Relationship between language, culture, and identity

Relationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identityRelationship between language, culture, and identity

Relationship between Language, culture,

and Identity

Culture Influence Language

Language influence culture

Relationship between Language, Culture and Identity

Conclusion

References

Without language, culture cannot be completely acquired nor can it be effectively expressed and transmitted.

Without culture, language cannot exist

Membership in a culture influences identity Assumptions, beliefs, and values shared with others are a large part of feeling something in common with other people.

Identification with a culture results in striving

to gain membership in that culture.

Culture Identity

LanguageLanguage can be defined as the system of

communication comprising codes and symbols which are used by humans to store, retrieve, organize

structure and communicate knowledge and

experience.

It is the primary instrument in the expression,

transmission, and adaptation of culture

The learning of a second or foreign language enables one to view life through another cultural lens.

cul ure Iden i y t t t

It is a set of beliefs, values, norms,

customs, traditions, rituals, and a way of life that differentiates one group from

another

culture has the ability to acquire new characteristics and forms It is dynamic - its permutations can take place from one generation to another or from one geographical location to another

Norton (1997) defines identity as,

“How people understand their relationship to the outside world, how that relationship is constructed across time and space, and how people understand their possibilities for the future” (p 410).

Language, culture and Identity are dynamic , complex and ongoing

processes.

Note

Culture Influence Language

Lexicon, grammar rules, codes and rules of linguistic communication are all entirely

formed by cultural elements like natural

environment, economic systems, types of

social relationships etc etc.

Cultural premises and rules about

speaking are intricately tied up with

cultural conceptions of persons, agency, and social relations.

There numerous words to describe

‘snow’ used in the languages of

peoples living in cold countries For example freshly-fallen, icy, packing snow etc.

Language influence culture

While on the one hand culture shapes languages, on the other hand language is also formed by them Language is the medium of culture.

Example:

This is clearly seen in immigrant societies, for example, in America These immigrants are accustomed to a certain language, and therefore, despite the assimilation, will continue to use it and keep it alive, creating different and cultured societies

in this foreign land to keep the language alive.

Language influence culture

Furthermore, not only is language an expression and a display of heritage and history, it is also the component of culture that makes it unique, and that creates a difference from one to another

“Linguistic differences are also often seen as the mark

of another culture, and they very commonly create divisiveness among neighboring peoples or even among different groups of the same nation This explains how language can be a pathway to culture.

Thought processes and perceptions of

reality differ from one culture to another.

How people think and speak is ultimately determined largely by their culture We call this Linguistic Relativity.

Language and Thought

Benjamin Lee Whorf – Language and

thought are so intertwined that one’s

language determines the categories of

thought open to him or her.

– “simply stated, the Sapir Whorf hypothesis

says, that the content of a language is

directly related to the content of a culture and the structure of a language is directly related to the structure of a culture.

Linguistic Relativity

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language is not simply a means of

reporting experience; rather, it is also a way of defining experience.

“Linguistic relativity is the degree to which language influences human thought and

meanings “

linguistic differences between cultures are associated with cultural differences in

thinking

Relationship between Language, Culture

and Identity

Culture and language shape one’s identity and personality There is much importance of culture and language to one’s individual identity Language is a powerful instrument of identity and belonging.

• The national level

• Rank or social class

• Level of sexual identity or gender

• The level of generation

• The level of professional identity

The national level

The national level and the ethnic

and/or regional one, that for historical reasons play a significant role and on which we will dwell shortly.

Rank or social class

The expressions we use when speaking

to others always reflect the status

relationship between ‘them’ and ‘us’; close, friendly relations or formal

reserve, respect and deference require different forms of exchange.

Level of sexual identity or gender

• In all societies the ‘proper’ way for women to speak is different from that for men, a difference that sometimes goes as far as to the methodical use of a special vocabulary and of different syntactical structures In European societies it is usually inappropriate for a woman to use expressions that are too

‘strong’ and direct, or to use pronunciation that is the characteristic of dialect or slang

The level of generation

• The words that teenagers use are very

distinct from what the older generations might use

• Teen speak is very good marker of identity for teenagers Similarly, adults and elderly people use words that teenagers wouldn't usually use, so they would be markers of identity for adults.

The level of professional identity

• The identifying cohesive element here

is the sharing of technical and special languages, of jargon that is not familiar

to the community at large.

characteristics blend with those of

generation and often of social class, giving rise to very interesting combinations

• Whether you speak with a French, Italian, Greek, Indian, Chinese or Jamaican accent when you speak English reveals maybe that English is your second language and that you actually grew up in another country and you spoke a different language

should be taking, it is just a result of

grammar from another language being adopted into the person's speech when they speak English and as a result they speak an ethnolect.

• The theoretical perspectives discussed above suggest a distinctively inseparable relationship between

language, culture, and identity Individual personal

attributes do not predetermine one’s destiny in life but are intricately enmeshed into a complex scenario with other dimensions: one’s own cultural values, the

sociocultural context, language ideology, power

relations, the politics of language, which impact upon one’s identity causing it to be in a constant state of

flux, ever-changing and shifting depending on the

changing contexts.

Thank you