The Importance of Language and Culture - 2130 Words

The Importance of Language and Culture Diana Everett COM200 Instructor Terrance Frazier April 04, 2011 The Importance of Language and Culture There are two forms of communications--verbal and non-verbal. Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Language is not the only source of communication, there are other means also. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. Meaning can also be communicated through object or artifacts (such as clothing, hairstyles or architecture), symbols, and icons (or graphics). Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage,†¦show more content†¦Language is more than just a means of communication. It influences our culture and even our thought processes. Language is arguably the most important component of culture because much of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally. It is impossible to understand the subtle nuances and deep meanings of another culture without knowing its language well. Differen t languages are easier to learn at a younger age before completely understanding a first language. Trying to learn a second language can be difficult for an adult, because the language they speak can confuse them while trying to learn. Different languages come from different backgrounds and when crossed can lead to great misunderstanding between the two languages. Anthropologists have found that learning about how people categorize things in their environment provides important insights into the interests, concerns, and values of their culture(Oneil, 2006). Language determines the way a person reviews the world. One’s culture determines the way one processes information and how one copes with reality. Concepts and objects have frames of reference that differ from culture to culture. The meaning of a word partly depends on the culture’s historical relation to the concept or object described. Different cultures see the world differently. Different cultures have different beliefs and values and these are expressed in their language, whether it be verbal or non-verbal. Many misunderstandingsShow MoreRelatedThe Importance of Language and Culture3202 Words   |  13 Pages The importance of language is a repeated trend throughout history. The lack of language weighs negatively on an individual’s intellect and the acquisition of language feeds the development of one’s cultural identity. The greatest historical conquest began in the realm of linguistic turmoil. Examples of this are vast in the capturing of American Americans slaves, and injustice towards the Native Americans on the home front. The captured people were taken from a variety of tribes speaking differentRead MoreThe Importance of Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Classroom9379 Words   |  38 PagesThe Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom Radical Pedagogy (2001) ISSN: 1524-6345 The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom Language And Culture: What IS Culture And Why Should IT BE Taught? In this section, we will briefly examine the relationship between language and culture and see why the teaching of culture should constitute an integral part of the English language curriculum. To begin with, language is a social institution, both shapingRead MoreThe Factors That Necessitate And Influence The Teaching Of Culture851 Words   |  4 Pagesteaching of culture in EFL classrooms. Though the focus is on English language classes in China, I believe the core message can be applied to second language classes anywhere. The EFL community now acknowledges the importance of culture, however, it’s presence in the curriculum remains sparse for a number of reasons including â€Å"lack of time, uncertainty about which aspects of culture to teach, and the lack of practical techniques† (Mao, p. 144). Additionally, the majority of language proficiency testsRead MoreFilm Evaluation-the Linguists1160 Words   |  5 Pages1. Why do linguists study languages, and what is lost when a language dies? Figure out possible ways the human mind can make sense of the world around it. Some unique way of seeing the world could be lost. 2. What areas do Gregory and David choose when they are looking for languages to research? Areas most in need and areas with history of colonization. India, Bolivia, and Siberia are some examples. 3. Who typically stops speaking the indigenous language, and why do you think thatRead MoreThe Importance of Language in Pushing the Bear1201 Words   |  5 Pagessignificant because it expresses the importance of maintaining Cherokee cultural ideals as protest towards the United States government. The nine-hundred mile, four month journey that the Southeastern Cherokee tribes were forced to make in the winter of 1838 threatened to wipe out an entire culture. On the journey, approximately four thousand people lost their lives. As this harrowing story is portrayed in the novel, the importance of the language and maintaining the culture of the Cherokee people is theRead MoreCross Cultural Communication : A Universal Standards For Business Communication871 Words   |  4 Pagesacross multiple cultures effectively. This process is called cross-cultural communication, with this has created much debate as to if it’s important to understand other countries cultural communication s. Below I will explain why it is crucial, to understand cross-cultural communication, key components of communicating, and provide some examples of cross-cultural communication. Why It’s Needed Business is not conducted in an identical fashion throughout the world from culture to culture, with this beingRead MoreLanguage Differences Between Language And Language1247 Words   |  5 PagesWhile language deficiency makes some significant points that only specific codes are used by different economical groups, language difference theory raises the point of language variation and the problem is with the way that schools are interacting and valuing the differences among students. It must be noted language difference focus on the difference in a set of language skills held by students of different cultural backgrounds, not a deficient set of language skills as Bernstein had described.Read MoreWhy Learning A Foreign Language Is Important?832 Words   |  4 PagesWhy Learning a Foreign Language is Important? Language is very important for every human being. It helps us to communicate with each other also to be able to read, write and understand what we see in the books, television and streets. Language is a system, which helps the humans to operate and communicate similar to the need for operating system that helps the processor to make the hardware and the software work, likewise our need for the language, which helps us to improve our brain that makesRead MoreKeith H. Basso Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pagesinteresting ethnography about the Western Apache culture by using two usually overlooked topics, geography and oral history. Geography and the location of places is usually forgotten or seen as just topography, but Basso proves that geography is more than a location. It is the forgotten history of the name of a place that makes the locality more important than it seems. While whitemen (a term frequented by the Apache to describe White European culture) has constantly renamed places f or convenienceRead MorePiagets Theory Of Natural Selection1381 Words   |  6 Pagesis complex and essential to one’s survival. The importance of it is evident in Darwin’s theory of natural selection. According to Darwin (1859), only the most equipped to survive and reproduce is environmentally favoured to pass their genes to their offspring. The repercussion of this mentality is still intact to our modern society, where the weak and vulnerable are regarded as inferior to our society. However, despite establishing the importance of development, the progression of development is