ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER | ELE3103

INSTITUT PENDIDIKAN GURU

KAMPUS DARULAMAN,
06000 JITRA, KEDAH DARULAMAN.


JABATAN BAHASA
ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER
( ELE 3103 )
CRITICAL REVIEW


NAME OF STUDENT : BONIFACE JANE AK JANUARY
INDEX NUMBER : 2012181340030
IDENTITY CARD NO. : 920508-13-5873
COURSE AND CODE : ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE
TEACHER (ELE3103)
TITLE OF COURSE WORK : CRITICAL REVIEW
CLASS/ GROUP : PISMP MT/PJ/BI 2 (SEM 5)
LECTURERS NAME : EN. SACHITHANANTHAM A/L
THACHINA MOORTHI
SUBMISSION DATE : 12 FEBRUARY 2014






ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER | ELE3103
THE EFFECT OF SOCIETY ON LANGUAGE
Language is a tool for communication. Noam Chomsky (1957) said that language is
to study a part of human nature, manifested in human mind. In other words, language is used
to convey massages from one to another. Language is use to pass information, to express
feeling and even to create an intellectual community. Thus, language is a knowledge of rules,
principles, the ways of saying and doing things, with sounds, words and sentences.
There are seven functions of language. These include language as informative
function, instrumental function, imaginative function, regulatory function, interactional
function, heuristic function and personal function. Language has its own feature. Language is
meaningfulness which speakers of the same language associate words with same concept.
Language is arbitrariness. There is relationship between symbol and the concept is randomly
assigned. Language is openness because of unlimited space in using language. Lastly, in
language the sound and the meaning have relationship. Meaning of concept is permanently
linked to a particular word-printed and sounded the same way.
Culture is the way of human living. Therefore, this will include the way they talk,
express themselves, the way they are dressing and so on. The elements of culture are social
organization, customs and traditions, religions, art and literatures. Among these elements,
there is one major cultural factor which is language. Language is a unifying tool which give
identity to the race. Ruth Benedict (1934), stated that what really binds men together is their
culture the ideas and the standards they have in common. Hence, language link people in
that particular culture. However, three factors which related closely with culture that will be
discussed are the physical environment, the social environment, and the values of society.
First of all, the physical environment one lives in is reflected by the language.
Physical environment means that the material and tangible conditions in which we are live.
Physical environment also included the climate and geography of that places. Different
places will have different geography. Hence, a lot of new terms occur. For example, only in

ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER | ELE3103
Sarawak there is a house called longhouse. Longhouse is where some ethnics such as Iban,
live. So it will be a new term for the other places. Since that they have only seen a single
house in their places. Essentially, longhouse is accepted as a new word in a language. Thus,
physical environment such as geography can affect language.
Secondly, the social environment is one of the most obvious effects on language.
Social environment is the communities around us. Family, friends, mass media, social
supports, and neighborhoods are sources of language experiences for us in general.
Research suggests that healthy development of language can be promoted by family,
neighborhoods and communities that are safe and that have resources for serving us. For
instance, our language developed since we were kids. The social contact begins with family,
and than develop to community. This proccess enhance our usage of language. We keep
learning new terms and words. Essentially, social environment affecting language.
Language can also be affected by the values of a society. Values of society means
that the communities behavior. The phenomena of taboo is one of the interesting ways.
Taboo refers behaviors that are improper. Taboos can have secondary effects on language.
Speakers have a tendency to avoid taboos words. For example, most Americans prefer to
use rooster rather than cock. Taboo words are usually avoided hence, may eventually be lost
from a language. Thus, values of society affect the language.
On the whole, there are three factors affected the language. Those are the physical
environment, social environment, and the values of society. These three factors are all
related to culture. Culture is the main elements that trigger the variation of language used.
Different culture will differ the spoken language.




ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHER | ELE3103
Reference
Book
Language and culture. Open University Malaya
Websites
Alitha C. Huston, (2002), Children and welfare reform, Reform and child development.
Retrieved at
http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=43&articlei
d=177&sectionid=1153
Aaron Stark, (1998). Noam Chomsky on language. Retrieved at
http://www.chomsky.info/onchomsky/199812--.pdf

Ruth Benedict, (1934).Patterns of culture. Retrieved at
http://classes.yale.edu/03-
04/anth500b/projects/project_sites/02_alexy/ruthpatterns.html

Centre for Intercultural learning. Retrieved at
http://www.international.gc.ca/cfsi-icse/cil-cai/whatisculture-questlaculture-eng.asp