During the 20th century, two theoretical standpoints were influential in the stu

Question

During the 20th century, two theoretical standpoints were influential in the study of the relationship between language and culture. The first of them, Linguistic Determinism was formulated by the linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the model called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. It contends that people's language affects the way they think. Hence, language shapes culture. o A second model for understanding the relationship between language and culture is proposed by linguistic anthropologists working in the area of sociolinguistics. This model maintains that a person's context and social position shape the content, form, and meaning of her/his language. Hence, culture shapes language. Contemporary sociolinguists are active in an emerging area called Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) that focuses on the relations of language and social inequality, power and stigma, and agency and resistance. ow do you evaluate the two theoretical perspectives succinctly described above? Your response should address the following areas: What are the main ethnographic evidence given by Sapir and Whorf to support their thesis? Be specific. What are the evidence you can glean from the materials given in the module (original online reading) in support of the sociolinguistics theoretical perspective? Once again, be specific.

Explanation / Answer

Culture influences the structure and function of groups language,which in turn influences the individuals interpretation of reality. Language and culture are two sides of the same coin. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposes that thought have a very close relation to language in which it is conducted. People with different language perceive world differently.The structure of the language is the cause of these different ways of conceiving the world.The structure and function of different groups language is influenced by culture and this will in turn influence the individuals interpretation of reality. Whorf compared English and Eskimo views of snow. He concluded that English uses just one word for snow whereas Eskimos uses different words. He argued that ,because of this difference ,both group perceive snow differently. Another ethnographic evidence for lingustic determinism is the disparity between chineese and american languages in understanding counderfactual assersions. Counderfactual assertions are are propositions that begin with a premise that is implied to be false.for example , the statement" if i knew french,i could read the works of voltaire" implies that the speaker does not know french.the english language easily accommodates such "if only" hypotheticals, but the Chineese language is ill equiped to handle such kind of assersions. From this he concluded that Chineese people and Americans exibit different kinds of thinking.

CDA give importance to discourse and society including social cognition ,politics and culture. Their primary focus is on grammer,style,schematic organisation,pragmatic strategies and those of interaction among others. They focuses on the semiotic dimensions of communication such as pictures,film, sound ,music ,gestures etc.

Ones social status and power differs according to the membership in different social groups. Culture determines ones position in a group and the patteren and meaning of language varies according to this position. Hence the culture shapes ones language. The thought process is determined by the same culture. There is evidence that ones thinking style differs according to change in language.So language shapes ones culture.Both CDA and linguistic determinism explains the prominant role of culture in language.

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