Language and Culture

What this page covers

This unit sits in the Language in Society strand of Linguistics and philology. Almost everything listed is a mind map, so the page works best as a collection of different readers' outlines of one big question: how are language and culture connected?

Several maps follow the same course structure. They define language and culture, then look at culture in language teaching and learning, then at a sociocultural perspective and the theories behind it. Others take a narrower angle, such as linguistic relativity, language, thought and culture, or a discourse approach to intercultural communication.

Where to start

Begin with The relationship between language and culture. Its branches say that language is the main means by which we conduct our social lives and that it expresses cultural reality. That gives you a base before the more specialized maps.

1. Open LANGUAGE AND CULTURE for definitions, teaching and learning, and theories.
2. Move to Language and Culture Final Task to see the socio-cultural perspective and the role of culture in the foreign language classroom.
3. Try the maps on linguistic relativism and linguistic relativity for the link between language, identity and thinking.
4. Finish with the map on a new model of intercultural communicative competence.

Using maps and flashcards together

Read a map one branch at a time and say each point in your own words. Then compare two maps on the same topic. Where they differ, you have found something worth checking in your course reading.

The flashcard deck, called Test, asks short questions such as what Hofstede's five dimensions are, what a high context culture is, and what ethnocentrism and negative stereotyping mean. Use it after the maps to see which terms you can recall without looking. There are no quizzes on this page, so the deck is your quick self-check.

For teachers

Teachers can pull a map into a lesson on culture in language teaching, or use the note on language and cultural identity as a discussion starter. Since the resources come from community members, read them as study aids and check them against your own materials.

Pick one map today, work through it, and then sketch your own version of the topic.