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LanguageMagazineBlurringtheLinebetweenLanguageandCultureLanguageMagazine

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BlurringtheLinebetweenLanguageandCulture
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FatihaGuessabiarguesthatcultureisalanguageinitself
Languagealwayscarriesmeaningsandreferencesbeyonditself:Themeaningsofaparticularlanguagerepresenttheculture
ofaparticularsocialgroup.Tointeractwithalanguagemeanstodosowiththeculturewhichisitsreferencepoint.We
couldnotunderstandaculturewithouthavingdirectaccesstoitslanguagebecauseoftheirintimateconnection.
Aparticularlanguagepointstothecultureofaparticularsocialgroup.Learningalanguage,therefore,isnotonlylearning
thealphabet,themeaning,thegrammarrulesandthearrangementofwords,butitisalsolearningthebehaviorofthe
societyanditsculturalcustoms.Thuslanguageteachingshouldalwayscontainsomeexplicitreferencetotheculture,the
wholefromwhichtheparticularlanguageisextracted.
Thehumancommunicationprocessiscomplex,asmanyofourmessagesaretransmittedthroughparalanguage.These
auxiliarycommunicationtechniquesareculturespecific,socommunicationwithpeoplefromothersocietiesorethnic
groupsisfraughtwiththedangerofmisunderstanding,ifthelargerframeworkofcultureisignored.
Growingupinaparticularsociety,weinformallylearnhowtousegestures,glances,slightchangesintoneorvoice,and
otherauxiliarycommunicationdevicestoalterortoemphasizewhatwesayanddo.Welearntheseculturallyspecific
techniquesovermanyyears,largelybyobservingandimitating.
Themostobviousformofparalanguageisbodylanguage,orKinesics,whichisthelanguageofgestures,expressions,and
postures.However,themeaningofwordscanalsobealteredbytoneandcharacterofvoice.
Languageiscultureand
cultureislanguage
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Languageandculturehaveacomplex,homologousrelationship.Languageiscomplexlyintertwinedwithculture(theyhave
evolvedtogether,influencingoneanotherintheprocess,ultimatelyshapingwhatitmeanstobehuman).Inthiscontext,
A.L.Krober(1923)said,culture,then,beganwhenspeechwaspresent,andfromthenon,theenrichmentofeithermeans
thefurtherdevelopmentoftheother.
Ifcultureisaproductofhumaninteraction,culturalmanifestationsareactsofcommunicationthatareassumedby
particularspeechcommunities.AccordingtoRossiLandi(1973),thetotalityofthemessagesweexchangewithone
anotherwhilespeakingagivenlanguageconstitutesaspeechcommunity,thatis,thewholesocietyunderstoodfromthe
pointofviewofspeaking.Hefurtherexplainsthatallchildrenlearntheirlanguagefromtheirsocieties,andduringthe
processoflearningalanguagealsolearntheircultureanddeveloptheircognitiveabilities.
Languagecommunicatesthroughcultureandculturealsocommunicatesthroughlanguage:MichaelSilversteinproposed
thatthecommunicativeforceofcultureworksnotonlyinrepresentingaspectsofreality,butalsoinconnectingonecontext
withanother.Thatis,communicationisnotonlytheuseofsymbolsthatstandforbeliefs,feelings,identities,orevents,it
isalsoawayofbringingbeliefs,feelings,andidentitiesintothepresentcontext.
Accordingtothelinguisticrelativityprinciple,thewayinwhichwethinkabouttheworldisdirectlyinfluencedbythe
languageweusetotalkaboutit.Therealworldis,toalargeextent,unconsciouslybuiltuponthelanguagehabitsofthe
group.Notwolanguagesareeversosimilarthattheyrepresentthesamesocialreality.Theworldsinwhichdifferent
societieslivearedistinct,notmerelythesamewithadifferentlabelattached(EdwardSapir,1929).Therefore,tospeakis
toassumeaculture,andtoknowacultureislikeknowingalanguage.Languageandculturearehomologousmental
realities.Culturalproductsarerepresentationsandinterpretationsoftheworldthatmustbecommunicatedinordertobe
lived.
Theproblemliesinwhathappenswhencrossculturalinteractionstakeplace,i.e.,whenmessageproducerandmessage
receiverarefromdifferentcultures.Contactamongculturesisincreasingandinterculturalcommunicationisimperativefor
anyonewantingtogetalongwithandunderstandthosewhosebeliefsandbackgroundsmaybevastlydifferentfromtheir
own.
Languagecanmarktheculturalidentity,butitisalsousedtorefertootherphenomenaandreferbeyonditself,especially
whenaparticularspeakerusesittoexplainintentions.Aparticularlanguagepointstothecultureofaparticularsocial
group.Wecanthereforepresumethatlanguagelearningisculturallearning,solanguageteachingisculturalteachingdueto
theinterdependenceoflanguageandculturallearning.
Cultureisafuzzysetofattitudes,beliefs,behavioralconventions,basicassumptions,andvaluesthataresharedbyagroup
ofpeopleandthatinfluenceeachmembersbehaviorandeachmembersinterpretationsofthemeaningsofotherpeoples
behavior.Andlanguageisthemediumforexpressingandembodyingotherphenomena.Itexpressesthevalues,beliefsand
meaningswhichmembersofagivensocietysharebyvirtueoftheirsocializationintoit.Languagealsoreferstoobjects
peculiartoagivenculture,asevidencedbypropernameswhichembodythoseobjects.Byranpositedthataloafofbread
evokesaspecificcultureofobjectsinBritishusageunlessaconsciouseffortismadetoemptyitofthatreferenceand
introduceanewone.So,wecanconcludethatlanguageisapartofculture,andthroughit,wecanexpressculturalbeliefs
andvalues,andthatthespecificusagesofagivenwordarepeculiartoalanguageanditsrelationshipwithculture.
Infact,languageteachingmeans,inevitably,languageandculturalteaching.AccordingtoButtjest,Culturelearningis
actuallyakeyfactorinbeingabletouseandmasteraforeignlinguisticsystem.TheBellagioDeclarationoftheEuropean
CulturalFoundationandtheInternationalCouncilforEducationalDevelopmentstates,Foreffectiveinternational
cooperation,knowledgeofothercountriesandtheirculturesisasimportantasproficiencyintheirlanguagesandsuch
knowledgeisdependentonforeignlanguageteaching.
Learningalanguageisthereforelearningthebehaviorofagivensocietyanditsculturalcustoms.Languageisaproductof
thethoughtandbehaviorofasociety.Anindividuallanguagespeakerseffectivenessinaforeignlanguageisdirectly
relatedtohis/herunderstandingofthecultureofthatlanguage(Taylor,1979),anditispossibletoconsiderteachingculture
throughlearnersownlanguages,whichcanbeusedinaspecificwaytointerprettheotherculture(Ager).
Finally,wecanconcludethatimmersionteachingacceleratestheacquisitionofculturalknowledge:theintegrationof
languageandculturelearningbyusingthelanguageasmediumforthecontinuingsocializationofstudentsisaprocess
whichisnotintendedtoimitateandreplicatethesocializationofnativespeakerteachersbutrathertodevelopstudents
culturalcompetencefromitsexistingstage,bychangingitintointerculturalcompetence(FengpingGao).
References
Ager,D.(1993)LanguageEducationforInterculturalCommunication.U.S:MultilingualMattersLTD.
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Asante,M.K.(1990)HandbookofInternationalandInterculturalCommunication.SAGEPublishings.
Brannen,N.S.(1997)TranslationWhereCulturesMeet:TranslationJE.JELink,Inc.
Byran,M.(1989)CulturalStudiesinForeignLanguageEducation.MultilingualMattersLTD.
Byran,MandSarries,V.E.(1989)InvestigatingCulturalStudiesinForeignLanguageTeaching.MultilingualMattersLTD.
Byran,M.(1989)CulturalStudiesinForeignLanguageTeaching.MultilingualMattersLTD.
Brannen,N.S.(1997)CommunicationinJapanandtheUnitedStates.StateUniversityofNewYorkPress.
Clyne,M.(1994)InterculturalCommunication.CambridgeUniversityPress.
Dodd,H.D.(1997)InterculturalCommunication.Wm.c.BrownPublisher.
Hinde,R.A.(1997)NonVerbalCommunication.CambridgeUniversityPress.
Jandt,F.E.(2003)InterculturalCommunication:AnIntroduction.London:SagePublications.
Oatey,H.S.(2000)CulturallySpeaking:ManagingRapportThroughTalkAcrossCulture.London:Continuum.
Samovar,L.A.(1986)InterculturalCommunication:AReader.U.S:WadsworthPublishingCompany.
FengpingGao,Japanese:AHeavilyCultureLadenLanguageJournalofInterculturalCommunication,Issue10,
December2005
FatihaGuessabi(fatiha_guessabi1@yahoo.fr)isaprofessorofLanguagesandTranslationintheLiteratureandHumanities
facultyattheUniversitdeBcharinAlgeria.

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