Issues of Language and Cultural Identity -how /when /why are Connected - Essay Example

CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Social Cultural Influence on English Language Acquisition Introduction Acquiring a second language is not as easy as people could think. Language acquisition is affected by many factors (Brown, 2007). These include environmental, social or cultural issues. In most cases, the combination of all these factors goes along together. However, culture plays a great role in one’s ability of acquiring a second language. This can be observed when many students around the world strive to learn English language as their second language. Cook notes that there is a relationship between language and culture (Cook, 2008). This relationship is as old as the human kind. Over the years, human beings and their living styles have changed, which has resulted into far-reaching consequences especially in the language acquisitions. The result is that world languages have also been affected in one or the other. Culture is defined in terms of peoples’ activities or even geographical coverage. The following essay intends to discuss how social cultural factors influence English language acquisition among students. A Brief Overview Davies observes that every culture in the world has unique characteristics which define it (Davies, 2007). These include music, language, religion, games, rituals, dress, belief, mannerisms, art and law. Humankinds’ communication with each other started by using symbols. Those grunts that were mutually understood became spoken communication. It was after many years that groups of people and populations started to thrive, which resulted into socioeconomic and race concepts. Consequently, different cultures were established. On the other hand, the development of languages as far as different t linguistics is concerned is basically classified into Pacific and African, European and Asian and American Indian. As culture evolved, languages would also undergo the same transition (Brown, 2007). The uniqueness of these groups has lead to differences in languages under various aspects which have shaped the way the language is understood or spoken. These include the arrangement of the vowels, consonants, order of words, the tonal accent, which varies from one culture to the other. The impact of culture on the process of understanding and speaking a language is still very alive. Further, Davies notes that social traits also play a great role in influencing language, which depends on how different genders and classes used to interact (Davies, 2007). However, over a given period, different regions borrowed vocabulary, grammar and sounds from one another. Some languages, such as English were standardized. The influence of culture can be observed from the way English is spoken from different cultures of the world. For instance, pants in America and trousers in Britain mean the same thing but these two words do not sound the same at all. Based on the above observation, it is clear that learning a second language can no longer be a simple exercise, .especially if one comes from a very different culture. On this note, there are different theories that have been introduced to try and explain how cultural factors influences languages acquisition. As far as many cultures are concerned, English language is considered a second language. Therefore, many students from these cultures have found themselves struggling to understand how to speak correctly or understand this language. The Constructs of Socio-Cultural Theory Social-cultural theory was introduced by Vygotsky together with his friends. Donato notes that the main focus of this theory is on the children development and how social, biological and cultural factors impact on cognitive abilities of individuals (Donato, 1994). In this theory, he developed central constructs which play part in the process of human cognitive development. These constructs include mediation, regulation, and internalization, zone of proximal development, verbal thought and activity theory. According to Davies, the mediation principle is based on the observation that human beings do not directly interact with the world, instead their material activities and cognitive are mediated through the use of physical tools ad symbols (Davies, 2007). Physical tools are situated outwardly while the symbolic tools are cognitively directed. The symbolic tools are essential in determining how human beings act or perceive a given observation. However, this is reinforced by the physical tools. Therefore, in this case, language is one of the symbolic tools as far as culture is concerned. Further, Centeno observes that regulation implies that children are controlled by rules and other factors to regulate how they interact or what they intend to do (Centeno 2003). This involves three stages including the object regulation, other regulations as well as self regulation. In the object regulation, children are controlled by the physical objects that the come across. Other regulations include being controlled by other forces such as parents, teachers or siblings. Self regulation is where a child is able to cognitively regulate activities with or without support. In addition, internalization involves the connection between the social functioning and the psychological function of an individual. It helps in making sense of what is happening and whether it makes sense in one’s life or not. If this is the case, one may decide to carry it in the future and utilize later. The cognitive ability is very crucial in this process as opposed to only applying the behavioral approach where one copies what is happening. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is based on the genetic law cultural development which involves two levels of child development. These include the level of actual development and the future development. The former is where a child is able to develop independently without an instructor while the latter involves acquiring of life skills with assistance of another persons or groups. The other construct is the verbal thought. Vygotsky tries to show the relationship that exists between language development and thoughts. He agrees with the definition of language by Saussure, who sees it as a symbol system through which one uses to communicate while speech is the spoken production of language (Centeno 2003). A language is considered to be belonging to the society while speech is individually owned. Both speech and language are connected and according to him, there are three stages of language development. The first is the social speech stage where a child controls the behavior of outside factors to express his simple emotions and thoughts. This could be in form of crying, shouting and so no. The second level is the egocentric stage where a child may speak to himself loudly. He does this to control his behavior. The third stage is the inner speech which is more advanced and practiced by adults. It involves thinking about an issue and internalizing it before taking an action. This stage is also known as verbal thought, where both speech and thinking are connected together. The last construct is the activity theory where Vygotsky explains that human mind is observed through activities that he performs. This is also categorized into three levels which are activity, action and operation. These levels correspond with the concepts of motive, goal and condition. Human activities are motivated by different factors. These could be either social or biological factors. Socio-Cultural Theory and English language Acquisition It is clear that this theory is different from the cognitivism and behaviorism. The latter is based on the imitation of stimuli while the former explains the mental involvement of an individual when learning new item in life. However, as described above it is evident that social cultural theory recognizes the role played by social factors in the learning process. Centeno argues that Learning English as a second language involves mediation of both social and physiological factors (Centeno 2003). Cultural artifacts play a great role in this mediation process. The desire to learn English language is also influenced by parents, siblings or friends. This has been mentioned in the Zone of Proximal Development of Social- Cultural Theory. External forces have a lot to play in the performance of any student learning English language. Therefore, the performance of a student in class cannot be judged on his cognitive abilities only, but also the influence he is getting from such sources. Centeno observes that students leaning English are also expected to internalize what they are being taught, see or hear (Centeno 2003). This shows the capacity of such students in analyzing complex information that requires mental involvement. In line with this, imitation cannot be ruled out of the equation. Students learning English cannot excel without imitating their instructors or role models, for instance, in the pronunciation of English words. This does not only apply to English language but every language learnt. Therefore, behaviorism theory is applied in many instances. Personal studies in English language also help when a student is internalizing or analyzing what is correct or not. Further, Donato argues that verbal thought aspect of SCT is applicable in the learning of English language (Donato, 1994). The process of understanding what one is taught involves conceptualizing in his mind and ensuring that he gets it right. This involves all levels discussed in this theory, where one is started from elementary level of learning, before advancing to higher mental involvement. The application of activity theory involves practicing what is being taught by an instructor. A student is motivated in many ways to learn English as well as applying the same in his practice. The above discussion shows how social cultural aspects impact on the performance of a student learning English language. Culture influences so much on language acquisition and it cannot be wished away by both students and teachers. This has been discussed bellow. Cultural Influence on English Language Learning As mentioned above English learning process is affected not only by phonetic development and cognitive functioning, but also by cultural inclinations. It should be noted that culture affects both native and a non-native English students, but at different degrees (Centeno-Cortés, 2003). This also happens to teachers as well. This includes the learning styles, English language skills, speaking, listening or instruction approached. According to Donato, the cultural background for both students and teaches determines the expectations for learning and the style of learning or teaching (Donato, 1994). Further, if cultural diversity issues are not addressed during assessment or learning, they may impact negatively on learning outcome. The biggest concern in English learning is that language problems are either misdiagnosed or ignored. The result is that students come to learn later that their cultural background has affected their learning process. An example is where a student comes from a cultural background where oral storytelling is highly practiced. Therefore, reading a text for this student could be challenging. An English teacher may misunderstand the student and take it as a learning problem since he is not familiar with the oral story telling tradition in the student’s culture. According to Gass and Selinker, it is worth noting that one of the most obvious cultural influences in English learning is the native language of a student (Gass et al, 2008). The impact of native language in the process of learning English can be noticed when a student is writing, speaking or in general language understanding. The gendered language and word order is one of the most difficulties faced by students while learning English. It becomes challenging for a non-native elementary English student to connect many words to make a grammatically correct sentence. This happens in both writing and speaking. Another cultural challenge is the learning style. This covers various aspects such as how to behave in a classroom, the time of teaching, the relationship among students, and so on. All these variables affect the learning outcome of a student. They are mostly due to cultural background and the diversity of the same that a student has found himself in. Conclusion Cultural diversity and differences have a lot of influence on not only English, but any other second language acquisition. However, it is prudent to realize that there are other factors which affect language acquisition for an English student. This could be environmental or economic, among others. It is advisable for both learners and teachers to understand this aspect in the learning process, in order to solve it at all stages, before it is too late for both parties. References Brown, H. D (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching, Pearson Education Inc. New York. Centeno-Cortés, B. (2003). Private speech in the second language classroom: Its role in internalization and its link to social production. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University. University Park. Cook, V. (2008).Second language learning and language teaching, Hodder Education. London. Davies, A. (2007). An introduction to applied linguistics: From practice to theory, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. Donato, R. (1994). Vygostskian approaches to second language research. Ablex Publishing Corporation, N.J. Gass, S. M., & Selinker, L. (2008).Second language acquisition, Taylor & Francis, Routledge, Oxon. Read More

Further, Davies notes that social traits also play a great role in influencing language, which depends on how different genders and classes used to interact (Davies, 2007). However, over a given period, different regions borrowed vocabulary, grammar and sounds from one another. Some languages, such as English were standardized. The influence of culture can be observed from the way English is spoken from different cultures of the world. For instance, pants in America and trousers in Britain mean the same thing but these two words do not sound the same at all.

Based on the above observation, it is clear that learning a second language can no longer be a simple exercise, .especially if one comes from a very different culture. On this note, there are different theories that have been introduced to try and explain how cultural factors influences languages acquisition. As far as many cultures are concerned, English language is considered a second language. Therefore, many students from these cultures have found themselves struggling to understand how to speak correctly or understand this language.

The Constructs of Socio-Cultural Theory Social-cultural theory was introduced by Vygotsky together with his friends. Donato notes that the main focus of this theory is on the children development and how social, biological and cultural factors impact on cognitive abilities of individuals (Donato, 1994). In this theory, he developed central constructs which play part in the process of human cognitive development. These constructs include mediation, regulation, and internalization, zone of proximal development, verbal thought and activity theory.

According to Davies, the mediation principle is based on the observation that human beings do not directly interact with the world, instead their material activities and cognitive are mediated through the use of physical tools ad symbols (Davies, 2007). Physical tools are situated outwardly while the symbolic tools are cognitively directed. The symbolic tools are essential in determining how human beings act or perceive a given observation. However, this is reinforced by the physical tools.

Therefore, in this case, language is one of the symbolic tools as far as culture is concerned. Further, Centeno observes that regulation implies that children are controlled by rules and other factors to regulate how they interact or what they intend to do (Centeno 2003). This involves three stages including the object regulation, other regulations as well as self regulation. In the object regulation, children are controlled by the physical objects that the come across. Other regulations include being controlled by other forces such as parents, teachers or siblings.

Self regulation is where a child is able to cognitively regulate activities with or without support. In addition, internalization involves the connection between the social functioning and the psychological function of an individual. It helps in making sense of what is happening and whether it makes sense in one’s life or not. If this is the case, one may decide to carry it in the future and utilize later. The cognitive ability is very crucial in this process as opposed to only applying the behavioral approach where one copies what is happening.

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is based on the genetic law cultural development which involves two levels of child development. These include the level of actual development and the future development. The former is where a child is able to develop independently without an instructor while the latter involves acquiring of life skills with assistance of another persons or groups. The other construct is the verbal thought. Vygotsky tries to show the relationship that exists between language development and thoughts.

He agrees with the definition of language by Saussure, who sees it as a symbol system through which one uses to communicate while speech is the spoken production of language (Centeno 2003).

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