Difference Between Language And Language

“Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first they have to understand that their neighbor is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions.”- Paulo Coelho. According to Paulo Coelho, in order to better overcome the worldwide obstacles, we should try to understand each other’s cultures. Through this paper, I will try to show you the main differences between German culture and American culture. I have always felt as if I have grown up around the German culture, but it took me living there for an extended period of time to see that there are indeed differences between the two cultures. While I identify with both cultures and have both nationalities, I identify stronger with some traits of the American culture yet do the same with some of the German culture. Through this paper, I will be using different models to show the similarities and differences, as well as I hope to gain a deeper understanding of both cultures as well.

The informational article Islands of Meaning written by Eviatar Zerubavel is an incredibly insightful tool that has allowed others to better understand concepts of schemas, accommodation, and assimilation. The article illustrates how we mentally categorize things by segmenting and applying meaning to the world around us. This enables us to form ideas and opinions that aid in the development of society along with our own image of self. Our boundaries can be dependent upon our cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds influencing what is defined as normal or acceptable. In this critical analysis, I will initially recount in a short summary Zerubavel’s main concepts on synopsis, socialization, and language. I will also examine and review the article from a critical standpoint and give personal opinions on the concepts for in this article.

The treatment of social meaning in variation has come in three waves of analytic practice. The first wave of variation studies established broad correlations between linguistic variables and the macro-sociological categories of socioeconomic class, sex class, ethnicity and age. The second wave employed ethnographic methods to explore the local categories and configurations that inhabit, or constitute, these broader categories. In both waves, variation was seen as marking social categories. This paper sets out a theoretical foundation for the third wave, arguing that (1) variation constitutes a robust

People who are different are consequently viewed differently. It is human nature to judge others by the stereotypes that have been ingrained into our minds for however long. Stereotypes, however, may not encompass the whole story. Sometimes, you are only getting the discriminatory side of the story--a single story. Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” focuses on the discrimination towards broken English compared to Standard English and the stereotypes that evolved from such discrimination. Similarly, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” presents the idea that the “single story” is the reason for biased stereotypes that, more often than not, are untrue. Tan’s life in America was seemingly difficult due to the fact that her life and education were dependent on the language barrier between English and her “mother tongue”--the latter being seen as inferior and embarrassing. She initially felt that her mother’s fragmented English was something to be ashamed of since that was the “single story” that her peers have been spoonfed their whole lives. Adichie, however, denies these views by explaining that such stereotypes are incomplete and do not relay the person at hand’s true identity. In both “Mother Tongue” and “The Danger of a Single Story,” the speakers express how a person’s native language influences their identity through rhetorical devices such as ethos, diction, and metaphors.

In my opinion, this article shows the importance of knowing the difference between race and culture. Race can be taught in a “biological variation” which results

Most questions of whether and how language shapes thought start with the simple observation that languages differ from one another. And a lot! Just look at the way people talk, they might say. Certainly, speakers of different languages must attend to strikingly different aspects of the world just so they can use their language properly.

There are a lot of barriers that existence within human nature. The most profound barrier that exists is the language barrier. As human, we are met to communicate with one another. Without communication, there is simply no connection. A language barrier draws imagery line between people to make them feel distant on a deeper level. The frustration rushes through one’s brain when he or she realizes that they have a mouth but cannot utilize it to get their point across. There is a great deal of frustration to be misunderstood due to the restraint and limitation the knowing words and of trying to piece these words together to properly express oneself. In this paper, I will explain the effect and frustration of boundaries between people and how there are ways to try to get rid of that profound barrier.

Boroditsky et al. explore the writings of Benjamin Whorf to better understand language and thought. They find that “the categories and distinctions of each language enshrine a way of perceiving, analyzing, and acting in the world.” (2003). Vowel (2013) also regards this concept revealing that it is difficult to translate between aboriginal languages and English because so many connotations are added and taken away by the understanding of words.

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s classic experiment demonstrates the power of labels. In the experiment, the team arbitrarily labeled a few first graders as ‘bloomers.’ This designation was only made known to the teachers. In the following year, those students outperformed their peers by 10-15 IQ points. The teachers’ increased expectations and treatment may have facilitated their growth. Even language can fundamentally affect our perception of the world. In an interesting study, German and Spanish speakers were asked to describe the same bridge. The German speakers described the bridge as ‘beautiful’ or ‘elegant’, and the Spanish speakers described it as ‘strong’ or ‘sturdy.’ In German, bridge is a feminine word while in Spanish it is a masculine word. Symbols have a similar influence on our behavior. The American flag often evokes thoughts of freedom, equality, and justice. When students were sat in front of an American flag as opposed to a blank wall, they reported feeling more tolerant of other races and

This analogy shows that there are problems with the logic the Cultural Differences Argument because it tries to “derive a substantive conclusion” about a topic from the fact that there is a disagreement in belief between two groups (Rachel 19). While the premise involves what people believe, the conclusion is about what is the truth, which means the conclusion does not follow from the premise. A deductive argument is valid if its conclusion follows the premises; therefore, the Cultural Differences Argument is invalid. Furthermore, this analogy works as a criticism of the Cultural Differences Argument because it shows that the disagreement between cultures about a topic does not guarantee that there is no objective truth about such a topic. It might simply be because one party (or both) is

The subject of binary oppositions is one that had been discussed lightly for a while before symbolic anthropology became the popular approach, but it was not until this movement that the subject was fully explored. Symbolic anthropologists examined binary oppositions in the context of culture, investigating how rules were formed as a result of these contradictions. The four main theorists of symbolic anthropology all have different opinions on what binary oppositions mean to culture; however, all of them agree that culture must be organised in some way and that binary oppositions play a role this organisation.

The outline of the Cultural Differences Argument is that we argue from facts about the differences between cultural outlooks and then we conclude something about the status of morality from this argument . Overall each of these moral arguments is built upon one fundamental outline which claims that (1) Different cultures

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,

* In the educational field, the teaching learning cycle is a model used in contemporary teaching in both school and adult educational settings. Rothery (1996 in Derewianka & Jones 2012, pg 43) who originally developed the model used this to aim at disadvantaged children for teaching literacy and writing in the KLA (Key learning areas) who were from socially disadvantaged areas. Over time the model has been phased across other areas of the English language such as listening, speaking, reading as well as writing. The key involvement of the teacher also known as ‘expert other’ in the teaching learning cycle is guiding the learner to understand key concepts in academic literacy through use of scaffolding strategies to transform students

'Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.' (Hofstede, 1991)