This post is going to be related to one of the reading of this week, Language and culture learning in higher education via tele collaboration, Chun (2015), the leader discussion and the connection of both of them with my field of study, Second Language Acquisition.
I want to start this post by saying that I have really liked learning a little bit more about the Importance of learning enrichment and learning culture to promote a better language learning. As we have learned in the class of this week, technology contracts a bridge between language and culture. The benefits of telecommunication, or intercultural exchange, cannot be underestimated. It arises cultural awareness and intercultural communicative competence in general. It also helps to develop the concept of coexistence, looking at others with a better perspective. I personally think that this relates very well to the field in which I am more interested in, Second Language Acquisition (SLA). In the next paragraphs, therefore, I will point out how the content of what we have read is related to my field of study.
First of all, it is important to highlight that when we refer to language the concept can be defined as a means of expression. It goes without saying that all of us are able to express our feelings, emotions, thoughts or needs not only throughout words but also in symbols and gestures, all of that is considered language at the end of the day. Therefore, we could assume that language is really attached to culture since it triggers not only verbal content but also physical, gestures, biologically innate qualities, and a basic form of communication. Therefore, if we want to learn a second language, we need to also learn from these aspects in order to end up acquiring it.
Culture, including language, can be defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people. These characteristics include language, religion, food, regular habits, traditions, etc. For that reason, in SLA, trying to learner teach a second language (or third, fourth..) without contact with its culture will never work.
I will really appreciate any insight or contribution to this post :)
ALV
Hello Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteI find your post of this week really interesting. I agree with you when you mention that we express our feelings, emotions, thoughts or needs not only throughout words but also in symbols and gestures. That means that language can be non-verbal, and it is important to learn the non-verbal communication to be communicative competent. I found gestures which are false friends in different cultures, for example:
Move the head up and down to affirm (yes). Move the head from left to right to deny (no).
These gestures mean "yes" or "no" in most countries. But in other countries like Albania, Bulgaria or Cyprus mean the opposite. So, it is really important to learn gestures when we are learning a language because it can generate a misunderstanding.
Best,
Samanta.
Dear Samanta,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your post! Thank you for visiting my site. What you say is really interesting. I did not know those things. I hope to keep reading more from you soon :)
ALV
Hello Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about this is how broad culture and technology are, and that is also the "trickiest" part of teaching language in culture surrounded by technology. How can we, as educators, build that bridge (with or without technology) in order to create a meaningful experience while learning L2/C2?. That is, for sure, the challenge. Promoting genuine interactions, cultural awareness and recognition of our own culture (as the first step to make) to begin building that coexistence and fostering the Intercultural Communicative Competence that we wish to see in the students.
Best,
John