Understanding of Language and Culture, “Two Sides of the Same Coin”, in the Perspective of Intercultural Communication

Abstract：Language and culture are like two wheels of our human beings. It is important to know the relationship of the language and culture in the intercultural communication. So the aim is to explain that the language and culture cannot separate with each other.

Keywords:language;culture;relationship;intercultural;communication

I.Introduction

Language and culture are important to human beings’ development. With the development of globalization， people around the world are communicating with each other more and more frequently. So it is necessary to have a better realization of the relationship between language and culture. Then we’ll discuss the issue in three parts in the perspective of intercultural communication: what’s language and culture? What’s the relationship between them? How does it contribute to our development?

II.Definition

a)Definition of language

Language is an important communication tool. It is a system of a group of symbols and contains two kinds of systems: the sound system and the meaning system. We can also say that it is made up of three systems. They are voice system， vocabulary system and grammar system. Language is a group of special symbols that only used by human beings. It’s mainly function is used for human communication.

b)Definition of culture

In its broad sense， culture is everything. Hoebel and Frost defined culture as that: integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristics of the members of a society and which are not the result of biological inheritance. While in its narrow sense， culture is defined by Bates and Plog as: Culture is a system of shared beliefs， values， customs， behaviors， and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another， and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.

c) Relationship between language and culture

On one hand， culture has a huge influence on language. In English culture， there are American English， British English and Canadian English and so on. Although they are called English， they have many differences between them. That’s because the cultures are different from country to country. So in intercultural communication， we should know these differences. Let’s take the American English and British English for example. The two words: “metre”， “meter”， are sharing the same meaning. But “metre” is used in British English while “meter” is used in American English.

One the other hand， language is the medium of culture. Language can record the culture so that we can transmit our culture from generation to generation through our language. In Chinese culture， the Chinese characters and voice have their special meanings. So in intercultural communication， for example， if the foreigners want to study the Ancient Chinese Poems and discuss them with Chinese， they must learn more about Chinese culture. Then he can understand the inner meanings of these poems.

What’s more， language is determined by culture. Without the culture， language will lose the original meaning. That’s why an English man can never understand the Chinese if he does snot know the Chinese culture. For example， in spite of the culture， the English word “he” or the Chinese characters like “和” will lose their original meanings. No Chinese culture， no Chinese characters. So the symbol “和” may be used to express other meanings in other languages. We can’t separate the language and culture.

III.Contribution

Language and culture have important roles in our society. People communicate with others in their mother tongue. And people in different countries need to learn foreign languages， then they can communicate with each other. In one country， people share the similar value because of the same culture，. So they can understand each other better. But in intercultural communication， for example， an English learner must learn English culture， it will help to make fewer misunderstandings in intercultural communication.

IV.Conclusion

Language and culture actually are an entirety just like a coin. And they are the two sides of a coin and cannot separate with each other. We know that the world is becoming smaller and the intercultural communication is becoming more and more frequent and popular. We will have to communicate with those people who come from different culture. So the awareness of the relationship between language and culture is becoming more and more important in our society. It will have a lot of advantages in the intercultural communication.

References:

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