Language and Culture's Influence on Perception - Annotated Bibliography Example

Bibliographic Journal Name: Student Number: Date: Hartshome, J. (2009). Does Language Shape What We Think? Scientific American, 1. 1-6. Retrieved 2 October 2013 from Scientific American database. Language is a tool of communication and passing ideas or information from the source, through a medium, to the recipient. Therefore, I think the idea has to be formulated or the information has to be existent first before one can communicate it by using some language. With direct response, I am of the view that language has nothing to do with what one thinks. The article mentions Whorfianism as a philosophical theory that holds that there is a direct relationship between the number of words known and the range of ideas that one can have. It also talks about the scientific view of language which disregards Whorfianism. Scientifically, which I agree with, language continues to change with words getting different meanings from one culture or society to another. Therefore, to some extent, it is actually culture and ways of thinking that shape a language, register and ways of communication. I would like to think of it by the basics that a child has ideas depicted by the things he or she does and their reactions to different aspects. This happens despite the fact that a child’s language is not developed and communication is still primitive. However, as the child grows, experience with the environment and family culture enhances their communication and use of language. I conclusively think that knowing many words only improves a person’s communication and provides better ways of communicating an idea but does not absolutely influence thoughts and idea development. Wenying, J. (2001). Handling culture bumps. ELT Journal, 55(4). 382-390. Not unless one has lived long enough within a second culture to understand it comprehensively, culture bumps, like Wenying (2001) refers to them, are unavoidable. I am of the view that all that matters is how one responds to and handles these bumps. The author describes them as the unexpected or uncomfortable situations of interacting with cultures. In my experience, most culture bumps are evident in social interactions like greetings and sharing class sessions with people from different cultures as well as professionally at workplaces. Basically, the point here is that much of cultural bumps occur in cases where the interactions occur a time period that is long enough. There is, thus, the essence of time in the interactions. It is also important to note the in essence, when people from different cultures interact it is actually the core feature of their respective cultures that are interacting. There are particular factors that characterize a culture and I concur with the author on power distance, collectivism and individualism, time and its control, equality and opportunity, and perception of possession. However, I differ on the aspect of intra-group harmony because I think that it is a factor that only applies to particular cultures like Korean and Chinese just to mention a few. When cultures interact, the people have the responsibility of determining points of convergence and establishing universally accepted modes of interactions. I reflect that interaction is a result of interdependence and thus desire to achieve a common goal. Fernandez, R. (2012). The “Where Are You Really From” Power Dynamic. Racialicious, 1. Retrieved 2 October 2013 from Racialicious database. The modern society has shaped itself in a way such that questions like “Where are you really from?” have become forbidden. Ask a person such a question with all honesty and genuinely and they will most probably think of nothing else but you being a racist. With such a mentality they will most, definitely, their response will be out of anger and in a racist manner without noticing. So one can guess who becomes the racist if the question was not but only honest. The author singles out the Australian culture as one characterized by racism and that it segregates almost all the other cultures. This positions the Australian culture as more superior than the others, based on determinant factors chosen by the Australian people. But then again, this is his personal opinion and such an issue is one whose conclusion one can only draw if they experience for themselves. I, however, concur that racism has no positivity given that nothing good has ever come out of it. Instead it creates distance and limits the benefits of globalization. In my case, I have not experience racism as directly as it comes but it is something that I see often. Take the example of white people in Africa getting preferential treatment from African officials in Africa, to the disadvantage of fellow Africans. Nevertheless, one cannot claim to be against racism yet when it happens they stop being rational and respond to racism with racism. The responsive reasoning and reaction is all that matters and brings the difference. Jandt, F. E. (2010). Culture’s influence on perception. In An Introduction to intercultural communication: identities in a global community. (pp. 59-76). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. This article corresponds to the view I postulated in the first journal about culture influencing ideas and, therefore, language of communication. Consequently I agree, before much discussion, that culture greatly influence perception of things and situations. This, subsequently, shapes ideas developed in a particular manner depending on the culture. The fundamental ways in which culture influences perception, as indicated by Jandt (2010), include sensing, selection, interpretation, organization and selection. My view of these factors is they all commonly relate to a person’s immediate environment and there life experiences. Experiences of life differ depending on the environment in which one is brought up and the culture influences their response to that environment. I think that culture greatly and directly impact the mental behaviours and characters that a person grows to have at adulthood where they can make decisions for themselves. These traits and character relate to their perception of the environment, situations and life events. Therefore, culture influences most steps of perception, not unless some other external factor comes in such as modern civilization. I have come to comprehend that different cultures relate to the environment differently as evidenced in how people from different cultures perceive or respond to their surroundings in varying ways. Culture has the capability of transforming our relations to the environment and thus influencing human operations. It has existed in the past yet when the term contemporary is used to with respect to past occurrences, the idea present the past attributes of culture as to be lacking clarity, although it remains very influential. Katan, D. (1999). Translating cultures: An introduction for translators, interpreters and mediators. Manchester: Saint Jerome Publishing. Culture is a critical topic that, in most cases, includes and easily intermarries with sociology. When a discussion launches on these two themes, the idea of diversity is inevitable. The fact that humanity is not of a common origin alone is a guarantee that opinion and idea differences on joining matters has to come into play. Culture generally varies in meaning depending on the speaker or the perspective from which the view is established. However, all that does not change the crucial agreement that culture enriches people intellectually and that conformity to a culture is with basis on one’s origin. I am of the opinion that elementary theories discuss culture in its naturalistic state as related to history. The idea is to ensure perception of the realities of culture in the exact way it is. I find that contemporarily, Williams (2005) discusses culture and materialism extensively as a postmodern factor, comparatively to elementary theories. The culture acquired in the governance, law and political arena of a government influence the modes of materialism of its people or the system itself. Therefore, I suggest that difference between elementary and contemporary culture can be professionally achieved by considering the essential domains of human life. Such domains are inclusive of religious background, interpersonal relations like marriage, work with regards to ethics and social values, in addition. Teaching of culture may be quite complex and tricky by it is possible by focussing on these tenets of human life. Culture is more appreciable when perceived in its most original concept. Based on this point of view, elementary theorists criticize postmodern characterization of culture as postulated by modern-day theories about culture and the society. Hall, E. T. and Hall, M. R. (1990). Understanding cultural differences. Boston: Intercultural Press. I would like to understand intercultural communication as a way in which people from different cultural backgrounds reveal their feelings and thoughts to others by way of writing or speech. The important point is that the different cultural backgrounds get to understand each other. It is, therefore, about passing information from one culture, the source, to another, the recipient. I perceive it quite differently and considering the inevitability of globalization and internationalization of businesses and jobs, intercultural communication skills are vital. The goal of communication is to effectively pass and share information. When this is projected to the aspect in cultural differences between the communicators, the skills necessary to learn include ability to adjust and coexist, understand the extents to which the aspects of life are under conditioning by culture, and the skills of identifying and solving problems in intercultural communication. Applying communication ideas and concepts to effective practice in intercultural communication becomes the prime purpose of learning intercultural communication. The messages shared between members of different societies determine the manner in which the different cultures show a relationship. Misunderstandings and conflicts in intercultural communication are consequences of language differences since words or expressions in a culture may have different meanings in another. Consider the factor of individualism, which focuses on the degree to which a culture values or reinforces the individual as opposed to the idea of collectiveness and group work. Without it, not only is communication paralysed but conflicts also rise. Intercultural communication respects the different areas of interaction where societal differences are seen. Liu, S., Gallois, C., Volcic, Z. and Gallois, C. (2010). Introducing Intercultural Communication: Global Cultures and Contexts. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. In the second chapter of this book, the authors discuss communication in a culturally diverse society. As mentioned in previous journals, many researches and studies have been done culture, its tenets and now, communication in a society with the diversity of culture. Relative to this article, culture has the contextual meaning of the total way of life of a people in a society. Suggestively, despite the cultural diversity, the society has its common aspects of a way of life. Thus, the society develops a way of life agreed upon across the cultures. The way of life herein does not supersede the composite cultures but actually defines how they relate, live together and communicate. Human communication in a culturally diverse society, therefore, occurs as a continuous process in which the people work to find appropriate ways of communication. I think this implies that, for such a society, there is no particular standard way of communication. Instead, appropriate communication is developed and the suitable register adopted in relation to the situation at hand. Actually I would propose this as the best way of enhancing healthy interactions between the cultures in appreciation of culture and humanity. With proper insight into the realm of culture as it relates to sociology and societies, researches reveal that culture theories may differ in concept and context but the essence of culture is consistent. I think that this consistency and common aspects like productions by the arts of culture for consumption by humanity enhance communication and understanding across cultures. References Fernandez, R. (2012). The “Where Are You Really From” Power Dynamic. Racialicious, 1. Retrieved 2 October 2013 from Racialicious database. Hall, E. T. and Hall, M. R. (1990). Understanding cultural differences. Boston: Intercultural Press. Hartshome, J. (2009). Does Language Shape What We Think? Scientific American, 1. 1-6. Retrieved 2 October 2013 from Scientific American database. Jandt, F. E. (2010). Culture’s influence on perception. In An Introduction to intercultural communication: identities in a global community. (pp. 59-76). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Katan, D. (1999). Translating cultures: An introduction for translators, interpreters and mediators. Manchester: Saint Jerome Publishing. Liu, S., Gallois, C., Volcic, Z. and Gallois, C. (2010). Introducing intercultural communication: Global cultures and contexts. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Wenying, J. (2001). Handling culture bumps. ELT Journal, 55(4). 382-390. Williams, R. (2005). Culture and Materialism, London: Verso. Read More