LANGUAGE

1. LANGUAGE & CULTURE

2. 陈飞 ※ 王露 ※ 卢茹 ※ 胡慧玲 ※ 李玥 ※ Members Reading Summary Exercise Additional reading Warm up

3. Part One 李玥 Warm Up

4. With the appearance of human beings, all kinds of languages came into being bit by bit. And with the development of languages, various kinds of culture grew. There are many ways to show language and culture are intimately related. Language, of course, is determined by culture, and to some degree, culture is influenced by language.

5. Different countries have different cultures, which means we have various ways to express what we want to say. And we call these words ‘slang’, or’ idiom ’ ：[‘idiəm] ，such as：aback（震惊）；pearls（妙语连珠）. They are sometimes hard to understand ,but the more you use them, the better you will learn the language.

6. The Charm Of Language Loud thunder brings little rain . —— A Chinese saying （雷声大雨点小） A real master does not show . —— A Chinese saying （真人不露相） Nothing done with intelligence is done without speech. —— A Greek saying （不思考就没有发言权）

7. chinese A plant may produce new flowers; man is young but once. （花有重开日，人无再少年） The slow need to start early. （早点动身．一路从容 ） There is always someone better . （莫道君行早，更有早行人 ） sofa----沙发 sandwich----三明治 humor----幽默 pudding-----布丁 ………

8. english the more the better:多多益善 for heaven's sake:看在老天的份上 Pull over！把车子开到旁边。 Drop me a line！写封信给我。 Give me a ring. = Call me！来个电话吧！

9. american I couldn‘t care less.我不在乎 I couldn‘t care more. 我很在乎 No bones about it. 真实的，诚恳的（sincerely or exactly ) take it on me！ 这是我的，请用吧！ don‘t have a cow.别大惊小怪 keep one‘s shirt on.保持冷静 joy ride兜风

10. Culture is the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings. And languages are the cornerstones （奠基石）of a culture, defining who we are as a people. Just as the world is becoming less biologically rich, it is also becoming less culturally and linguistically（语言学的） diverse.

11. Globalization Chinglish Glocalization Take Iron Coffee （拿铁咖啡） Long time no see! Gaokao

12. Respect different cultures and appreciate diverse languages! Refer to the book on P69 From the questionnaire, we can draw a conclusion, that is the lower you score, the more you value talk as a way to communicate. Anyway, it is a habit of yourself .Whether you are talkative, like an American, or you are implicative(含蓄的)，like we Chinese，the way we communicate is influenced by the specific culture!

13. Part Two 陈飞 Reading

14. Passage one: The nature of language Language are all rule-governed: • Phonological rules——how the sounds of our language are combined to form words Phonological [,fəunə'lɔdʒikəl] adj. 音韵学的 • Grammatical rules——how to order words to form sentences • Semantic rules——the relationship between words and the things to which they refer Semantic [si'mæntik] adj. 语义的；语义学的 • Pragmatic rules——how to interpret the meaning of utterances Pragmatic [præɡ'mætik] adj. 实际的；实用主义的；国事的

15. The functions of language • Informative function: provide others with information or knowledge • Expressive function: tell others our attitudes, feelings, and other emotions • Directive function: direct others (e.g. causing or preventing some action)

16. what characteristics of language are important to understanding its role in communication? combine illustrate Word list Discrete [dis‘kri:t]adj. 离散的，不连续的 illustrate [‘iləstreit]vt. 阐明，举例说明；图解 Reflexive adj. 反身的；[物] 反射的 discrete arbitrary reflexive

17. Cultural differences in language usage • Beliefs about talk • Importance of talk • silence

18. vs collectivism individualism phenomenon • European Americans are more likely than Chinese or Chinese Americans to initiate conversations with others and engage in conversations when opportunities present them. • Collectivists do not have to go out of their way and exert themselves to be accepted, while individualists have to work hard to be accepted. reason

19. silence Truthfulness Social discretion embarrassment defiance Silence is often viewed as the opposite of sound Many people in individualistic cultures have a low tolerance for silence

20. questions 1.What characteristics of language are important to understanding its role in communication? 2.Can you think some examples to illustrate the characteristic of language? 3.What are the cultural differences mentioned in the passage?

21. Passage twoTheinfluence of culture on language Language andculture hold the power to maintain national or cultural identity, language is important to ethnic and nationalist sentiment because of its powerful and visible symbolism; it becomes a core symbol or rally point(聚焦点）. ——Edward T. Hall Word list ethnic [‘eθnik]种族(上)的;人种学的 nationalist 民族主义者;国家主义者 sentiment 感情,心情;情操 Core 核心,精髓,要义 挖去...的果核

22. idioms Strike while the iron is hot. 趁热打铁 Many hands make light work. 人多好办事 Out of sight, out of mind. 眼不见心不烦 Where there’s smoke there’s fire. 无风不起浪 Where there’s a will there’s a way. 有志者事竟成 All good things must come to an end. 天下没有不散 的筵席 After a storm comes a calm. 雨过天晴

23. From clogs to clogs is only three generations 中国有句俗话叫做富不过三代，上面这句起源于英国的谚语表达的也是这个意思。Clog是英格兰常见的下层劳动者的装束，直译就是：从穿clog(木底鞋)到clog不过三代人而已。二者可谓异曲同工。皆体现出创业于守成二者之间的道理，其中深意，或可为诫。 亦作：From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations. E.g. The father buys, the son buildings, The grandchild sells and his son begs. So goes an English saying. The curse of God rest on idleness and that’s why “from clog to clog is only three generations”

24. 挂羊头卖狗肉 ：sells dogmeat as mutton ['mʌtn] 只许州官放火,不许百姓灯: 直译：The magistrates are allowed to burn down houses while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps.  magistrate : [‘mædʒis.treit] n.地方法官, 行政官 对应的英文原句是：one may steal a horse while ，another may not look over the hedge

25. Turn out • 结果是;证明是 • 关掉（收音机等）；生产，制造；驱逐；结果是 • 结果是;原来是;(电)切断;制作;生产;培训;逐出翻出;翻转 suggestion

26. Students should learn not to neglect their understanding of idioms because of their deceptive simple composition. They should be on the look out for identical phrases with different meanings and be prepared to look them up in a dictionary. Students are bound to run into trouble when they first use them, but such difficulties are common in the beginning. If they keep trying understanding eventually will be their reward.

27. Questions 1.Why does the writer think the use of language’s proverbs is often a mark of a person’s command of the language? 2.In foreign language learning such as English, what should we pay special attention to so far as proverbs are concerned? 3.Can you think of some idioms whose literal meanings differ from what they actually mean?

28. Passage Three Direct versus indirect language usage When we want to assert ( [ə'sə:t]vt. 维护，坚持；断言；主张；声称)ourselves as unique, we must be direct so that others will know where we stand. If our goal is to maintain harmony in the group (collectivism) we cannot be direct because we might offend another member of the group.

29. Analytic thinking predominates synthetic thinking Low-context Low-context Look at parts Specify how the parts are related to each other Specify how the parts are related to each other Specify how the parts are related to each other Specify how the parts are related to each other predominates Focus on the whole High context Lead to a more ambiguous or implicit logic

30. Americans are usually indirect when something very sensitive is being discussed or when they are nervous about how other person may react. positively absolutely certainly maybe perhaps somewhat It is just that they know their own fates and fortunes are always bound up with others.

31. Question What do you think silence means in Chinese culture? Is it the same in Japanese culture?

32. Part Three Exercises 卢茹

33. Section A Filling the blanks 1.Eastern 2.Western 3.relationship 4.collective 5.influence 6.high-context 7.similarities 8. classified 9. overlooked 10.subtle (微妙的)

34. Section B Solving the Culture Puzzle Q: Why does Janet say that they were taken？ A: Since Zhang Ming didn’t say anything，Janet thought he didn’t agree to the price, so she brought the price down again and again. At last, they got a deal, but to their surprise, Zhang Ming thought their first price was generous. So Janet thought they were taken. ※

35. ※ Q: Why did Zhang Ming keep silent most of the time? A: Maybe he thought the price was incredibly low which in China is unusual, because Chinese people like to put up their price high at first and then get a deal gradually. The opposite side’s low price made him very surprised .He thought the opposite side would raise the price gradually, so he kept silent most of the time.

36. Q: How did Janet interpret Zhang Ming’s silence? A: Since Zhang Ming just sat there ,looking very serious, Janet thought Zhang Ming considered the price was too high. ※

37. Section C Activity

38. The picture above is in the dining room. Imagine that you are sitting there ,can you concentrate and study? For me, I think I can’t bear .Edward T. Hall observes that people from different culture have very different thresholds (极限) of tolerances for particular sounds and the loudness of sounds. I do agree it, at least my power of concentration to screen out noise is weak.

39. Section D Case Studies Case 1 Can We Talk about It? Q: Why did Jiang agree to Linda’s proposal about how they would live together? Why didn’t she fulfill her part of the agreement? A: Because Jiang also wanted to get along well with Linda and Linda’s proposal met her ideas. However , Jiang had lived with her parents and maybe she wasn’t used to doing housework. That’s why she didn’t fulfill her part of the agreement. ※

40. Q: What was Jiang angry about? Why didn’t she explain her feelings to Linda? A: She thought Linda didn’t respect her and Linda’s words hurt her self-esteem（自尊心）. In China, people usually keep silent when they are condemned, so she didn’t say anything. ※

41. Q: What false assumptions did Linda make? A: Since Jiang didn’t say anything and kept silent all the time which in her culture is rude ,she thought Jiang didn’t admit her fault. ※

42. Q: How do you think Jiang’s family life in China was different from Linda’s family life in Canada? A: In China ,parents are always willing to do everything for their children while in Canada people prefer each performs its own functions. ※

43. Q: What advice would you give to each of the women to help them avoid similar misunderstandings in the future? A:I think they each should learn more about the differences between the two cultures. ※

44. Case 2 Was She Always Lying? Q: Can you explain to the German couple why Ms Zhang said she was a poor cook when she was actually a good one? A: In China, people think modesty is a virtue, so they are always willing to say they are not good enough though they are actually excellent. Though Ms Zhang was a good cook ,she was used to saying she wasn’t. ※

45. ※ Q: What advice would you give to the both sides to overcome the misunderstanding? A: Ms Zhang should not be too modest since the foreigner may think she is hollow-hearted and she should be involved in the local culture. The German couple should learn more about Chinese culture so that they will know more about the differences between the two cultures and won’t misunderstand Ms Zhang.

46. Part Four Addtional Reading 胡慧玲

47. The relationship Culture & Language

48. Four Parts • Words and meaning • Denotative meaning(外延意义) • Connotative meaning(内涵意义) • Dialect

49. The process of creating words ——long ago humans • Noted a phenomenon——some creatures could fly • Formed a concept——all the observed creatures had two legs，two wings，a beak and features • Created a label——“bird”，“鸟”

50. It is easy to see how humans create words when you think of objects such as birds，snow，buildings，or chairs. However，many of our words label less tangible(有形的) clusters of experiences，actionsfeelings，and ideas rather than objects. Take the word Woodstockfor example • In the 1950s——it was as the name of a little town in upstate New York • In 1969——it came to stand for a way of living，thinking，and acting characteristic of a group in the “Woodstock Generation” （as a result of an extended rock concert that took place on a farm outside the town，combined with recordings，films，books，interviews，articles， and so on surroundings those events）