reflection week5

I think learning a second language affected the way conceptualize the world.

 

The relationship between language and culture

 Language is a system of symbols and rules that is used for meaningful communication. In many ways the structure of language reflects the structure of how our minds process the world. Culture can be defined as a learned system of values, beliefs and norms among a group of people (Greey, 1994). Broad definitions of culture include ethnic background, nationality, gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, and religion. As you know, language is formed to present our ideas or concepts; these can change depending on which cultural elements are dominant at any given moment. Language and culture are intertwined, and one will affect the other. Language and culture have a kind of deep and symbolic relationship. Language stands for the whole culture because language represents culture in the minds of its speakers. Conversely, culture also symbolizes language and is summed in the economic, religions, and philosophical systems of a country.

 

Second language learning is cultural learning

According to the National Standards for Foreign Language Education project (1996), students cannot truly master new language until they have mastered the cultural context in which the new language occurs. This means that understanding a new culture is an important element in achieving the success in second language acquisition. Therefore, we will get a new culture to learn a new language and we will get changed as we learn the language and be conceptualized by it.