CLB320 assignment 1 Essay (800 words MAX.

) Due: Fri 5pm April 1 week 5

This assignment task provides you with an opportunity to:

 Develop your writing voice as a member of an academic writing community, and in doing so
enhance your reading and thinking skills. This will help you with all of your academic writing
at university;
 Obtain formative feedback from your tutors, early in your first semester, on your academic
writing, and the reading and thinking levels required for university study;
 Develop deeper understanding of some of the key concepts that underpin the unit Studies in
Language.
Language, Culture and Meal Times.
Discuss the relationship between language and culture with specific reference to meal time
language use.

Your essay should be in continuous prose and divided into an intro and 3 parts (No subheadings).

Introduction: Establish what you are doing, overall, in this essay and why. Indicate briefly what you
will cover in each section of your essay. Suggest why this might be important to write about.
100 words

Part 1. Using only the literature and the lecture notes provided, summarise the relationship between
language and culture. Synthesise what the scholars in the field say about this connection?
250 words

Language is defined as a system of signs in which people use for interaction in terms of
written or spoken gestures. Signs are the units that consist of forms and meanings that is presence in
language. Thus, to acquire the language without having to learn the content is impossible due to the
fact that the content of a language is constantly related to the culture. (Doye,1996). It cannot be said
that language is being used by an individual as of because, language is centred on meanings and it is
shared in the culture of the certain group that practice it.

Culture is dynamic and can be defined as the way of living where most of the people agreed
on. They usually have reached the same interpretation on how do they see the world, how do they
behave and the interactions with one another (O’Sullivan, 1994). For many people, they do not see
the real values of culture as they would normally see what is visible to the eyes. The iceberg is a
good example of how certain people view a culture. On the surface of the iceberg is where most of
the culture that can be seen with the naked eyes such as food, music and dress while the real culture
is hidden beneath the surface of the iceberg.

Language is a part of culture (Emmit & Pollock, 1997) and it is inseparable (Risager, 2007) as
it reflects one another. Language can be said as one of the stems of the tree, which supports the
element of culture. Culture does determine language or at least part of it (Steven Pinker, xxxx).
Clearly, the indigenous people in Malaysia did not have the word for bendahara and laksamana
because the Malay language was not part of their culture.
Part 2. Meal times have been the focus of a great deal of research into how language and culture are
co-constituted. Using your own experience of meal times in your family, describe some of the key
features of language use in those mealtimes. Comment on: Who talks? What do you talk about?
What topics are avoided? Who initiates and controls talk? What functions does the talk fulfil?
What about silences? Body language? Volume? At what pace do people talk?
250 words

Having meal together as a family is really exciting and enjoyable at the same time. My family
and I did not have meal time together for almost every meal because of time constrains. We
normally sit down and enjoy the meal together every night. We normally have a talk at the dinner
table but with some restrictions to what can be said and what the things is allowed and not allowed
during that time. My younger brother, who is six and an active lad, loves to share about his daily
routine playing in the yard. He sometimes talks about things which might not be appropriate during
meal, mainly about him getting wounded and things that gross us out. Dad will warn him about not
to mention such thing again at the dinner table. Normally dad would initiate the talk as he would
first talks about our family. Most of the time, all of us would participate in the talk and share things
that we are currently working on. Sometimes we, the children, are not allowed to talk so much
during meal time because it is rude to talk and eat at the same time. We have to control our voice
and talk slowly each time we have something to say so that everyone could get the meaning.
Usually, mom would remind us not to go too far with talking. The talk is one of the ways for us to
strengthen the bond between us as a family.

Part 3. In what ways does your ‘language use’ at mealtimes reflect the relationship between
language and the cultural context in which it happens? In this section, you should reflect back on the
literature you used in part 1 and refer to it in your writing. Draw conclusions about why meal time
talk is the way it is in your cultural context. 200 words

The maximum word count for this assignment is 800 words. You are required to include a word
count at the end of your essay. While you are not required to read beyond the Book of Readings,
lecture notes and CMD, you will need to consult at least 6 references. We highly recommend that
you use SafeAssign to check that you are not inadvertently copying other people’s work and
presenting it as your own. Your tutors will explain how to use SafeAssign.

Include a full reference list of all sources consulted.

 To reference lecture notes on Blackboard:

Alford, J. (2011) CLB320 Lecture (no.x). Retrieved (insert date) from (insert URL.)
  To reference a book chapter or journal article from the CLB320 Book of Readings, use the
reference for the actual item. Do not say “Kramsch, C. (2006) in CLB320 Book of Readings”.
The actual original reference is given in the weekly schedule document and in the Book of
Readings.

Check list:
Item Check 
Have I written an introduction that contextualises issues and their significance and
that flags the organisation of your essay?
Have I summarised what the key literature says about the relationship between
language and culture? A summary also includes synthesising or pulling together the
key arguments in the literature. Part 1.
Have I described in sufficient detail relevant aspects of language use at mealtimes in
my cultural context? Part 2.
Have I used the theories in section 1 to explain why language is used in this particular
way at mealtimes in my family? Part 3.
Have I used an academic tone in my writing in section 1 and 3? [Section 2 can be a
little more personal as it is describing your own experience, but don’t make it
‘chatty’.]
Have I referenced all of my sources correctly according to APA 5 th edition? See
LIBRARY website – CiteWrite. Have I consulted at least 6 references?
Have I kept to the word limit of 800 words? Tutors will not read beyond 800 wds.