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Linguistics across Cultures:

The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning

Ming-Mu Kuo
Assistant Professor, the Department of Foreign Language Instruction
Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
95029@mail.wtuc.edu.tw

Cheng-Chieh Lai
PhD Program Student in Educational Leadership
Prairie View A&M University
Texas, USA

Abstract:

The purpose of this article is to discuss the inseparable relation between culture and lan guage
and the implementation of instructional strategies for teaching second language through
culture to enhance students’ linguistic comprehension. Language is not only the product of
culture, but also is the symbol of culture (Gleason, 1961). Culture must be in corporated
outright as an essential component of second language learning and teaching. Only after
cultural issues become an inherent part of the language curriculum and instruc tion, can
students be successful in their target language learning. Second language teachers, therefore,
should pay more attentions to the diversities of cultures, identify key cultural items in every
aspect when they design a language curriculum, and apply appro priate teaching strategies to
learning activities in order to help students to bridge the cul ture gaps.
2 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction twined relationship and affect each other mu
tually. Gleason (1961) indicated that lan guages
are not only the products of cultures, but also
The purpose of this article is to discuss the are the symbols of cultures. The de velopment
inseparability of culture and language and to of a language frequently affects its associated
propose ways of implementing instructional culture, and cultural patterns of cognition and
strategies for teaching second language through custom are often explicitly coded in language.
culture to enhance students' linguistic Furthermore, language is also a social in
comprehension. People who live in different stitution, both shaping and being shaped by
areas of the world have different cultural society (Armour-Thomas & Gopaul-McNicol,
backgrounds and use different languages. 1998). Ihis means that language is not an in
Language and culture appear on the surface to dependent construct but social practice both
be two distinct fields, but they have an inter creating and being created by the structures and
forces of social institutions within which we attitudes, and can also have an effect on prac
live and function. Certainly, language cannot tical aspects of life such as hobbies.
exist in a vacuum and there is an in evitable Culture is also a matter of habit, and it is
kind of “transfusion” at work between language habit that becomes tradition and tradition that
and culture (Fairclough, 1989). It follows, then, gives rise to culture. Local people begin with
that learning a new language will also involve habitual actions and go on to create common
grapping with the notion of culture in relation stereotypes. Condon further explained that
to language. stereotypes assign group characteristics to in
dividual purely on the basis of their cultural
membership. The cultural stereotypes affect
Definition of Culture how people think, speak, act, and interact with
one another. Samovar, Porter, and Jain (1981)
According to Condon (1973), culture can also stated that culture and communication are
be defined as a way of life. No matter where inseparable because culture not only dictates
who talks to whom, about what, and how the
communication proceeds, but also helps to
determine how people encode messages, the
people live, their behaviors and thoughts fol low meanings they have for messages, and the
and are generally based on their own cul tures. conditions and circumstances under which
Culture has many different dimen sions. It various messages may or may not be sent, no
includes ideas, customs, skills, arts ticed, or interpreted. In a word, culture is the
and tools that characterize a group of people in foundation of communication.
a given period of time; it is also the beliefs, Without culture, we can not understand the
values, and material objects that create our way lives and motivations of others and con nect
of life. Culture establishes a context of with their concerns and interests. Culture is
cognitive and affective behavior for each per inherent in our being and a powerful human
son. It influences individual estimation and tool to develop our society, add to our knowl
edge, and establish the relationships between
Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌3

people. However, culture is fragile. The traits natural sciences, and the humanities (Harris,
of culture are constantly changing and easily 1951). Linguistics is an exciting field, not only
lost. If we do not value it, we will lose it because of its own achievements, but also be
eventually. cause of its contributions to other fields. In the
language domain, the study of linguistics en
deavors to answer many questions, one of
What is Linguistics? which is: What is language and how is it rep
resented in the mind? Linguists focus on de
Linguistics is the scientific study of lan scribing and explaining language. It is a disci
guage. It is a foundational discipline in the pline concerned with how languages are simi lar
sense that it bridges the social sciences, the to and different from one another. In addi tion,
linguistics is also a social science that shares that the speaker use, how those sounds are
common ground with other social sci ences such combined to form symbols, and how those
as psychology, anthropology, soci ology, and symbols are organized into meaningful sen
archaeology. For this reason, to understand the tences. Douglas (2000) further indicated that
changing nature of language, we have to look at each language structure consists of four dif
psychological issues, such as learning ability ferent areas: phonology (the basis of speech
and perception, and social factors. We need to sound), semantics (word meanings and or
understand the structures and functions of ganization of concept), grammar (include
languages which play a part in our social Morphology and Syntax), and pragmatics (the
activities in order to be a suc cessful use of use of language in contexts). In fact, some
language. languages have similar structural patterns while
others are totally different. One of the
Structure of Language 4 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

Language is a system of symbols and rules

that is used for meaningful communica reasons why some people have difficulty
tion. In many ways the structure of language learning another language is often related to
reflects the structure of how our minds process language structures. For instance, Chinese and
the world. According to Douglas (2000), there English languages have unique and totally
are four different dimensions of language. different structures.
There are: competence and performance; However, the structure of a language can
comprehension and production; nature and be learned because human beings have a
nurture; and universal grammars. Three ques natural and inherent competence to acquire
tions need be considered before analyzing the languages. According to language acquisition
structure of a language: theory, language learners usually need a
transformational period when they are learn
1. What are the rules or principles that ing a new language. They must apply and
predict how sounds are made and how compare the structures of their mother tongue
are they used (phonol ogy-patterning to the new language in order to understand its
of sounds)? patterns. A good example of this is in bilin
2. How do sound sequences convey gual education. The theories of bilingual edu
meaning and how are meaningful cation believe that when new second language
sound sequences strung together to learners encounter an unfamiliar language in
form words (morphology-patterning the first time, they are often confused and dis
of sound sequences and words)? oriented. But, after becoming familiar with the
3. How are words strung together to form structure of the language, they eventually dis
phrases and sentences (pattern ing of cover its rules and how the various parts are
phrases and sentences)? interrelated (Krashen, 1994).

Understanding a language should first Functions of Language

involve understanding its patterns of sound. All
languages have definite patterns in the sounds Language is a system of signals, includ ing
voice sounds, gestures or written symbols this implies knowledge of slang, jar
which encodes and decodes information. The gon, jokes, folklore, cultural mores,
goal of language is to communicate meaning. politeness, and formality expecta tions
When we begin to develop our language abili in social exchange.
ties, the main purpose is to communicate or 5. Personal function: when language
interact with others. Halliday (1973, p. 10) expresses feelings, emotions, and
suggests that the functions of language can be personality.
separated in seven areas, included: 6. Heuristic function: when language is
used to acquire knowledge and to learn. 7.
1. Instrumental function: when lan guage Imaginative function: when language is
is used to manipulate the en used to create tales, write a novel, poetry,
tongue twisters, and etc.

All functions of language lead back to the

vironment, to cause certain events to three elements that are indispensable to the
happen. formation of a proposition: the subject, the
2. Regulatory function: when language predicate, and the link between them. Each
controls events. The regulations may function has its objective to help us to deal with
encounter the approval or disap proval the necessities of daily life.
of the listener.
3. Representational function: when
language is used to make statements, The Relationship between Lin
convey facts and knowledge, explain guistics and Culture
or report.
4. Interactive function: when language Language and culture are intertwined, and
serves to ensure social maintenance, one will affect the other. Language and
Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌5

culture have a kind of deep and symbolic rela moment. Whenever language expands, the
tionship. Language stands for the whole cul tureculture changes. An obvious advantage of
because language represents culture in the human language as a learned symbolic com
minds of its speakers. Conversely, culture also munication system is that language has infi nite
symbolizes language and is summed in the flexibility. This means that the meaning of a
economic, religions, and philosophical sys tems word can be changed, and then a new
of a country. symbolism is created. For example, the Eng lish
word “Nice” now generally means pleas ing,
Language Affects Culture agreeable, polite, and kind. But, in 15th century
“Nice” meant foolish, wanton, las civious, and
Language is formed to present our ideas or even wicked. This simple exam ple reveals that
concepts; these can change depending on which languages can evolve in re sponse to the
cultural elements are dominant at any given changing historical and social conditions. As
we know, the culture of the United States is integrated as part of a society and its culture.
made up of many different cultures and
languages. Each of these indi vidual cultures is
impacting on, shaping, and redefining the Second Language Learning is
American culture. Many new words are being Cultural Learning
added normal American daily speech. For
example, the sentence “long time no see” is not According to the National Standards for
standard English. It was trans lated from Foreign Language Education project (1996),
Chinese; others like sushi and tofu also appear 6 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction
in American society. People accept and
understand them because these adapta tions
have already become a part of the “lo students cannot truly master new language until
cal” culture and blended into people’s lives they have mastered the cultural context in
(Allison & Vining, 1999). which the new language occurs. This means
that understanding a new culture is an impor
Culture Affects Language tant element in achieving the success in sec ond
language acquisition. In fact, the learning of
Culture can be defined as a learned sys tem of language and the learning of culture can be
values, beliefs and/or norms among a group of compared with a child’s first experiences with
people (Greey, 1994). Broad defini tions of the family into which he or she is born, the
culture include ethnic background, nationality, community to which he or she belongs and the
gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, and environment in which he or she lives (Lu,
religion. Culture not only changes people’s 1998). When we are infants, we acquire our
values and habits, but also affects people’s first language in a natural way because our
language and behaviors. Cul tural knowledge is society, our environment, and our culture con
crucial in achieving lin guistic proficiency, and tinually feed us. Similarly, when we acquire a
the culture of a society can be changed new language, we also need to ingest the new
depending upon the language used. For culture’s nutrients.
instance, some old words remain even when The perception that teachers have of a
they are no longer used cultural. New words student’s culture may have a positive or nega
emerge as they become identified with tive effect in the learning process of a second
particular cultural activities. The slang words language (Stevick, 1982). To be a second lan
used by our parents were very likely different guage or bilingual teacher, cultural perception
from those we use today. Different eras often and intercultural training is very important. If
have differing “pop languages”. These children are given cultural knowledge, im
languages are mostly likely to be influ enced by mersed in a culturally rich environment, and
TV programs, politics or music, and little by exposed to culturally basic material, they may
little they create their own cultural trend. learn the second language with more ease be
Examples of this can be seen with the Beatles cause their background knowledge about the
and most recently in Hop Pop music. In brief, second-language culture will make compre
language is always cultural in some re spects. hension less difficult.
Language should be conceptualized an As Lado (1957) mentions in his book
Linguistics across Cultures, if certain ele ments number of different dimensions, including
of a second language differ greatly from the grammatical competence, communicative
student’s native language, that student is likely competence, language proficiency, and cul
encounter difficulties. It can be assumed from tural understanding (Thanasoulas, 2001).
this that the learning of second language is Teaching second language is not simply about
facilitated whenever there are similarities giving speeches about syntactic structures or
between that language and the learner’s learning new vocabulary, but should incorpo
rate cultural elements. Cultural activities and
objectives should be carefully organized and
incorporated into second language lesson plans
mother tongue because languages usually have to enrich the teaching context content. Six
differences of syntax, pronunciation, and proposals for strategies to include cultural items
structure. It is perhaps through cultural sup port in the second language classrooms are
and understanding that the diversities of described in the following section.
languages can be resolved and students’
learning stresses can be reduced. Strategy I: Provide Culturally Learning
Materials

Six Recommendations as The use of appropriate materials can help

Instructional Strategies for students engage in real cultural experiences.
Teaching Second Language These materials can include films, news
within a Cultural Framework broadcasts, television shows, Web sites,
magazines, newspapers, menus, and other
Second language learning involves a printed matters. Teachers can adapt their use
Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌7

of cultural materials to suit the age and lan as Transferred Tool

guage proficiency level of the students. For
example, beginning language students can A discussion of common proverbs in the
watch and listen to video clips taken from a target language can help students to under stand
television show in the target language and fo cus how the proverbs are different from or similar
on such cultural conventions as greetings. The to proverbs in their mother tongues. This can
teacher might supply students with a de tailed also help them to understand how differences
translation or give them a chart, diagram, or might underscore the historical and cultural
outline to complete while they listen to a background of a country (Cic carelli, 1996).
dialogue or watch a video. Using appropriate Using proverbs as a transferred tool to explore
audiovisual resources can strengthen students’ two different cultures can guide students to
images of the target culture and enhance their analyze the similarities and dissimilarities of
second language learning. cultures. It is also a good method for students
to explore the values that are often represented
Strategy II: Using Common Proverbs in the proverbs of both the target culture and
their own. Taylor and Sorenson further suggest that stu
dents can be presented with objects or images
Strategy III: Apply the Role Play that originate from the target culture. The stu
as Sociocultural Approach dents are then responsible for finding informa-
8 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction

Role play is also a useful instructional

technique in a sociocultural approach. A so
ciocultural approach is the most useful method tion about the item in question, either by con
currently applied in second language instruc ducting research or by being given clues to
tions (Wertsch, 1991). The major objective of a investigate. They can either write a brief
sociocultural approach is to prepare learners for summary or make an oral presentation to the
intercultural communication and dialogue class about the cultural relevance of the item. In
between cultures. According to Savignon fact, Brigham Young University has already
(1997), sociocultural strategies can be seen as published culture capsules entitled “Cultur
one of the most efficient ways for learners to grams” for 100 different countries. Each Cul
achieve sociocultural competence within sec turgram is divided into sections on family
ond language communicative competence. lifestyle, attitudes, customs and courtesies, and
Tomalin and Stempleski (1993) further indi history. Through the practice of Cultur grams,
cated that role play activities can examine students can compare and contrast the customs
cultural behavior and patterns of communica and traditions of other cultures with their own.
tion. For example, in one of these role plays,
students can dramatize an incident that hap Strategy V: View Students as Cultural
pened to them and caused cross-cultural mis Resources
understanding. In this way, it will enable them
to develop communicative strategies to over Currently, second language classrooms are
come similar problems in real second lan guage more culturally and ethnically diverse than they
communication. have ever been. Teachers can utilize the
resources this provides. Teachers can invite
Strategy IV: Encourage Students Search exchange students, immigrant students, or in
and Present through the Culture Capsules ternational students into the classroom as ex pert
sources to present aspects of their own cultures.
The use of culture capsules is one of the In this learning activity, students not only learn
best–established and best–known methods for the diversity of cultures, but also have
teaching culture (Jerrilou, 1979). The concept of opportunities to organize and make con nect
cultural capsules was developed by Taylor and between their native culture and target language
Sorenson in 1961. It is a brief description of culture through these presentations.
some aspects of the target language culture
alongside contrasting information from the Strategy VI: Use Computer Technology to
students’ native language cultures. The con Help Student Gain Cultural Information
trasting information can be provided by the
teacher, but it is usually more effective to have Educators (Salaberry, 1999; Rost, 2002)
the students themselves point out the contrasts. indicate that the current computer technology
has many advantages for second language and of 4 billion websites operate as a big library.
cultural learning. A computer and its attached Through the computers and the Internet, sec ond
language learners can link to anywhere and at
anytime to access to appropriate mate rial and
information on learning. The World Wide Web
language learning programs can provide sec ond can provide instantaneous access to websites in
language learners with more independ ence in other countries. Learners can find resources
the classrooms and allow learners the option of written in the target language and learn about
working on their learning materials at any time other countries’ cultures. Those websites cover
of the day. Second language stu dents usually a variety of topics including news, sports,
come from different countries and have entertainment, and health, etc. They provide
different cultural backgrounds. It is difficult to various cultural learning oppor tunities for
create a large variety of different learning students to pursue their cultural understanding
environments due to the limited space in a and practice their reading and vocabulary skills.
normal classroom. The use of computer
technology can provide multicultural interac
tivities without students having to the class Conclusion
room. It is easy to use computers to create
various virtual spaces in order to meet each The purpose of this article is to discuss the
learner’s needs. Today, the communications of inseparable relation between culture and
580 million network users and the information language and to purpose ways to implement
Linguistics across Cultures: The Impact of Culture on Second Language Learning ▌9

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10 ▌Journal of Foreign Language Instruction