Language Culture: Language Acquisition & Language Learning

Language Culture:
Language Acquisition
& Language Learning
Human beings can communicate with each other. We are able to exchange
knowledge, beliefs, opinions, wishes, threats, commands, thanks, promises,
declarations, feelings – only our imagination sets limits. We can laugh to
express amusement, happiness, or disrespect, we can smile to express
amusement, pleasure, approval, or bitter feelings, we can shriek to express
anger, excitement, or fear, we can clench our fists to express determination,
anger or a threat, we can raise our eyebrows to express surprise or
disapproval, and so on, but our system of communication before anything
else is language.
What is Language?
Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English

phonetician and language scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas by
means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences,
this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts.”
Language interacts with every aspect of human life in
society, and it can be understood only if it is considered in
relation to society. (Robert Henry Robins)
In most accounts, the primary purpose of language is to facilitate
communication, in the sense of transmission of information from one
person to another. (Robert Henry Robins)
Language is a vital part of human
connection. Although all species have their
ways of communicating, humans are the only
ones that have mastered cognitive language
communication. Language allows us to share
our ideas, thoughts, and feelings with others.
It has the power to build societies, but also
tear them down. It may seem obvious, but if
you’re asking yourself, why is language
important? You’ll have to break it down to
truly understand why.
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-is-langu
age-important/
Why Is Language Important? Language Matters
To most people, language comes naturally. We learn how to

communicate even before we can talk and as we grow older, we find ways to
manipulate language to truly convey what we want to say with words and
complex sentences. Of course, not all communication is through language,
but mastering a language certainly helps speed up the process. This is one
of the many reasons why language is important.
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-is-language-important/
• Language Is Important To Culture And Society
• Language Is Important To Business
• Language Is Important For Individuals And
Development
• Language Is Important For Personal
Communication
Different Types Of Language
• Oral
• Written language
Six Elements Of Language
• Clarity: Using language in a way that ensures the intended audience
fully understands your ideas; that your ideas are clear.
• Economy: Being ‘economic’ about how you speak by avoiding any
unnecessary language. This means using only the necessary and
appropriate words to express yourself while avoiding using language
your audience won’t understand. Essentially, this means avoiding fluff or
complicated vocabulary.
• Obscenity: This refers to ‘indecent language’, including, but not limited
to, curse words and hateful remarks.
• Obscure Language/Jargon: This is very specific language that your
audience will not understand because they are not familiar with what you are
talking about. This could be when your car mechanic explains to you what’s
wrong with your car, but you are not a car mechanic, so you are unclear of
what they’re talking about.
• Power: This is when someone uses language to exert power over someone to
manipulate them, command them, or to get them to do something they want.
It could also be to demonstrate yourself as an authority in the room.
• Variety: This is a speaker’s ability to use a combination of all the different
types of language aforementioned to successfully and creatively get ideas
across.
https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/why-is-language-important/
LANGUAGE CULTURE
Language and culture are intertwined. One cannot define or identify cultural orientations
without citing variations in language.
What is culture?
Culture describes variations in values, beliefs, as well as differences in the way
people behave (DeVito 2007). Culture encompasses everything that a social group
develops or produces.
Element of culture are not genetically transmitted and as such, they have to be
passed down from one generation the next through communication. This explains why it
is easy to adopt a certain language depending on the shared beliefs, attitudes and values.
https://ivypanda.com/essays/relationship-between-language-and-culture/
The existence of different cultures can be explained using the
cultural relativism approach which stipulates that although cultures tend
to vary, none is superior to the other (DeVito 2007).
Learning of cultural values can be done through enculturation
whereby individuals learn the culture of their birth. Alternatively, one
can be acculturated into a culture that is divergent from their basic
culture (DeVito 2007).
https://ivypanda.com/essays/relationship-between-language-and-cul
ture/
Language and its role in culture
Language is the verbal channel of communication by articulating words that

an individual is conversant with. This is aimed at relaying information. In other
words, it is the expression of one’s culture verbally (Jandt 2009).
Language is the first element that helps an individual to distinguish the
cultural orientations of individuals. Through language, we are able to
differentiate between for example, a Chinese national and a Briton. The main
functions of language are generally for information purposes and for the
establishment of relationships.
https://ivypanda.com/essays/relationship-between-language-and-culture/
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Can a dog tell another dog a joke?
Or can a cat (other than Garfield) describe an experience so vividly that it makes
the other cats feel like they just ate the same lasagna?
Language. It’s an exclusively human condition. Other species definitely do
communicate through movements and sounds, but they’re definitely not in the
same class as humans.
A poet can write lines that can make any woman swoon. A 140-character
tweet can spark a revolution. Even children can tease an acquaintance to tears.
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/what-is-language-acquisition/
What is Language Acquisition?
Have you had the wonderful experience of gazing at a newborn baby through a hospital nursery window?
You know full well that those babies can’t appreciate your soulful admiration, right? They can’t understand
a word you say, much less talk to you.
Language acquisition is the process of building the ability to understand a language, using it to
communicate with others. It’s the process of going from a wordless wonder into somebody who can’t stop
talking during class.
That’s language acquisition or, more specifically, first language or native language acquisition. If you
were born in Korea to parents who speak Korean with you, you’ll naturally end up talking Korean. The
same goes for whatever native language you’re taught.
Another type of language acquisition is the one that happens after you’ve acquired your native tongue
—aptly named “second language acquisition.”
The 5 Characteristics of a
Language
1.Syntax
2. Semantics
3. Morphology
4. Phonology
5. Pragmatics
How do you know if or when you’ve acquired a language?
That’s a very difficult question to answer. It’s not an either-or kind of thing.
When you get down to it, language acquisition isn’t a dichotomy but rather a
continuum, and language learners stand at various stages of acquisition.
And to make things a little bit more complicated, there are four basic
language modalities or skills involved: listening, speaking, reading and
writing. They’re closely related, but still clearly different. You may have
thought of “language acquisition” in terms of speaking ability, but it’s just
one of four competencies considered.
• Listening
We know that listening is the first language skill to be developed. Before
babies can even talk, read or write, they’ve already logged in serious hours
listening. They listen to how their parents talk, to the intonations and pauses, and
take their cues as to the speaker’s emotions.
Babies have this “silent phase” when they simply give you those cute bright
eyes. No words are spoken. But you know something is happening inside those
brains because one day, they just start babbling—something unintelligible at first,
then gradually moving into their first words, like wooden sculptures slowly arising
from individual blocks of wood.
• Speaking
Speaking is probably what you think of when we mention “language
acquisition.” It is, after all, the most vivid proof of your linguistic chops.
Ironically, although speaking may be the end goal for many language
learners, many devote very little study time to it. Many learners instead dive deep
into vocabulary and grammar.
To learn how to speak a language, you practice speaking it. Speaking is a
physical phenomenon, so you need to actually practice getting your vocal
ensemble—your tongue, mouth, teeth and palate—to move the way native
speakers move theirs. You need to feel what it’s like saying those words. You
need to hear yourself speak. You need to open your mouth. And often. All the
time. There’s just no way around it.
• Reading
Being able to read in a second language opens up a whole world of literature to you.
Time for studying vocabulary and grammar rules all works in favor of reading
comprehension.
In addition, you can gradually build your comprehension prowess by starting off with
dual-language books. These are books that give you a line-by-line translation of the story.
You can compare and contrast the languages as you go along.
Writing
Writing, in many respects, can actually be easier than speaking the target language.
With the written form, language learners actually have a visible record in front of them.
Written texts are more malleable than spoken words. You can scratch written texts, reorder
them and correct their tenses and conjugations. Again, vocabulary and grammar training
help a lot to build this skill.
LANGUAGE LEARNING
• Language learning on the other hand, is the result of direct instruction in the
rules of language. Language learning is not an age-appropriate activity for
very young children as learning presupposes that learners have a conscious
knowledge of the new language and can talk about the knowledge.
• Language learners usually have a basic knowledge of the grammar of their
first language they acquired. They know the difference in intonation, the
sound of words, what a grammatically correct word order is in a sentence in
the language, that words can have multiple meanings etc.
http://www.utesinternationallounge.com/language-acquisition-versus-language
-learning/

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Language Culture:

Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English

To most people, language comes naturally. We learn how to

Language is the verbal channel of communication by articulating words that

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