跨文化交际

An Understanding of Culture and Language胡文09级师范12班222009310011347Introduction Language and culture serve as the foundation for all human societies. In our increasingly diverse global environment, many people from significantly different linguistic, social and cultural environments must work, live and build societies together. In order to be effective at interacting with different cultures while achieving goals, it is imperative to understand how various aspects of language and culture impact interaction. Syntax, semantics, and kinesics all influence cross-cultural communication. Syntax refers to the particular way that sentences are structured or the "sequencing of morphemes" (Wallace 2003, 2). Semantics is a considerably important influence on cross-cultural communication because it refers to the meaning of each cultures meaning. It includes the particular style of speaking that is constructed individually by each culture. There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related. Both phenomena are unique to humans and have therefore been the subject of a great deal of anthropological, sociological, and even mimetic study. Language, of course, is determined by culture, though the extent to which this is true is now under debate. The converse is also true to some degree: culture is determined by language - or rather, by the replicates that created both, memes. Language and culture are NOT fundamentally inseparable. At the most basic level, language is a method of expressing ideas. That is, language is communication; while usually verbal, language can also be visual (via signs and symbols), or semiotics (via hand or body gestures). Culture, on the other hand, is a specific set of ideas, practices, customs and beliefswhich make up a functioning society as distinct. This essay will talk about the relationship between culture and language in the following aspects.ⅠLanguage as reflection by CultureLanguage is not only a part of culture but also a reflection of culture. Language is heavily influenced by culture - as cultures come up with new ideas, they develop language components to express those ideas. The reverse is also true: the limits of a language can define what is expressible in a culture. Early anthropologists, following the theory that words determine thought, believed that language and its structure were entirely dependent on the cultural context in which they existed. In this vein, anthropologist Verne Ray conducted a study in the 1950's, giving color samples to different American Indian tribes and asking them to give the names of the colors. He concluded that the spectrum we see as "green", "yellow", etc. was an entirely arbitrary division, and each culture divided the spectrum separately. some languages have only three color terms equivalent to black, white, and red; a native speaker of this language would have a difficult time expressing the concept of "purple" efficiently. Some languages are also more expressive about certain topics. (The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker, p.260.) According to this hypothesis, the divisions seen between colors are a consequence of the language we learn, and do not correspond to divisions in the natural world. A similar hypothesis is upheld in the extremely popular meme of Eskimo words for snow - common stories vary from fifty to upwards of two hundred.Of course, there are ways in which language really does reflect culture. Obviously, the ancient Romans did not have words for radios, televisions, or computers because these items were simply not part of their cultural context.ⅡLanguage as Part of CultureFor many people, language is not just the medium of culture but also is a part of culture. It is quite common for immigrants to a new country to retain their old customs and to speak their first language amid fellow immigrants, even if all present are comfortable in their new language. This occurs because the immigrants are eager to preserve their own heritage, which includes not only customs and traditions but also language. This is also seen in many Jewish communities, especially in oldermembers: Yiddish is commonly spoken because it is seen as a part of Jewish culture.Linguistic differences are also often seen as the mark of another culture, and they very commonly create divisiveness among neighboring peoples or even among different groups of the same nation. A good example of this is in Canada, where French-speaking natives of Quebec clash with the English-speaking majority. This sort of conflict is also common in areas with a great deal of tribal warfare. It is even becoming an issue in America as speakers of standard American English - mainly whites and educated minorities - observe the growing number of speakers of black English vernacular. Debates are common over whether it is proper to use "Ebonics" in schools, while its speakers continue to assert that the dialect is a fundamental part of the "black culture"ⅢLanguages can be developed apart from its originating culture.Certain language has scope for cross-cultural adaptations and communication, and may not actually be part of any culture. Additionally, many languages are used by different cultures that is, the same language can be used in several cultures.ⅣLanguages as not solely defined by their developing cultureMost modern languages are amalgamations of other prior and current languages. That is, most languages borrow words and phrases ("loan words") from other existing languages to describe new ideas and concept. In fact, in the modern very-connected world, once one language manufactures a new word to describe something, there is a very strong tendency for other languages to "steal" that word directly, rather than manufacture a unique one itself. The English language is a stellar example of a "thief" language - by some accounts, over 60% of the English language is of foreign origin (i.e. those words were originally imported from another language). Conversely, English is currently the world's largest "donor" language, with vast quantities of English words being imported directly into virtually all other languages.In a word, language is an important part of the culture, and they can not separate .The language in communication not only the transfer in speech but also the transfer in the culture .The individuality of the culture construct the deep gap of the language .According to the above mentioned,we can have a conclusion that languageand culture effect with each other. Language is a major component and supporter of culture as well as a primary tool for transferring message, which is inextricably bound with culture. Learning a second language also involves learning a second culture to varying degrees. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture. It reflects culture. Cultural differences are the most serious areas causing misunderstanding, unpleasantness and even conflict in cross-cultural communication. References:1. Trudgill, Peter. 1995. Sociolinguistics: An introduction to language and society. London: Penguin Books.2. Wardhaugh, Ronald. 1992. An introduction to sociolinguistics. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.3.Wolfram, Walt. 1991. Dialects and American English. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall (to be reissued by Basil Blackwell in 1998 as American English: Dialects and variation).4. Hartman,R and Stork,F.Dictionary of Language andLinguistics[M].London:Applied Science Publishers Ltd,1981.5.<<英汉语言文化对比研究>> 李瑞华主编上海外语教育出版社1997.309级师范12班胡文222009310011347。