The Relationship of Language and Culture
The Relationship of Language and Culture
The Relationship of Language and Culture
Hira (211670195)
Eng-217: Study Skills (section C)
Mam Sarah Meer
April 16,2023
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Language is one of the basic concepts for understanding any culture. Basically,
language is not only a means of communication, but it is a basic aspect of cultural identity
and creates a sense of community. The language of any culture is the intrinsic expression
of that culture.it act as a means of communicating different beliefs about religions and
about different customs. 1Both Language and culture are closely connected with each other,
and it is very important for the learners, users and those people who are involved in
language usage like most of the people use languages. But the way we learn language is
highly influenced by cultural boundaries and cultural boundaries are the specific lines that
separate one culture from another culture whether these are in the form of race, ethnicity,
religion or any other characteristics this essay will explore that how cultural boundaries
One of the most obvious ways through which cultural boundaries affect language
learning is the use of language by itself. As it is known there are different cultural groups in this
world and every culture has its own values and beliefs about their language even if they share
same languages among themselves but in that case, there will be a huge difference due to
vocabulary, understanding of grammar, pronunciation, and the also different meanings of only
one word in different languages. 2firstly, the process through which humans communicate is
complex and we also use different communication techniques. These techniques are culturally
specific because when we communicate with different people of different cultures it may be
difficult to understand. Secondly. When we live in a particular society, we learn a lot of things
1
Elmes, David. "The relationship between language and culture." 99-100.
2
Ibid,150-250
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including how to use gestures, glances and sight that have a huge impact on your tone
and voice. All these things indicate what we say and what we want to do.
Furthermore, culture is also related with the behavioral patterns of that society and
language shows a true picture of that speech community like 3According to the Rossi Landin,
"while speaking the totality of message we exchange with each other constitute a whole speech
community and a speech community is the whole society through which we understand the point
of view of speaking so the question is how behavioral patterns affect the language learning. for
example: A children that is raised in strict household with rigid rules but if the same student
learn language through the teacher who is very jolly and also taught them a lot of play activities
so this will be very difficult for that student whose behavior is very quiet.
Another way in which cultural boundaries affect language learning is the cultural context
that is used in every language. Like cultural context means the family traditions, customs and
beliefs of one family. Every family. These have different traditions.4 For example, in many Latin
countries there is a very common tradition of hugging each other when they meet with each other
while in Asian countries there is a tradition of shaking hands with opposite gender so cultural
context play very important role when it comes to affect the process of language learning in a
classroon.so in a classroom when two cultures are mixed together so in that case, they explore
new things.
The use of idioms and cultural references can also affect language learning in returns of
cultural boundaries. 5When learning a new language grammar and vocabulary are not only the
3
Imai, Mutsumi,” The relation between language, culture, and thought”,350-450.
4
Ibid,” Journal of social analyses”,120-140
5
Shanahan, Daniel," The Modern Language Journal”, 164-174.
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important things to understand the language but we also need to understand the idioms and
references. For example, those idioms and references that are common in one culture make not
any kind of sense to another student who belong to the another culture, likewise the idioms or the
slangs that are used in Spanish may have different meaning in English so these are the cultural
differences if teacher or instructor does not know about the cultural differences so could he
explain to his students and if teacher also uses the same idioms so it may be very difficult for the
Cultural boundaries can also affect the self-confidence and motivation of language
learners because if a Spanish boy sit in the class of English student and Spanish student does not
know English at all so it's very difficult for him to stay there in class because he feels anxious
because he does not belong to that group and in return, he feels very less confident and less
motivated to learn a new language. 6Additionally, if the learners are not very confident about
navigating the cultural differences, in that case, they feel hesitant and worried about speaking
aloud in society on different occasions. This can act like a barrier for the students in learning a
In addition, cultural boundaries can also affect the resources that are available for
language learners.it is obvious that all the resources that are available to the language learners
will according to the people who belongs to that specific society and cultural groups. And the
learners that are not related to that specific group must do struggle to find those resources. Like
the language courses and opportunities of learning language may be limited to that student that
are belong to that specific language.in this way these are some cultural boundaries that affect the
6
Ibid.,174-178
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language learning and through these things many people face difficulty because culture and
The basic problem is our learning environment because all these cultural boundaries that
affect the language are related to the learning environment. 7The learning environment plays a
very important role in changing the mindset of the student. Learning environments may be good
or bad, it depends on the school and in what kind of way they are presenting the dominant
culture. For example, the residential schools in Canada the basic purpose of that schools is to
diminish or destroy the Aboriginal cultures and replaces them with the western culture. Perhaps
culture is an indefinite and unclear in higher education institutions, but it has a powerful
influence not only on the institutions but also on different academic departments.
The solution to this problem is to create a new learning environment in which all the
students are equal, they belong to any culture. It is very difficult for a single individual to change
the dominant culture, but new technologies allow us to change the whole learning environment.
There are some important points and by reflecting on these points we can create a mutual
learning environment. First is the mutual respect that is very important and should be given to
every student without restriction of culture. Then having full opportunity to give their opinions
and views, recognition and respect of every student, then collaboration and mutual support is the
last thing. All these are the solutions if we want to enhance or change our learning environment.
In Japan, current methods that are used for language education appear as a passive stance
in the incorporation of cultural knowledge into the classroom, they are using FYI approach in the
7
Hall, Joan Kelly, “language and culture”,67-90
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8
Thana Soulas also notes that Kramsch’s observations should not go unnoticed:
“Culture is not only the fifth skill that tell you that how to speak, how to read and how to
learn a language but it is always in the background of language learning from day one and it also
face many challenges”
Another solution to the learning environment is that there should be an introductory concept of
cultural and linguistic competence that should be introduced in class, so they also have a very
clarified concept in their minds. And the relationship between students and their instructor
should be very strong because teachers are the ones who can clarify everything to their students.
In conclusion, language and culture are deeply interlinked with each other and have a
great influence on one another. Language also reflects the history, traditions and values of
community and culture, on the other hand culture shapes the way people use language. So, if we
want effective communication so we need to understand the relationship of language and culture.
styles, behavioral patterns, cultural context, cultural references and stereotypes all these factors
can affect language learning.so the solution of these problems is that teachers and students must
be aware of these cultural differences and also, they need to create a positive learning
environment either with the use of technology.by doing so students will experience positive and
References
8
Kramsch, Claire,” Redefining the Boundaries of Language Study”,23-44
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Hilliard, Amanda D. "A critical examination of representation and culture in four English
Hilliard, Amanda D. "A critical examination of representation and culture in four English
Hall, Joan Kelly. Teaching and researching: Language and culture. Routledge, 2013.
Harrison, Simon. "Cultural boundaries." Anthropology today 15, no. 5 (1999): 10-13.
Imai, Mutsumi, Junko Kanero, and Takahiko Masuda. "The relation between language, culture,
Shanahan, Daniel. "Articulating the relationship between language, literature, and culture:
Toward a new agenda for foreign language teaching and research." The Modern