2- CULTURE

2-1- Definition of culture:

In most arenas of social science where the complicated relation of various and variying

human influences exist, different and conclusive definitions of culture is difficult to establish.

Keeping this in mind, it is still very likey that the richness and dymanism of the phenomena

of culture may be seen and therefore shaped and improved through the lens of its users. The

notion of culture is quickly gaining momentum both in scholarly explanations and in

everyday lives of people as a key aspect of explaining their social reality. In fact, Brislin

argues (in this volum) that it is perhaps the most important thing to know about people if one

wants to make predictions about their behavior. Thus we see a cascade of new books about

multicultural education, cross-cultural psychology, intercultural communication, cross and

intercultural management, language and culture, political culture, and othre feilds. Even the

expanding genre of travelogues is evidence of the increased focus on culture. Culture is

important notion in this analysis of any social science or humanities, and its importance

continues to spread to other areas, such as architecture, art leisure studies, geography, and

many, many more.

For years, a few stock definitions constitued the base upon which writers built their

understandings of culture (geertz, 1973 ; Keesing, 1974 ; Kroeber and Kluckhohn(1952)

stands out as fundamental in at least three

Culture has been defined by different scholars representing various disciplines. Due to its

complex nature, the word culture is very difficult to define. One has to agree with Hinkel

(1999:1) that “ It may not be an exaggeration to say that there are nearly as many definitions

of culture as there are fields of inquiry into human societies , groups ,systems ,behaviours and

activities.”.In that context, Hall (1981: cited in Thanasoulas 2001) considers culture as a
muddied concept, elusive of any definitive definition. Brian Steed refers to the same idea

when he says ," In fact , there is not much point in trying to say what culture is , what can be

done, however, is to say what culture does." (quoted in Hall 2002: 19 ). Culture for him is "

An active process of meaning that contests over definition including its own definition."

(ibid.). In her study of culture and individual, Rosaldo (1984) points out that" Culture is far

more than a mere catalogue of rituals and beliefs " ( quoted in Hinkel 1999 ). In recent years,

the development in applied linguistics activity helps us define culture on a more specific level

concerning FL education. According to Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and

Applied linguistics (2002) , culture means : “The set of practice, codes and values that mark a

particular nation or group: the sum of a nation or group’s most highly thought of works of

literature, art, music etc. A difference is sometimes made between High’ culture of literature

and the arts, and small c’ culture of attitudes, values, beliefs, and everyday lifestyles. Culture

and language combine to form what is sometimes called Discourses,i.e. ways of talking,

thinking , and behaving that reflect one’ s social identity ”.p.138 Adaskou, Britten and Fashi

(1990) have outlined four meanings of culture as far as FL education is concerned, these can

be summarised in the following:

1- The Aesthetic Sense: refers to culture with a capital C including cinema, literature, music,

and media.

2- Sociological Sense: refers to the organization and nature of family, interpersonal relations,

customs, material conditions, ways of thinking and behaving.

3-The Semantic Sense: encompasses the whole conceptualisation system, which conditions

our perceptions and thought processes .

4-The Pragmatic or Sociolinguistic Sense: refers to the background knowledge, social and

paralinguistic skills and language code which are necessary for successful communication.
These four senses of culture reflect its many dimensions and offer the substance for culture

teaching in FL classrooms. ( Lessard-Clouston 1997) We are sometimes told that what is

required is a synoptical definition of culture, that is, a definition of culture which will specify

the necessery characteristics of anything that we call culture. In another sense such

definitions are attempts to specify or delimit the subject matter of anthropology. Many

"culture is … " or "culture consists of …" definitions have been propesd and a number of

them are to be found in the Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) catalogue of definitions as they

stated………However this program seems rather futile, its advocates often suggest that it is

important for theory formation in anthropology (Bagby 1953.535,537). But we can scarcely

list all the things that theories have been formulated and therefore board and general

definition may serve

2.2- The interrelationship between language and culture:

Language and culture are strongly interconnected. The relationship between the two

notion is a complex yet a homologous relationship, they appeared and developed together

long before people were able to write or be aware of themselves. If culture is the outcome of

human interactions, the act of communication is its cultural manifestations within a specific

social community. Using this context, Alfred L. Krober, a cultural anthropologist from the

United States said that culture started when speech was available, and from that beginning,

the enrichment of either one led the other to develop further. Rossi Landi further added that

young children learn their language and culture from the society they were born in. In the

process of learning, they develop their cognitive abilities as well. These are some of the rising

questions At the attempt in trying to clarify the relationship language and culture have by

Anderson (2020):

How Culture is Related to Language?

Zacharias) Language and culture are interlinked and you cannot learn one of these without

having a clear understanding of the other. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, 

language is linked to all the human-life aspects in society and understanding of the

surrounding culture plays an important role in learning a language. Moreover, language

allows the organization and evolution of cultural values. Language is needed for effective

expression and transmission of culture. A renowned linguist Ken Hale shares his views on the

culture-language relationship. He says that when a language is lost, a part of the culture gets

lost as well as culture is significantly encoded in language.Culture impacts our core

traditions, values and the way we interact with others in society. On the other hand, language

makes those interactions easy. Simply put, language facilitates social interactions while

culture helps us to learn how to behave and interact with others.

Language or culture-which came first?

Language is an integral part required for the establishment of culture. Communication

is the basic human need, right? From the start, human beings are communicating and

interacting with each other in different ways. Thus, for obvious reasons, the language came

first. Language is the source as well as the essence of a culture. It won’t be wrong to say that

language complexity increased over time and so did the cultural diversity. The languages

evolve, primarily because of their association with culture.

Evolution of Language and Culture:

Do you know what is common between language and culture? Both are continuously

changing!

For instance, the English language that we use today is way different from the old English.

Similarly, you can identify several differences between the old western culture and the new
one. Without culture, no language can exist. Both language and culture experience drastic

changes over time. Therefore, you cannot expect a 10-year-old child and a 70-year-old man

to share an identical culture and exact the same language even if they leave in the same

locality.

How do language and culture influence our personal identity?

Both the language and culture play a significant role in shaping your personality.

Culture tells you how to interact with others and helps to shape values and ethics. Besides, it

keeps you close to like-minded people and thus,  the sense of belonging strengthens your

bond with society.  On the other hand, language is like a tool using which you express your

culture. In fact, cultural ideas and beliefs are transmitted ahead via language.

Furthermore, both the culture and language allow us to peek into the past and shape

our ideas. How we think, speak and interact with others around us is determined by our

cultural values. Likewise, language also impacts human thoughts.As mentioned earlier, the

language and culture continue to evolve and so does our personality. As we meet people

belonging to different cultures, we get to learn more and explore more and interaction with

them can impact your personality as well. (2020).The phrase “language is culture and culture

is language” is very meaningful. There are not only various interconnections between the two

but a lot of history. Language and culture developed together, influencing the lives of people

just as much as one another.“ In order to understand one, you must understand the other,”

explains Abbott (n.d). When we look back at the history of language and culture, there are

certain parallels here and there. The evolution of language directly influenced the development

of culture and vice versa. The more advanced our language was, the more cultured we were.

(Savage, n.d)
 As a conclusion, according to Kramsch, language expresses, embodies and

symbolizes cultural reality (2009).

2.3- The importance of culture in communication:

Culture is communication and communication is culture, these two concepts are

interrelated and they have a great influence on each other .in fact cultures are created through

communication; that is communication is the means of human interaction through which

cultural characteristics whether customs, laws, values or other patterns are created and

shared. . Without proper communication our ideas and views (culture) cannot be informed to

others. Therefore culture is created, shaped, transmitted and learned through communication

and vice versa.

Many scholars argue about the subtle definition of culture, many explicitly define

culture as something shared among people who communicate with each other through some

common language, and which is further communicated to immigrants, children, and other

new members of a society (e.g., Triandis, 1994). The culture in which individuals are

socialized influences the way they communicate, and the way individuals communicate can

change the culture. Culture provides its members with implicit knowledge about how to

behave in different situations and how to interpret others’ behavior in such situations.The

culture has a significant influence on the communication process. The cultural differences

can create conflicts and misunderstanding between parties involved in the communication

process (Monippally, 2001, p.45). Culture’ has often been defined in simplistic terms as life-

style of people of a community. But culture means much more; it encompasses various

attitudinal and behavioral dimensions such as values, beliefs, expectations, norms, etc. All

these make culture a complex thing to understand and has drawn the attention of researchers
to study the various dimensions of culture and its impact on communication among the

people living within that culture.

Cultural diversity makes communication a complicated process as the mindset of people of

different cultures are different, the language, signs and symbols are also different. The later

can affect the level of trust and openness in communication that one can achieve with people

of other cultures. Therefore the cultural difference should be properly understood in order to

ensure an effective communication.

The distinguish among cultures can be seen in meaning of words, behaviors, gestures, eye

contact and other kind of non-verbal communication. A serious question may cause laughter

or amusement, a harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger on the other hand; so

without culture background it’s hard to receive and decode the message appropriately.

Culture also gives rise to prejudices, ethnocentrism, manners and opinions. It forms the way

people think and behave. When people belonging to different cultures communicate, these

factors can become barriers. Your culture shapes your way of communication. The opposite

is also true. Culture is, to a large extent, determined by the way we communicate. In Algeria

for example people communicate freely and that is a part of their culture. In China , an

Algerian who is used to being very direct with his communication might be found odd,

Chinese see his direct way of speaking rude. Being direct is part of the Algerian culture and

it is reflected in the way they communicate. Communication shapes culture and culture

shapes communication.

2.3- Culture and non-verbal behaviour:

Culture influences nonverbal behaviors in profound ways and it does not always

determine the message of nonverbal communication. The context and the individual's

personality also influence its meaning. However, nonverbal language is linked to person's
cultural background. Individuals are generally comfortable with others who have body

language similar to their own and mainly when one person's nonverbal language matches that

of another. One research study demonstrated that when Chinese graduate students imitated

some Arab patterns of nonverbal behavior (making increased eye contact, smiling, and

directly facing their Arab partners), the Arabs felt that these students were more trustworthy

than most of the other Chinese students.Furthermore, ‘’culture is another important factor

which has been proven to affect behaviour generally and on non-verbal behaviour

specifically’’ (Burgoon, Guerrero, & Floyd, 2016;Matsumoto, 2006). according to

Matsumoto culture has a significant impact on nonverbal behaviors through cultural norms

which are "social rules for what certain types of people should and should not do" (Hall,

2005), and also it creates certain non-verbal social behaviors. However, different cultures

might have different norms for nonverbal behaviors.