation as another important aspect of language also affects cross-cultural communication with both positive and negative dimensions. Translation can help people absorb the essence of other groups’ cultures and enhance people’s emotion to make the communicating process easier. It is also the case, that, translation still poses barriers to comprehensive knowledge of different cultures since the lack of translation equivalence. Eventually, whether the God will ‘forgive’ the human being by ‘returning’ one language to them is unknown so far. However, the present trend is that people seem to be more and more likely to speak the same language in international world. Maybe the dream of creating a global language will come true in the near future to make intercultural communication proceed better. References Austin Anne. Career World, a Weekly Reader publication Nov-Dec 2002 v31 i3 p4 (2) Berkebile, N. 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