Presented by

Language
 Method of human communication

 Style of verbal expression

 Helps us share our thoughts and understand other

 System of symbols with standard meaning

Through language

 We transmit our culture

 We categories the word

 We interpret & organize the word

Function Of Language
 Directive : Language used for the purpose of causing
(or preventing) overt action. The directive function is
most commonly found in commands and requests.

 Expressive :The use of language to reveal something

about the feelings and attitudes of the speaker.
 Emotive :The use of language to create certain feeling
in the listener.

 Per formative :The use of language to “do thing” , to

perform actions.
 Informative : It is used to tell what the speaker
believes to give information about facts , or to reason
to thing out.
Culture
Culture is a word for the 'way of life' of groups of
people, meaning the way they do things

Modes of behavior

Our philosophies and ethics

Our morals and manners

Our customs and tarditions

 Our religious ,political,economic and other activities.
Relationship between language
and culture
 Language expresses cultural reality:
 Word express the facts, ideas or events that are
communicable.
 Words reflect the attitudes, beliefs, and points of view.
 Language embodies cultural reality:
 The(spoken, written, or visual) medium people choose
to communicate with one another create meaning that
understandable to the group the belong to.
 Language symbolizes cultural reality:
 Language is viewed as a symbol of social identity.
Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
 Sapir(1929)
Human being do not live in the society alone. Language
of the society predispose certain choices interpretation
about how we view the word.
 Whorf(1930)
We dissect nature along lines laid down by our natives
languages. We categories objects in the scheme laid by
the language and if we do not subscribe to these
classification we can not talk or communicate.
Effect of culture on language
 Culture influences language acquisition from the very
early stage through the entire developmental process.

 Culture influences all aspects of language.

 It is through use of language the an individual is

transformed into agent of culure.

 Culture has a powerful influence on verbal and
nonverbal encoding and decoding processes.

 Culture affects not only language lexicons but also the

function or pragmatics .

 Change in society may produce corresponding

linguistic changes.
Language differences across
cultures
 Culture and Lexicons
 Self and Referents
 In U.S., the use of “I”, “we” prevalent , but in Japan
there are cultural rules governing how to refer self and
other .It is dependent largely on the status relationship
you and the other person.
 This reflects importance of status and group
differentiation in Japan.