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Linguistics across Cultures:

The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning

Ming-Mu Kuo
Assistant Professor, the Department of Foreign Language Instruction
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
[email protected]

Cheng-Chieh Lai
PhD Program Student in Educational Leadership
Prairie View A&M University
Texas, USA

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to discuss the inseparable relation between culture and lan-
guage and the implementation of instructional strategies for teaching second language
through culture to enhance students’ linguistic comprehension. Language is not only the
product of culture, but also is the symbol of culture (Gleason, 1961). Culture must be in-
corporated outright as an essential component of second language learning and teaching.
Only after cultural issues become an inherent part of the language curriculum and instruc-
tion, can students be successful in their target language learning. Second language
teachers, therefore, should pay more attentions to the diversities of cultures, identify key
cultural items in every aspect when they design a language curriculum, and apply appro-
priate teaching strategies to learning activities in order to help students to bridge the cul-
ture gaps.
2 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

The purpose of this article is to discuss people live, their behaviors and thoughts fol-
the inseparability of culture and language and low and are generally based on their own cul-
to propose ways of implementing instructional tures. Culture has many different dimen-
strategies for teaching second language sions. It includes ideas, customs, skills, arts
through culture to enhance students' linguistic and tools that characterize a group of people
comprehension. People who live in different in a given period of time; it is also the beliefs,
areas of the world have different cultural values, and material objects that create our
backgrounds and use different languages. way of life. Culture establishes a context of
Language and culture appear on the surface to cognitive and affective behavior for each per-
be two distinct fields, but they have an inter- son. It influences individual estimation and
twined relationship and affect each other mu- attitudes, and can also have an effect on prac-
tually. Gleason (1961) indicated that lan- tical aspects of life such as hobbies.
guages are not only the products of cultures, Culture is also a matter of habit, and it is
but also are the symbols of cultures. The de- habit that becomes tradition and tradition that
velopment of a language frequently affects its gives rise to culture. Local people begin with
associated culture, and cultural patterns of habitual actions and go on to create common
cognition and custom are often explicitly stereotypes. Condon further explained that
coded in language. stereotypes assign group characteristics to in-
Furthermore, language is also a social in- dividual purely on the basis of their cultural
stitution, both shaping and being shaped by membership. The cultural stereotypes affect
society (Armour-Thomas & Gopaul-McNicol, how people think, speak, act, and interact with
1998). Ihis means that language is not an in- one another. Samovar, Porter, and Jain (1981)
dependent construct but social practice both also stated that culture and communication are
creating and being created by the structures inseparable because culture not only dictates
and forces of social institutions within which who talks to whom, about what, and how the
we live and function. Certainly, language communication proceeds, but also helps to
cannot exist in a vacuum and there is an in- determine how people encode messages, the
evitable kind of “transfusion” at work between meanings they have for messages, and the
language and culture (Fairclough, 1989). It conditions and circumstances under which
follows, then, that learning a new language various messages may or may not be sent, no-
will also involve grapping with the notion of ticed, or interpreted. In a word, culture is the
culture in relation to language. foundation of communication.
Without culture, we can not understand
the lives and motivations of others and con-
Definition of Culture nect with their concerns and interests. Culture
is inherent in our being and a powerful human
According to Condon (1973), culture can tool to develop our society, add to our knowl-
be defined as a way of life. No matter where edge, and establish the relationships between
 Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌3

people. However, culture is fragile. The traits tion. In many ways the structure of language
of culture are constantly changing and easily reflects the structure of how our minds process
lost. If we do not value it, we will lose it the world. According to Douglas (2000), there
eventually. are four different dimensions of language.
There are: competence and performance;
comprehension and production; nature and
What is Linguistics? nurture; and universal grammars. Three ques-
tions need be considered before analyzing the
Linguistics is the scientific study of lan- structure of a language:
guage. It is a foundational discipline in the
sense that it bridges the social sciences, the 1. What are the rules or principles that
natural sciences, and the humanities (Harris, predict how sounds are made and
1951). Linguistics is an exciting field, not only how are they used (phonol-
because of its own achievements, but also be- ogy-patterning of sounds)?
cause of its contributions to other fields. In the 2. How do sound sequences convey
language domain, the study of linguistics en- meaning and how are meaningful
deavors to answer many questions, one of sound sequences strung together to
which is: What is language and how is it rep- form words (morphology-patterning
resented in the mind? Linguists focus on de- of sound sequences and words)?
scribing and explaining language. It is a disci- 3. How are words strung together to
pline concerned with how languages are simi- form phrases and sentences (pattern-
lar to and different from one another. In addi- ing of phrases and sentences)?
tion, linguistics is also a social science that
shares common ground with other social sci- Understanding a language should first
ences such as psychology, anthropology, soci- involve understanding its patterns of sound.
ology, and archaeology. For this reason, to All languages have definite patterns in the
understand the changing nature of language, sounds that the speaker use, how those sounds
we have to look at psychological issues, such are combined to form symbols, and how those
as learning ability and perception, and social symbols are organized into meaningful sen-
factors. We need to understand the structures tences. Douglas (2000) further indicated that
and functions of languages which play a part each language structure consists of four dif-
in our social activities in order to be a suc- ferent areas: phonology (the basis of speech
cessful use of language. sound), semantics (word meanings and or-
ganization of concept), grammar (include
Structure of Language Morphology and Syntax), and pragmatics (the
use of language in contexts). In fact, some
Language is a system of symbols and languages have similar structural patterns
rules that is used for meaningful communica- while others are totally different. One of the
4 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

reasons why some people have difficulty vironment, to cause certain events to
learning another language is often related to happen.
language structures. For instance, Chinese and 2. Regulatory function: when language
English languages have unique and totally controls events. The regulations may
different structures. encounter the approval or disap-
However, the structure of a language can proval of the listener.
be learned because human beings have a 3. Representational function: when
natural and inherent competence to acquire language is used to make statements,
languages. According to language acquisition convey facts and knowledge, explain
theory, language learners usually need a or report.
transformational period when they are learn- 4. Interactive function: when language
ing a new language. They must apply and serves to ensure social maintenance,
compare the structures of their mother tongue this implies knowledge of slang, jar-
to the new language in order to understand its gon, jokes, folklore, cultural mores,
patterns. A good example of this is in bilin- politeness, and formality expecta-
gual education. The theories of bilingual edu- tions in social exchange.
cation believe that when new second language 5. Personal function: when language
learners encounter an unfamiliar language in expresses feelings, emotions, and
the first time, they are often confused and dis- personality.
oriented. But, after becoming familiar with the 6. Heuristic function: when language is
structure of the language, they eventually dis- used to acquire knowledge and to learn.
cover its rules and how the various parts are 7. Imaginative function: when language
interrelated (Krashen, 1994). is used to create tales, write a novel,
poetry, tongue twisters, and etc.
Functions of Language
All functions of language lead back to the
Language is a system of signals, includ- three elements that are indispensable to the
ing voice sounds, gestures or written symbols formation of a proposition: the subject, the
which encodes and decodes information. The predicate, and the link between them. Each
goal of language is to communicate meaning. function has its objective to help us to deal
When we begin to develop our language abili- with the necessities of daily life.
ties, the main purpose is to communicate or
interact with others. Halliday (1973, p. 10)
suggests that the functions of language can be The Relationship between Lin-
separated in seven areas, included: guistics and Culture

1. Instrumental function: when lan- Language and culture are intertwined,

guage is used to manipulate the en- and one will affect the other. Language and
 Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌5

culture have a kind of deep and symbolic rela- cal” culture and blended into people’s lives
tionship. Language stands for the whole cul- (Allison & Vining, 1999).
ture because language represents culture in the
minds of its speakers. Conversely, culture also Culture Affects Language
symbolizes language and is summed in the
economic, religions, and philosophical sys- Culture can be defined as a learned sys-
tems of a country. tem of values, beliefs and/or norms among a
group of people (Greey, 1994). Broad defini-
Language Affects Culture tions of culture include ethnic background,
nationality, gender, disability, race, sexual
Language is formed to present our ideas orientation, and religion. Culture not only
or concepts; these can change depending on changes people’s values and habits, but also
which cultural elements are dominant at any affects people’s language and behaviors. Cul-
given moment. Whenever language expands, tural knowledge is crucial in achieving lin-
the culture changes. An obvious advantage of guistic proficiency, and the culture of a society
human language as a learned symbolic com- can be changed depending upon the language
munication system is that language has infi- used. For instance, some old words remain
nite flexibility. This means that the meaning even when they are no longer used cultural.
of a word can be changed, and then a new New words emerge as they become identified
symbolism is created. For example, the Eng- with particular cultural activities. The slang
lish word “Nice” now generally means pleas- words used by our parents were very likely
ing, agreeable, polite, and kind. But, in 15th different from those we use today. Different
century “Nice” meant foolish, wanton, las- eras often have differing “pop languages”.
civious, and even wicked. This simple exam- These languages are mostly likely to be influ-
ple reveals that languages can evolve in re- enced by TV programs, politics or music, and
sponse to the changing historical and social little by little they create their own cultural
conditions. As we know, the culture of the trend. Examples of this can be seen with the
United States is made up of many different Beatles and most recently in Hop Pop music. In
cultures and languages. Each of these indi- brief, language is always cultural in some re-
vidual cultures is impacting on, shaping, and spects. Language should be conceptualized an
redefining the American culture. Many new integrated as part of a society and its culture.
words are being added normal American daily
speech. For example, the sentence “long time
no see” is not standard English. It was trans- Second Language Learning is
lated from Chinese; others like sushi and tofu Cultural Learning
also appear in American society. People accept
and understand them because these adapta- According to the National Standards for
tions have already become a part of the “lo- Foreign Language Education project (1996),
6 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

students cannot truly master new language mother tongue because languages usually have
until they have mastered the cultural context differences of syntax, pronunciation, and
in which the new language occurs. This means structure. It is perhaps through cultural sup-
that understanding a new culture is an impor- port and understanding that the diversities of
tant element in achieving the success in sec- languages can be resolved and students’
ond language acquisition. In fact, the learning learning stresses can be reduced.
of language and the learning of culture can be
compared with a child’s first experiences with
the family into which he or she is born, the Six Recommendations as
community to which he or she belongs and the Instructional Strategies for
environment in which he or she lives (Lu, Teaching Second Language
1998). When we are infants, we acquire our within a Cultural Framework
first language in a natural way because our
society, our environment, and our culture con- Second language learning involves a
tinually feed us. Similarly, when we acquire a number of different dimensions, including
new language, we also need to ingest the new grammatical competence, communicative
culture’s nutrients. competence, language proficiency, and cul-
The perception that teachers have of a tural understanding (Thanasoulas, 2001).
student’s culture may have a positive or nega- Teaching second language is not simply about
tive effect in the learning process of a second giving speeches about syntactic structures or
language (Stevick, 1982). To be a second lan- learning new vocabulary, but should incorpo-
guage or bilingual teacher, cultural perception rate cultural elements. Cultural activities and
and intercultural training is very important. If objectives should be carefully organized and
children are given cultural knowledge, im- incorporated into second language lesson
mersed in a culturally rich environment, and plans to enrich the teaching context content.
exposed to culturally basic material, they may Six proposals for strategies to include cultural
learn the second language with more ease be- items in the second language classrooms are
cause their background knowledge about the described in the following section.
second-language culture will make compre-
hension less difficult. Strategy I: Provide Culturally Learning
As Lado (1957) mentions in his book Materials
Linguistics across Cultures, if certain ele-
ments of a second language differ greatly from The use of appropriate materials can help
the student’s native language, that student is students engage in real cultural experiences.
likely encounter difficulties. It can be assumed These materials can include films, news
from this that the learning of second language broadcasts, television shows, Web sites,
is facilitated whenever there are similarities magazines, newspapers, menus, and other
between that language and the learner’s printed matters. Teachers can adapt their use
 Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌7

of cultural materials to suit the age and lan- currently applied in second language instruc-
guage proficiency level of the students. For tions (Wertsch, 1991). The major objective of
example, beginning language students can a sociocultural approach is to prepare learners
watch and listen to video clips taken from a for intercultural communication and dialogue
television show in the target language and fo- between cultures. According to Savignon
cus on such cultural conventions as greetings. (1997), sociocultural strategies can be seen as
The teacher might supply students with a de- one of the most efficient ways for learners to
tailed translation or give them a chart, diagram, achieve sociocultural competence within sec-
or outline to complete while they listen to a ond language communicative competence.
dialogue or watch a video. Using appropriate Tomalin and Stempleski (1993) further indi-
audiovisual resources can strengthen students’ cated that role play activities can examine
images of the target culture and enhance their cultural behavior and patterns of communica-
second language learning. tion. For example, in one of these role plays,
students can dramatize an incident that hap-
Strategy II: Using Common Proverbs pened to them and caused cross-cultural mis-
as Transferred Tool understanding. In this way, it will enable them
to develop communicative strategies to over-
A discussion of common proverbs in the come similar problems in real second lan-
target language can help students to under- guage communication.
stand how the proverbs are different from or
similar to proverbs in their mother tongues. Strategy IV: Encourage Students Search
This can also help them to understand how and Present through the Culture Capsules
differences might underscore the historical
and cultural background of a country (Cic- The use of culture capsules is one of the
carelli, 1996). Using proverbs as a transferred best–established and best–known methods for
tool to explore two different cultures can teaching culture (Jerrilou, 1979). The concept
guide students to analyze the similarities and of cultural capsules was developed by Taylor
dissimilarities of cultures. It is also a good and Sorenson in 1961. It is a brief description
method for students to explore the values that of some aspects of the target language culture
are often represented in the proverbs of both alongside contrasting information from the
the target culture and their own. students’ native language cultures. The con-
trasting information can be provided by the
Strategy III: Apply the Role Play teacher, but it is usually more effective to have
as Sociocultural Approach the students themselves point out the contrasts.
Taylor and Sorenson further suggest that stu-
Role play is also a useful instructional dents can be presented with objects or images
technique in a sociocultural approach. A so- that originate from the target culture. The stu-
ciocultural approach is the most useful method dents are then responsible for finding informa-
8 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

tion about the item in question, either by con- language learning programs can provide sec-
ducting research or by being given clues to ond language learners with more independ-
investigate. They can either write a brief ence in the classrooms and allow learners the
summary or make an oral presentation to the option of working on their learning materials
class about the cultural relevance of the item. at any time of the day. Second language stu-
In fact, Brigham Young University has already dents usually come from different countries
published culture capsules entitled “Cultur- and have different cultural backgrounds. It is
grams” for 100 different countries. Each Cul- difficult to create a large variety of different
turgram is divided into sections on family learning environments due to the limited space
lifestyle, attitudes, customs and courtesies, in a normal classroom. The use of computer
and history. Through the practice of Cultur- technology can provide multicultural interac-
grams, students can compare and contrast the tivities without students having to the class-
customs and traditions of other cultures with room. It is easy to use computers to create
their own. various virtual spaces in order to meet each
learner’s needs. Today, the communications of
Strategy V: View Students as Cultural 580 million network users and the information
Resources of 4 billion websites operate as a big library.
Through the computers and the Internet, sec-
Currently, second language classrooms ond language learners can link to anywhere
are more culturally and ethnically diverse than and at anytime to access to appropriate mate-
they have ever been. Teachers can utilize the rial and information on learning. The World
resources this provides. Teachers can invite Wide Web can provide instantaneous access to
exchange students, immigrant students, or in- websites in other countries. Learners can find
ternational students into the classroom as ex- resources written in the target language and
pert sources to present aspects of their own learn about other countries’ cultures. Those
cultures. In this learning activity, students not websites cover a variety of topics including
only learn the diversity of cultures, but also news, sports, entertainment, and health, etc.
have opportunities to organize and make con- They provide various cultural learning oppor-
nect between their native culture and target tunities for students to pursue their cultural
language culture through these presentations. understanding and practice their reading and
vocabulary skills.
Strategy VI: Use Computer Technology to
Help Student Gain Cultural Information
Conclusion
Educators (Salaberry, 1999; Rost, 2002)
indicate that the current computer technology The purpose of this article is to discuss
has many advantages for second language and the inseparable relation between culture and
cultural learning. A computer and its attached language and to purpose ways to implement
 Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌9

Halliday, M. (1973). Exploration in the Function of

instructional strategies for teaching second
Language. London: Edward Amold.
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University of Chicago Press.
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helps us to discover that there are a multitude sules for ESL students: dialogs on life in the United
States for students of English as a foreign language.
of ways of viewing the world. Understanding Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers
the relationship between culture and linguis- Krashen, S. D. (1994). Bilingual education and second
language acquisition theory. In bilingual Education
tics will help us to develop instructional Office (ed.) Schooling and language-minority stu-
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the more language we gain, the more competi- Author.
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10 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction