Culture as Language: The Close Link Between Language and Culture

It is quite evident that the teaching and learning of a second language could be an excellent way to access another culture and therefore to improve intercultural understanding and communication. This, however, is possible only if this learning and teaching begin with the idea that language and culture learning are fundamentally interrelated and that this interrelationship constitutes the centre of the teaching and learning processes. A language is a window into the culture of people speaking this language. For instance, the teaching of personal pronouns I and You in languages like French, German, Spanish, and Japanese is an excellent opportunity to enter various aspects of the cultures of these languages, such as the social relations between two persons talking together: How well do they know each other? Is one superior to the other because of age, sex, position, or the social group to which one belongs?

In these languages, there are choices of personal pronouns which have to be selected according to the reference points mentioned earlier. In French, for You, tu or vous, in German, du or Sie, in Spanish, tu or usted.

In Japanese, for I, (to mention only a few) ore, boku, watakushi, watashi, for You, omae, kimi, anata (Saint-Jacques, 1971). In the English language, the speaker does not have to worry about these various points of reference: the personal pronouns I, and You are the only pronouns. However, in these other languages, the teaching of these pronouns provides a unique opportunity to observe language as an essential and closely integrated element of social behavior. In these languages, the wrong choice of pronouns can have disastrous effects for the speaker. Recently, a German driver who was arrested for speeding was so mad that he forgot the basic rules of pronouns in his mother tongue: the pronoun du is not to be used with people who are not close friends. He was fined for using du to the officer who arrested him!

Intercultural learning involves developing an understanding of one’s own language and culture in relation to an additional language and culture. Traditional language teaching and learning with the sole emphasis on phonetics and syntax cannot produce speakers who have acquired some understanding of one’s own language and culture in relation to an additional language and culture— necessary conditions for intercultural understanding and communication.

Moreover, there is also another important reason to link the teaching and learning of a language together with the culture of the people speaking this language. To learn a language, whether it is a first or second language, two basic conditions are essential: motivation and the opportunity to use this language.

These two facts are closely related to each other, if there is no opportunity to use a language, motivation also ceases to exist, that is, the learner’s motivation to learn the language will become weaker and eventually disappear. The opportunity or necessity to use a language is a fundamental law of language learning. A language which is not used for frequent communication will slowly disappear, first on the active level, speaking and writing, and eventually on the passive level, listening and reading. Does it mean that the teaching and learning of a second language is a waste of time?

The various benefits of second language learning usually identified in the defense of language education fall into two categories: (1) the practical and tangible benefits of being able to communicate in a second language, and (2) the broader benefits of expanding one’s intellectual experience, the improvement of cross-cultural awareness and a better understanding of other cultures. A language is like a window to the world of another culture (Saint-Jacques, 2006). Even if a person loses the active and even the passive knowledge of a second language, the learning of this language is a very enriching and beneficial process.

Sakuragi (2006), in a recent paper, gives the example of second language teaching in the United States: “While the practical benefits of language learning in the United States are sometimes questioned due to the increasing dominance of English in international communication, the argument that language study helps students develop a sense of being a ‘world citizen’ remains cogent”. There are many second language learners who will never become fluent in their second language because of the lack of opportunity to use the language for communication. Even for them, in the cultural perspective, the study of languages is very beneficial.

There are many countries in the world where a great majority of citizens does not have the necessity or opportunity to use another language for communication.

The learning of languages, however, is part of the curriculum in schools and universities because it can provide students with a better understanding of other cultures as well as their own culture.

 

REVISION: MAIN TOPIC AND SUBTOPICS, TEXT ORGANIZATION, MAKING INFERENCES, EXPLICATION OF SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Instruction: This is another revision unit in which you should combine all skills you have mastered in the preceding nine units. You will have to start with identifying the main idea, the main topic, or the main purpose of the text. Then follows the task of deciding if headings match with paragraphs or sections, and identifying if sections relate to definite topics. Basing on circumstantial evidence, inferences and vocabulary in context you will have to look into specific information given in the text.

Step 1. Survey the text. The list of headings will give you some clues to help you quickly understand what each part of the text is about. Step 2. Skim-read each paragraph. Every paragraph deals with a specific aspect of a topic. The first sentence of a paragraph may tell you what the rest of the paragraph is about. Therefore while trying to identify the main idea of a paragraph, you should read the first sentence and skim the rest of the paragraph.