Tips for Teaching Culture

Chapter 2: Language and Culture

Fariba Chamani, 2016
Tips for culture & language

1. Understand the relationship between culture,

language & thought
2. Identify different speech communities
3. Recognize the Influence of gender on language
4. Explore the differences between spoken &
written language
5. Understand the meaning of language in context
6. Identify speech acts in daily communication
7. Understand the concept of face
8. Recognize communication styles & register
1. Culture, language & thought
Kramsch (1998) Language & culture are
bound together in three ways:
1. Language expresses cultural reality
2. Language embodies cultural reality
3. Language symbolizes cultural reality

Moran (2001) Language & culture are

two sides of the same coin, each mirroring
the other.
Sapir & Worf Hypothesis (Principle of
relativity)

• Strong version  Language determines

thought, we are prisoners of language.
Damen (1987): languages create & define
the realities people perceive.

• Weak version  Language influences but

does nit determine thought.
What the teacher can do
Teachers can help the students see the
relation between language, culture & thought
by making the connection explicit, to do so:

1) Teachers need to have a clear sense of

their own view of the relationship
between language & culture.

1) To clarify points for students by sharing

personal experiences.
Identify different speech communities

• Each person belongs to different social

groups formed by family ties, work, or by
common interests or hobbies.

• Each community develops a certain way of

speaking that its member use to identify
with that community.

• The students should distinguish between

these communities so that they can use the
appropriate language for each community.
What the research say
• Agar (1994) uses the term languaculture to
describe the interconnected nature of
language & culture.

• Hymes (1974): communities are groups of

people who use similar rules as guideposts for
how they use language and how they
understand others’ use of language.

• Hymes (1974): speech event is a specific

context involving speech such as a classroom
lecture, which usually consists of one or more
speech acts that are culturally defined.
What the teacher can do

• Teachers can help students recognize

speech communities by building awareness
of the distinct vocabulary found in different
speech communities.

• Teachers also can explain the concept of in-

groups (a member) & out-group (a non-
member).
Influence of gender on language

• There are differences in the way that men

and women communicate:

1. Men view interactions in a hierarchical

way, where one person is superior to the
other.
2. Women want to feel a sense of closeness
through empathy and see interactions in a
non-hierarchical way
What the research say
• Tannen (1990):
For most women, language of conversation is
a language of rapport: a way of establishing
connection and negotiating relationships.

For most men, talk is a means to preserve

independence and negotiate and maintain
status in a hierarchical social order.
Wood (1994): Women & men talk

Women Men

1. Giving & receiving equal turns in 1. No acknowledgement of

conversation.
2. Showing support & sympathy feelings
3. Using questions to ensure 2. Focus on gathering data &
understanding
4. Working hard to keep the
solving problems
conversation going 3. Expressing superiority &
5. Being responsive to others maintaining control
6. Using concrete & personal
terms 4. Dominating the
7. Being tentative and apologetic conversation
Melts & Borker (1982): Women & men
talk
• Men & women have their own cultural
differences, and they tend to hold deferring
conversational assumptions, for instance:

• Nods & mm-hum by women= “I’m listening

to you: please continue.
• Nods & mm-hum by men= “I agree with
you or I follow your agreement so far.”
Melts & Borker (1982): Women & men talk
Oxford (2001): Females use language learning
strategies significantly more than males, yet in certain
cultures, males use particular types of strategies more
than men.

• Maccoby & Jacklin (1974): Females show greater

interest than males
More gender differences
• Oxford (2001): Females use language
learning strategies significantly more than
males, yet in certain cultures, males use
particular types of strategies more than
men.

• Maccoby & Jacklin (1974): Females show

greater interest than males in social
activities and less competitive than males.
What the teacher can do
Teacher can help students recognize the
influence of gender on language by:

1. Helping them understand some of the

differences between the conversation
styles of men & women.

2. Making these differences explicit in the

best possible ways.
Spoken & Written language

• Spoken language = Informal, repetitive, and

interactive, long pauses, interruptions.

• Written language: Formal, more concise,

less repetitive.
Kramsch (1998): Characteristics of
conversation & expository writing
Brown (2007): Features of spoken
language
Kaplan (1966): Culture-specific patterns
of writing
Kaplan (1966): patterns of writing in academic
essays of international students varied depending
on language & cultural background:

• American & British wrote essays in linear

fashion.
• Speakers of Hebrew repeated major points to
reinforce them.
• Asian students made circular arguments in
which the main point was revealed at the end.
What the teacher can do
• Many students cannot distinguish between
what is appropriate in written English &
what is appropriate in spoken English.

• Teachers can help students explore the

differences between spoken and written
language by making the differences explicit.
Meaning of language in context
• Fluent speakers of a language vary their
speech depending on the context.

• Vocabulary choice, expression, and degree

of directness are used differently in
different contexts.

• Pragmatics studies language in context and

especially conveying and interpreting of
meaning.
What the research says
• Pragmatics involves analysis of the
speaker’s meaning in context.

• Understanding the meaning of language in

context will help learners be aware of polite
behavior and the hidden meaning of
language.

• Pragmatic failure occurs when speakers do

not use or understand appropriate
language in context.
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students understand the
meaning of language in context by creating an
awareness of the role of pragmatics in the
language use.

• Asking students to take an expression that is

polite and courteous, and make it stronger or
more intense.

• Teachers can also use ‘critical incident’ (a brief

story in which some cultural misunderstanding
happens).
Identify speech acts
• Austin (1962): Speech acts refer to the use of
words in order to do things or perform
functions.

• Speech acts reflect the cultural norms, values

& beliefs.

• A speech act contains three elements:

1. The words spoken (locutionary)
2. The intention of speaker (illocutionary)
3. The effect of spoken word (perlocutionary)
Searl’s (1962) classification of speech
acts
What the teacher can do
• Teacher can help students identify speech
acts and develop pragmatic and
sociolinguistic awareness through:

1. Cognitive awareness activities

2. Perceptive skill development
3. Productive use activities
Understanding the concept of face
• Face= public image of a person
• Facework= specific social strategies used to
protect the positive image of the
communicators (Ting-Toomey, 1999).
• LoCasto (2003): Chinese concept of face is
twofold:
1. Acquired face: earned through social
behavior in life
2. Ascribed face: what everybody is entitled
to receive as a human being
Linguistic politeness
• Linguistic politeness: the use of language to
carry out social actions in which face is is
mutually respected (Levinson, 1987).
• When a face-threatening act occurs, the
speaker can adopt a politeness strategy like
an apology to soften the threat.
• Perception of face may be colored by
patterns of cultural communication:
• Example: degree of directness across
different cultures
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students build awareness
of the concept of face by using contrastive
approach to show varieties of face
threatening responses to different
situations.
Communication styles & registers
• Communication styles incorporate an
individual’s word choice, discourse
patterns, and nonverbal cues.
• Communication styles vary across different
situations and cultures.
• Register refers to the use of language in a
particular situation.
• Register depends on the degree of
formality of situation and the relationship
between the speakers.
What the research says
• Brown (2007): Communication style refers
to a set of conventions for selecting words,
phrases, discourse, and nonverbal language
in specific contexts.

• Wolfson (1989): A communicatively

competent person does not speak the same
way all the time but she shifts style to
indicate social distance.
What the research says
• Brown (2007): registers are identified by
certain phonological variants, vocabulary,
idioms that are associated with different
occupational or socioeconomic groups.

• McCarthy (1991): register refers to the

linguistic features of the text that reflects
the social context in which it is produced.

• Choosing the appropriate level of formality

is a challenge cross-culturally.
What the teacher can do
• Teachers can help students appreciate
communication styles and registers by
demonstrating a wide variety of these in
classroom and by their choice of teaching
materials.