《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U4.docx

《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U4.docx

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《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U4

《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U4

Unit4LanguageandCulture

SomeIdeasRelatedtolanguageandculture

1.Interrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguage

Eachculturehasitsownpeculiaritiesandthrowsspecialinfluenceonthelanguagesystem.Forexample,referringtothesamecommondomesticanimal,Englishchoosestheword“dog”,whileChinesehasitsowncharacter“狗”;Chinesehasthephrase“走狗”whileEnglishhastheexpression“runningdog”,butthemeaningsattributedtothetwoexpressionsarecompletelydifferentaccordingtoChinesecultureandWesternculturerespectively.ToWesterners,“runningdog”hasapositivemeaningsincetheword“dog”,inmostcases,isassociatedwithanimageofananimalpet－thefavoritefriend,thustheyhavethephrases“luckydog”（幸运儿）,“topdog”（胜利者）,“olddog”（老手）,“gaydog”（快乐的人）,anditisusuallyusedtodescribeeverydaylifeandbehavior,asin“Loveme,lovemydog”（爱屋及乌），“Everydoghasitsday”（凡人皆有得意日）.ButinChinese“走狗”referstoalackey,anobsequiousperson.SinceChineseassociatesderogatorymeaningtothecharacter“狗”dependingontheculturaldifference,Chinesehassuchexpressionsas“狗东西”，“狗腿子”，“狗仗人势”，“狗胆包天”，“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”，“狼心狗肺”，“痛打落水狗”，“狗急跳墙”. Wecanobviouslyseethatthemeaningattributedtolanguageiscultural-specific.Agreatdealofcross-culturalmisunderstandingoccurswhenthe“meanings”ofwordsintwolanguagesareassumedtobethesame,butactuallyreflectdifferentculturalpatterns.SomearehumorousaswhenaTurkishvisitortothe.refusedtoeatahotdogbecauseitwasagainsthisbeliefstoeatdogmeat.

SomearemuchmoreseriousaswhenaFrenchcoupleonatriptoChinatooktheirpetpoodleintoarestaurantandrequestedsomedogfood.Thedogwascookedandreturnedtotheirtableonaplatter!

Wecansummarizetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageasthefollowing:

languageisakeycomponentofculture.Itistheprimarymediumfortransmittingmuchofculture.Withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Childrenlearningtheirnativelanguagearelearningtheirownculture;learningasecondlanguagealsoinvolveslearningasecondculturetovaryingdegrees.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Itreflectsculture.Culturaldifferencesarethemostseriousareascausingmisunderstanding,unpleasantnessandevenconflictincross-culturalcommunication. 

2.Sapir-WhorfHypothesis

TheSapir-Whorftheory,namedaftertheAmericanlinguistsEdwardSapirandBenjaminLeeWhorf,isamouldtheoryoflanguage.Writingin1929,Sapirarguedinaclassicpassagethat:

Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworldalone,noraloneintheworldofsocialactivityasordinarilyunderstood,butareverymuchatthemercyofthe

particularlanguagewhichhasbecomethemediumofexpressionfortheirsociety.Itisquiteanillusiontoimaginethatoneadjuststorealityessentiallywithouttheuseoflanguageandthatlanguageismerelyanincidentalmeansofsolvingspecificproblemsofcommunicationorreflection.Thefactofthematteristhatthe

“realworld”istoalargeextentunconsciouslybuiltuponthelanguagehabitsofthegroup.Notwolanguagesareeversufficientlysimilartobeconsideredasrepresentingthesamesocialreality.Theworldsinwhichdifferentsocietieslivearedistinctworlds,notmerelythesameworldwithdifferentlabelsattached...Weseeandhearandotherwiseexperienceverylargelyaswedobecausethelanguagehabitsofourcommunitypredisposecertainchoicesofinterpretation.（Sapir1958[1929],p.69）

Thispositionwasextendedinthe1930sbyhisstudentWhorf,who,inanotherwidelycitedpassage,declaredthat:

Wedissectnaturealonglineslaiddownbyournativelanguages.Thecategoriesandtypesthatweisolatefromtheworldof

phenomenawedonotfindtherebecausetheystareeveryobserverintheface;onthecontrary,theworldispresentedinakaleidoscopicfluxofimpressionswhichhastobeorganizedbyourminds—andthismeanslargelybythelinguisticsystemsinourminds.Wecutnatureup,organizeitintoconcepts,andascribesignificancesaswedo,largelybecausewearepartiestoanagreementtoorganizeitinthisway—anagreementthatholdsthroughoutourspeechcommunityandiscodifiedinthepatternsofourlanguage.Theagreementis,ofcourse,animplicitandunstatedone,butitstermsareabsolutelyobligatory;wecannottalkatallexceptbysubscribingtotheorganizationandclassificationofdatawhichtheagreementdecrees.（Whorf1940,pp.213-14;hisemphasis）

3.TheRoleofWordsinVariousCultures

Wordsareinventivetoolsforcommunication,andtheenjoymentofusingthistoolboxofsymbolsvariesfromculturetoculture.Inlow-contextcultures,theroleofwordsisofinformational;meaningisencodedexplicitly.

Nottoencodemessagesexplicitlyistoriskbeingmisunderstoodinthosecultures.Inhigh-contextculturesthepurposeofcommunicationisoftensociallylubricative.Thatis,communicationfirsthasaroleinsustainingrelationships,andsecondonlywithinthecontextofarelationshipoftransmittinginformation.

4.ThecontrastsbetweenChineseandWesternwritinginEnglish.

ReadingI

HowIsLanguageRelatedtoCulture

Comprehensionquestions

1.Whatcanwedotoavoidattributingaverydifferentmeaningtothephraseorinterpretitmuchmoreliterally

Wehavetobeawareoftheculturalimplicationsofthephrase.

2.Whataretheotherfunctionsofusingquestionformsapartfromaskingforinformation

Itservesasalubricanttomovetheconversationforward.Aquestionthathasthisfunctioncanbecalleda―socialquestion.

3.WhyarethoseGermansgettingstifferandmorereservedallthetimewhenvisitingIngridZerbe

Theyareconfusedabouthowtoaddressher,forsheintroducesherselfbyfirstandlastnameratherthanbylastnameandprofessionaltitle.

4.Howdoestheenvironmentinfluencetheuseoflanguage

Languagereflectstheenvironmentinwhichwelive.Weuselanguagetolabelthethingsthatarearoundus.

5.Doestheauthorthinkthereareexactequivalentsindictionariesthathavethesamemeaningsindifferentcultures

No.Accordingtotheauthor,therearenosuchequivalentsbetweenlanguages;therefore,tocommunicateconceptseffectively,culturalknowledgeisasimportantaslinguisticknowledge.

6.Howdoesthelanguagechangeovertime

Wordsandphrasesthatareusedcommonlyatonetimemaybediscontinuedortheirmeaningmaychangeovertime.

7.DoestheauthorthinkitispossibleforcountriessuchasFranceandIcelandtokeeptheirlanguagepurebyimplementinglanguagepolicytoensuretheuseofstandardizedlanguage

Theauthordoesnotthinkso,because,forinstance,theAcademieFrancaisemayinsistoncertainrules,butotherFrench-speakinggroupsmaymaketheirownrulesandconsidertheirFrenchjustascorrect.

8.Whatarethepossiblelanguagebarriersinclassroomteaching

Insomecasestheprofessorsactuallymayhaveapoorcommandofthelanguage;however,inmostcasestheproblemisnotthelanguagebutdifferentintonationpatternsanddifferentculturalsignals..

ReadingII

Language-and-Culture,TwoSidesoftheSameCoin

Comprehensionquestions

1.Whatistheauthor‟sviewoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture

Languageandcultureareclearlyfused;onereflectstheother.

2.Inwhichwaysdoeslanguagereflecttheculture

Languageembodiestheproducts,perspectives,communities,andpersonsofaculture.Membersoftheculturehavecreatedthelanguagetocarryoutalltheirculturalpractices,toidentifyandorganizealltheirculturalproducts,andtonametheunderlyingculturalperspectivesinallthevariouscommunitiesthatcomprisetheirculture.

3.Howcanweusetherightlanguageintherightwayaccordingtotheauthor

Itisbasedondirectexperienceinthecultureandinteractionswithmembersoftheculture,inallthecomplexitythisentails.

4.IsthereanyculturalproductthatconsistsentirelyoflanguageCanyougiveanexample

Manyculturalproducts,suchasliterature,taxcodes,telephonedirectories,operatinginstructions,passports,consistentirelyoflanguage.Anotherexampleisfolklores.

5.Whatisthemeaningof“languageisaculturalproductinandofitself”

Whenspokenandwritten,languagetakesontangibleandperceptibleforms.Thesetangibleforms,aswithanyculturalproduct,canbedescribedthroughlanguage.Weconstantlyuselanguagetodiscusslanguageitself.

6.Canyougiveanexampleofhowwordsleadtoculturalperspectives

Forexample,aswehavealreadylearned,thekinshiptermsspecificallyusedinChineseleadtoaculturalperspectivethatisdifferentfromthatoftheEnglish-speakingpeopleinthisaspect.

7.WhatdidtheChineseteacherfindfromherin-depthstudyof“thebumpersticker”

Theperspectivesareindeedembodiedinwords,phrases,andsentences,buttheyarenotalwaysimmediatelyobvious,especiallytooutsiders.

8.Arethereanyparticularnormsmadebydifferentcommunitiesfortheirlanguageuse

Yes,thereare.Communitiesdefinenormsforappropriateuseoflanguage.Withingroups,roles,relationships,andothersocialfactorsinfluencewhospeaks,whattheysay,andhowtheysayit.Thelanguageformsweuseinonesetofsocialcircumstanceswithcertaincommunitiesarenotnecessarilytheonesweuseinothers.

CaseStudy

Case13

Thisexamplevividlyillustratesthatfailuresininterculturaltranslationmayprobablyleadtoveryseriousconsequence,orevendisasterstohumanbeings.Definitely,translationisnotsuchasimpleprocessasrenderingaword,asentenceoratextliterally,butratherafarmore