Chapter 13 Language, Cognition and Culture

Here are our mind map and summary about Chapter 13 Language, Cognition and Culture

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Chapter 13 Language, Cognition and Culture

Language and Perception

Most sociolinguists believe that language influences our perception of reality.

Example 2

 ‘. . . it has been said that “bad girls get babies, but good girls get myomata”.’ Surgery is also indicated when . . . hormone treatment has failed to control the symptoms . . .

 Since many women erroneously believe that following hysterectomy, their sexual urge ceases, that coitus is not possible and that obesity is usual, the physician must explain that removal of the uterus has no side-effects . . .

 . . . hysterectomy is the treatment of choice when . . . the patient has completed her family . . .

The operation of choice in all women under the age of 40 . . . who wish to preserve their reproductive function . . .’

This is a text written by a male medical doctor to his students. It talks about a surgery that is done to women. It says that the doctors should explain to the women that it has no side effects, because women wrongly believe that such an operation undermines their sexual urge.

the most obvious feature to be noticed in such a text is its impersonal and detached tone which is achieved by the use of agentless passive constructions such as “surgery is indicated”, and impersonal nouns like “the doctor, the patient”, and formal devices like nominalization. The opening sentence of the text presents an insulting saying as a common knowledge.

Such a text affects the perception of the students, and influences their behavior towards their women patients.

Verbal hygiene

Verbal hygiene is the thought-provoking term used by Deborah Cameron to describe how people respond to ‘the urge to meddle in matters of language’. It covers a wide range of activities, from writing letters to the Editor complaining about the ‘deterioration’ and ‘abuse’ of language (discussed in chapter 15 ), through prescriptions and proscriptions about what constitutes ‘proper’, ‘correct’ and ‘acceptable’ usage in a range of contexts, to using language as a political weapon. The discussion of sexist language is a proof that women engaged actively in verbal hygiene that reflected their belief that making a change in language use is worthwhile.

The deliberate adoption of non-sexist forms like “chairperson” often leads to accusations of political correctness. The debate of political correctness has often focused on linguistic terms. For example, the term “crippled” is not acceptable any more to the extent that the Crippled Children Society in New Zealand is now being referred to by its acronyms only. The term was then substituted with disabled, and now to the phrase “person with a disability”. Therefore, linguistic interventions challenge taken-for-granted offensive assumptions.

Whorf

The relationship between language, thought and 'reality' has fascinated linguists and philosophers for centuries. In recent times, the person whose name is most closely associated with investigations of the relationship between language and thought is Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf was an anthropological linguist who began his career as a chemical engineer working for a fire insurance company.

The main problem in assessing Whorf's argument is the danger of inescapable circularity. We observe that languages differ and conclude that the thought patterns of their speakers also differ. But the only evidence we have that their thought patterns differ is the language they use. So investigating the relationship between language and thought is a real challenge because the most obvious way to access thought is through language.

Some languages have linguistic categories which take account of the shape of objects. The form of Navajo verbs, for example, is sometimes determined by the shape of the object: e.g. long or short, thin or thick, round or not, and so on. Not surprisingly, Navajo-speaking children are typically much faster than English-speaking children in categorising blocks by shape. And given a choice of ways of putting objects into groups, Navajo children tend to group them according to shape, while English-speaking children group them according to colour.

Linguistic categories and culture

Language provides a means of encoding a community’s knowledge, believes, values (culture). It was believed that the primitive languages are simple in grammar, but this is not true. Even at the lexico-semantic level aboriginal languages challenge western preconceptions about primitive languages.

In Maori culture relative age is very important. The importance of the extended family as an important social unit is also reflected in the kinship system. In these cases, gender and relative age are semantically marked, but degree of kinship is not lexically distinguished. So the lexical labels identify those with similar social rights and obligations in relation to the speaker. Clearly, linguistic terminology reflects cultural relationships blue, in low spirits, and so on.

-          The cost of language loss

When we lose a language, we lose information which may be very difficult to retrieve Language loss also entails the loss of insights about human perception.

Another important reason for deploring language loss is the fact that when people lose their language, their distinctive socio-cultural identity is also put at risk. Language and culture are clearly closely related, as the discussion above has indicated. These are crucial symbols of identity and the loss of a language and the related erosion of cultural identity is often devastating. People whose language has been swamped by another often lose confidence in their abilities and develop poor self-esteem. While many other factors are also relevant, language loss in such cases is at least a contributing factor in educational and socio-economic underperformance.

Discourse patterns and culture

The intertwining of language, culture and perception is evident when we examine research on patterns of interaction too. Cultural differences between the discourse patterns of the majority and minority culture can often have serious consequences. Even, and perhaps especially, when both groups apparently use the same language, culturally different patterns of interaction can be a source of misunderstanding.

Cultures described as solidarity-oriented or ‘positive politeness’ cultures value involvement with others, while distance-oriented or ‘negative politeness’ cultures emphasize respect and minimize intrusion

            Indirectness is an obligatory aspect of respect for the other person when important personal information is at stake. And long, non-intrusive silences are tolerated, even when one party is clearly gathering information. As suggested earlier, it is also conceivable that preferred discourse patterns and linguistic usages not only reflect but also shape or construct a particular view of social reality and socio-cultural relationships

Language, social class and cognition

Example:

a)        Emmie, the daughter of a Scottish aristocratic family, was enrolled at an English public school. At the end of her first month, she failed all the oral tests. The school assumed she lacked intellectual ability. ‘This is outrageous,’ her mother declared, ‘she is an outstandingly intelligent young woman. What is the problem?’ ‘Her English is deficient; she can’t communicate’ responded her teacher. ‘We can’t understand a word she says.’ ‘Well, that’s your problem’ announced Emmie’s mother. ‘You had better learn to!’

b)        Middle-class children do well in school. Working class children don’t do well in school. Middle-class children speak a different variety of English than working-class children.

Bernstain, a sociologist (elaborated vs. restricted code) – teachers tended to favour children who used more standard varieties. Restricted code constrains the cognitive abilities of users?? –it placed the blame for lack of school success of working-class children on them and their language rather than schools’ failure to adequately identify their educational needs.

Bernstein’s hypotheses forced sociolinguists to examine Whorf’s claims about the relationship between language, thought and society really thoroughly. One of the benefits was a more detailed study of vernacular varieties, and a very clear recognition that dialect differences were comparatively superficial aspects of language which could not conceivably have consequences for different ways of thinking.

Conclusion

 In this chapter, I have discussed various ways in which language, thought and culture interrelate. Most sociolinguists agree that language influences our perceptions of ‘reality’. There is also undisputed evidence, however, that the physical and cultural environment in which it develops influences the vocabulary and grammar of a language. Languages develop the vocabulary that their speakers need, whether to label different kinds of kangaroo or to identify different ways of cooking rice.

 Thank you