Language,Thought,CultureandInterculturalCommunication4课件.pptVIP

Language, Thought, Culture and Intercultural Communication A Theoretical Analysis Objectives: Understand different views on the relations between language and thought Review in detail Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Make an neutral assumption of the relations between language and culture Compare Chinese words with English words in psychological meaning Different views on the relations between language and thought Language and thought are different terms for the same thing: thought is silent language, while language is voiced thought Language determines thought (Linguistic determinism) Thought determines language Language and thought are independent from each other Language and thought come from different origins but combine with each other later Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Human being do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the “real world” is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality… We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation It was found that the background linguistic system (in other words, the grammar) of each language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas, the program and guide for the individual’s mental activity, for his analysis of impressions, for his synthesis of his mental stock in trade. Language not only transmits but also shapes our t