1. © 2013 Cengage Learning

2. Outline  The Co-Evolution of Language and Human Culture  Cultural Influences on Verbal Language  The Structure of Language  Culture and Language Acquisition  Language Differences Across Cultures  Language And Thought – The Sapir Whorf Hypothesis

3. Outline (cont’d.)  Cultural Influences on Nonverbal Communication  Culture and Gesture  Culture and Gaze  Culture and Voice  Culture, Interpersonal Space, and Touch

4. Outline (cont’d.)  Intracultural and Intercultural Communication  Cultural Influences on Encoding and Decoding  Intracultural and Intercultural Communication  Improving Intercultural Communication  Bilingualism and Culture  Psychological Differences as a Function of Language  Perceptions of Bilinguals  Monolingualism and Ethnocentrism  Conclusion

5. T HE C O -E VOLUTION OF L ANGUAGE AND C ULTURE

6. The Co-Evolution of Language and Culture  Evolution of human cultures associated with evolution of ability for verbal language  Language facilitates creation of shared intentionality  Human cultures exist because of the ability to have language  Language is the universal psychological ability in humans  Each culture creates its own unique language  Reflects differences and reinforces cultures

7. C ULTURAL I NFLUENCES ON V ERBAL L ANGUAGE

8. The Structure of Language  Lexicon: words contained in language  Syntax and grammar: system of rules governing word forms and how words should be strung together to form meaningful utterances  Phonology: system of rules governing how words should sound  Semantics: what words mean  Pragmatics: system of rules governing how language is used and understood in social contexts

9. Culture and Language Acquisition  All humans have ability to acquire language  Infants produce same range of phonemes across cultures  Through interactions with others, infants’ sound production is shaped and reinforced  Elemental sounds become associated with meanings (morphemes)  Gradually combined into words (lexicons) and sentences  Culture provides rules for phonology and how words are put together to form meanings

11. Language Differences Across Cultures  Culture and lexicons:  Culture influences self-other referents (what we call ourselves and others)  American English: simple use of self-other referents  Japanese: more complex self-other referents  Culture and pragmatics:  Culture influences pragmatics (rules for how language is used and understood in different social contexts)  High-context vs. low-context cultures  Honorific speech: denotes status differences

13. Language and Thought: The Sapir– Whorf Hypothesis  Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity): speakers of different languages think differently because of differences in their languages  Challenges to Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:  Berlin and Kay (1969): 11 basic color terms form a universal hierarchy  Pinker (1995): thought can be formed without words and language  Fishman (1960): Sapir-Whorf hypothesis ordered by levels of complexity

14. * Least sophisticated ** Most sophisticated

15. C ULTURAL I NFLUENCES ON N ONVERBAL C OMMUNICATION

16. Cultural Influences on Nonverbal Communication  Nonverbal behaviors:  Facial expressions, nonverbal vocal cues, gestures, body postures, interpersonal distance, touching behaviors, gaze and visual attention  Bulk of messages conveyed nonverbally:  Nonverbal channels more important in understanding meaning and emotion states  Most people consciously attend to verbal language

18. Culture and Gestures  Gestures: hand movements used to illustrate speech and convey verbal meaning  Speech illustrators: movements directly tied to speech; illustrate or highlight what is being said  Cultures differ in both amount and type of various illustrative gestures  Emblems: culture-specific gestures convey meaning without words

19. Culture and Gaze  Gaze: powerful nonverbal behavior with evolutionary roots in animal behavior  Gaze associated with dominance, power, aggression, affiliation, and nurturance  Cultures create rules concerning gazing and visual attention  “Contact cultures” vs. “noncontact cultures”  Gaze often used as nonverbal sign of respect  Look at person: sign of respect in U.S.  Look away: sign of respect in other cultures

20. Culture and Voice  Voice contains many characteristics that go beyond speech in communicating messages  Paralinguistic cues:  Tone of voice, intonation, pitch, speech rate, use of silence, and volume  Emotional states universally conveyed through voice include anger, disgust, and sadness  Cultures differ in facilitating voice and verbal style to illustrate and amplify speech  Expressive cultures vs. less expressive cultures

21. Culture, Interpersonal Space, and Touch  Proxemics: use of space in interpersonal interactions  Cultures differ in interpersonal spaces they allot to intimate, personal, social, and public situations  Interpersonal distance helps to regulate intimacy by controlling sensory exposures  Haptics: non-verbal behavior involving touch  “Contact” culture vs. “noncontact” culture  Violations of space and touch produce aversive consequences

22. I NTRACULTURAL AND I NTERCULTURAL C OMMUNICATION

23. Intracultural and Intercultural Communication  Messages: information and meanings exchanged when people communicate  Encoding: process by which people select, imbed messages, and send signals to others  Signals: observable behaviors carrying messages encoded during communication  Channels: specific sensory modalities by which signals are sent and messages retrieved  Decoding: process of receiving signals and translating signals into meaningful messages

24. Cultural Influences on Encoding and Decoding  Decoding rules develop with encoding rules and are part of development of communication skills  Cultural decoding rules involve:  Ethnocentrism, filters, emotions, value judgments, stereotypes/expectations, and social cognitions  Cultures share encoding and decoding rules  People of same culture develop set of expectations about communication  Decoding rules, with emotions/value judgments, form basis of “filters” used in viewing world

25. Intracultural and Intercultural Communication  Intracultural communication: communication among people of same cultural background  Intercultural communication: communication between people of different cultural backgrounds  Potential obstacles to effective intercultural communication:  Assumptions of similarities, language differences, nonverbal misinterpretations, preconceptions and stereotypes, tendency to evaluate, high anxiety or tension, uncertainty and ambiguity, and conflict

27. Improving Intercultural Communication  Mindfulness:  Allows for ethnorelativism  Uncertainty reduction:  Allows for focus on content of signals and messages  Face:  Important to be mindful of appearances and potential shame associated with threat to those appearances  Emotion regulation:  Controlling negative emotions will allow for more constructive intercultural process

28. B ILINGUALISM AND C ULTURE

29. Psychological Differences as a Function of Language  Majority of individuals who speak English also speak at least one other language fluently  Bilinguals have two mental representations of culture encoded in their minds  Bilinguals show different personalities depending on if responses are in first language  Code frame switching: navigating back and forth from one cultural meaning system to the other when accessing one language or another

32. Perceptions of Bilinguals  Perception that bilinguals lack intelligence :  Takes time to respond in second language and thus appearance of having cognitive difficulties  Foreign language processing difficulties:  Arise due to lack of fluency in speaking language, and because of uncertainty or ambiguity about intended meaning of messages  Foreign language effect:  Temporary decline in thinking ability of people who use second language

33. Monolingualism and Ethnocentrism  Americans are notoriously ignorant of languages other than English  Ignorance of other cultures often accompanied by ethnocentric view rejecting need to learn, understand, and appreciate other languages, customs, and cultures  Americans are most monolingual of all peoples of world  Thus, language is intimately tied to culture

34. C ONCLUSION

35. Conclusion  Language plays critical role in transmission, maintenance, and expression of culture  Culture influences language, and language symbolizes what culture deems important  Understanding culture–language relationship is important step for intercultural communicators  Understanding nonverbal behavior important for appreciating cultural communication differences  Emotion regulation and mindfulness enhances intercultural sensitivity