Agar seems to conclude that language and culture are very closely related. He even uses the term languaculture. It would be difficult to argue this proposal. Clearly there are many different languages and even different dialects within languages that are based on the conditions of a culture. I think sometimes people can’t understand this tight link; and they don’t realize that when they make fun of someone’s language they are making fun of their culture as well. Making fun of another’s culture can be extremely hurtful and maybe even borderline dangerous. So why do we do it?
I think a lot of people cop out by saying, “well I just did not understand that it was hurtful and that I was offending someone.” This may be the case some of the time, but I think most of the time we know exactly what we are doing; and now having read this we have no excuses. But will that change the way we view the next person we hear that does not talk exactly the way we do? I am sure that the next time I meet someone who speaks a language I have never heard before, I will have the tendency to think that person is less educated or at least sounds funny. Why is that? And, how do we prevent this?
Comments (1)
Good points you are raising here. I strongly support Agar's argument that language and culture are interrelated and can not be separated. I've been learning English for 11 years so far. This is my first long visit to the U.S. Before this visit, when I read English books, I was often confused or at least did not have a clear image of many cultural terms that I came across simply beacause my Arabic "languaculture" lacked the references to these terms. When I referred back to the dictionary, it just gave me a definiton that still did not make me fully recognize that word. Now, that I have been immersed in the American culture, yet for one year, I can say that I have that image I needed. When we are exposed to a culture, we are learning the language, because language is a reflection of a people's culture. As to your second question, why we laugh at how others speak, I think this is part of our ignorance of others. It is as if we see ourselves the best without trying to know what others have. As long as we have the number-one attitude, we will end up last. Just look at China; If someone laughed at how Chinese speak, China is expected to have one of the strongest economies of the world.
Posted by Hussein | March 28, 2008 5:07 PM
Posted on March 28, 2008 17:07