THANG LONG UNIVERSITY

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
====****====

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK
AND WORK

INSTRUCTOR: Assoc.Prof.Dr.Nguyễn Văn Độ

STUDENT’S NAME: NGUYỄN HOÀNG ĐẠT
STUDENT’S CODE: A27560

HA NOI - 2021
 Contents
CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS LANGUAGE?...................................................3

1.1. Definition of language....................................................................3

1.2. Properties of human language......................................................4

1.2.1. Displacement..............................................................................4

1.2.2. Arbitrariness..............................................................................5

1.2.3. Productivity................................................................................5

1.2.4. Cultural transmission................................................................5

1.2.5. Duality........................................................................................6

CHAPTER 2. WHAT IS CULTURE?......................................................7

2.1. Definitions of culture......................................................................7

2.2. Elements of culture.........................................................................7

CHAPTER 3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND

LANGUAGE ............................................................................................8

3.1. The relationship between language and culture..........................8

3.2. Language and culture: generic and differential..........................9

3.2.1. In the generic sense.................................................................10

3.2.2. In the differential sense...........................................................10

CHAPTER 4. LANGUAGE INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE

THINK AND WORK............................................................................................12

CHAPTER 5. CULTURE INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK

AND WORK ……………….................................................................................15

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express our deep gratitude towards our supervisor, ASSOC.
PROF. DR Nguyễn Văn Độ, for his constant and invaluable help, without which
my essay would be far from being finished.
My sincere thanks are offered to collaborators who have kindly given their
opinions for my essay.
Finally, we are grateful to our friends for their whole-hearted support and
encouragement during my essay.
 

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CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

1.1. Definition of language

Human beings can communicate with each other. We are able to exchange
knowledge, beliefs, opinion, wishes, threats, commands, thanks, promises,
declarations and feelings – only our imagination sets limits. We can laugh to
express amusement, happiness, or disrespect, we can smile to express pleasure,
approval, or bitter feeling, and so on, but our system of communication before
anything else is language.
The term language is derived from the Latin word language which means
tongue. Language is a system of communication based upon words and the
combination of words into sentences. While the need to express one’s desires,
interests, feelings and emotions is inborn, the ability to communicate with others
through language is learned or acquired.
Many definitions of language have been proposed. One definition sees
language primarily as the mental faculty that allows humans to undertake linguistic
behavior: to learn languages and to produce and understand utterances. This
definition emphasizes the universality of the language for everyone, and it
emphasizes the biological basis of the ability of people to use language as a unique
development of the human brain.
Another definition sees language as a formal system of signs governed by
grammatical rules of combination to communicate meaning. This definition
stresses that human languages can be described as closed structural systems
consisting of rules that relate particular signs to particular meanings. By way of
contrast, such transformational grammars are also commonly used to provide
formal definitions of language are commonly used in formal logic, in formal
theories of grammar, and in applied computational linguistics.
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 Moreover, many languages use gestures, sounds, symbols, or writing, and
try to transmit concepts, meanings, and thoughts, but sometimes these aspects are
too close, giving so it is difficult to distinguish it. The language can be composed
of a symbolic form, also a sound (voice), facial expressions, or a hand gesture, or a
specific gesture. It can also be a composite of all those. When we need to talk
about something, we not only speak verbally, but we can also gesture, gesture by
hand or facial expression.
From these different ideas, it can be concluded that language is an
exclusively human property, with a system of words and signs that can help people
express their thoughts and feelings to each other.
1.2. Properties of human language
Language is a complex system with many unique characteristics. Therefore,
in order to easily distinguish human language and animal language, let’s look in
detail at five main properties of human language, including: displacement,
arbitrariness, productivity, cultural transmission and duality.
1.2.1. Displacement
Humans can refer to past and future time. This property of human language
is called “displacement”. It allows language users to talk about things and events
not present in the immediate environment. For example, human languages enable
their users symbolize objects, events and concepts which are not present (in time
and space) at the moment of communication.
Meanwhile, animal communication seems to be designed exclusively for this
moment, here and now. Animal sounds only manifests itself at the time of
speaking. To determine the meaning of sounds, we need to base on the situation,
time and place where the event occurs. For example, when your dog says GRRR, it
means GRRR, right now, because dogs don’t seem to be capable of

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communicating GRRR, last night, over in the park. He can not tell to you what
happened last night. However, we could look at bee communication as a small
exception because it seems to have some version of displacement.
1.2.2. Arbitrariness
It is generally in case that there is no “natural” connection between a
linguistic form and its meaning. The connection is quite arbitrary. To refer to the
same thing, different languages will have different ways to call the name of this
thing. For example, “cat” in English refer to an animal and, from this its shape,
however; Vietnamese calls it “mèo”. This aspect of relationship between linguistic
signs and objects in the world is described as. There are some words in language
with sounds that seem to “echo” the sounds of objects or activities and hence seem
to have a less arbitrary connection. English examples are cuckoo, crash, slurp,
squelch, or whirr.
1.2.3. Productivity
Humans are continually creating new expressions and novel utterances by
manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations. This
property is described as “productivity” (or “creativity” or “open-endedness”) and
essentially means that the potential number of utterances in any human language is
infinite. Meanwhile, the communication systems of other creatures are not like
that. For example, cicadas have four signals to choose from and vervet monkeys
have thirty-six vocal calls. Nor does it seem possible for creatures to produce new
signals to communicate novel experiences or events.
1.2.4. Cultural transmission
Culture often passes from one generation to the next through language. This
process is described as “cultural transmission”. It is clear that humans are born
with some kind of predisposition to acquire language in a general sense. Thanks to

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cultural transmission, we can use the information others have learned to improve
our own life. Moreover, cultural transmission can also help spread technology.
Cultural transmission of a specific language is crucial in the human acquisition.
1.2.5. Duality
Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This
property is called “duality” (or “double articulation”). In speech production, we
have a physical level at which we can produce individual sounds like n,b and i. In a
particular combination such as bin, we have another level producing a meaning
that is different from the meaning of the combination nib. So, at one level, we have
distinct sounds, and at another level, we have distinct meanings.

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CHAPTER 2. WHAT IS CULTURE?

2.1. Definitions of culture

Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people,
defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and
arts.
The word “culture” derives from a French term, which in turn derives from
the Latin “colere”, which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and
nurture. “It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively
fostering growth,” Cristina D Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate
College in London, told Live Science.
Many countries are largely populated by immigrants, and the culture is
influenced by the many group of people that now make up the country. This is also
a part of growth. As the countries grow, so does its cultural diversity.
Culture is a notoriously difficult term to define. However, it is said that
Tylor’s definition is its entirety. According to E.B.Tylor, culture is “that complex
whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
2.2. Elements of culture
Culture is the way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and
customs. It combines many elements to create a unique way of living for different
people. These elements look different across cultures, and many change with time
as a society evolves. There are 7 elements that create the culture including:
language, social organizations, beliefs, government, economy, arts and literature
as well as customs and traditions.fr

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 In which, language is the most obvious expression of culture as it is a mean
to convey human thoughts and ideas.

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CHAPTER 3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND
LANGUAGE

Language is a major component of culture because it is used to maintain and

convey culture. On the other hand, culture influences and shapes language. When
considering the relationship between language and culture, they are liked to an
underground iceberg which has both visible part (on the surface) and invisible part
(below the surface). The things that we see on the surface are just very small parts
of the iceberg. These are physical things like clothes, shoes ... And the other things
below the ice are the values and norms of culture, which are hard to recognize. For
instance, when you interact with another language, it means that you are also
interacting with the culture that speaks the language. You cannot understand one's
culture without accessing its language directly.
3.1. The relationship between language and culture
The relation between language and culture is deeply rooted in the way that
language reflects culture of one society and its world views. Language reflects and
conveys culture and cultural connections. Language can be, of course as a part of
culture, simply defined as a sum of beliefs and practices in society. On the other
hand, culture is the product of society and historically situated discourse
communities, created and shaped by language.
World view is a structure that is made up of ideas and beliefs through which
an individual interprets the world around him and which determines the interaction
between the individual and the society. It can be shaped by culture and language
which are common for one society. This is because people use language to express
their culture and in this way express their world view in that same society. The
connection between language and culture is established with the birth of an
individual. The reason for this is because the child is exposed to the environment
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and this helps him to become a part of the cultural team. The individual describes
his views using the language that is the product of his culture. Accordingly, the
knowledge of culture of one group of people depends on the knowledge of their
languages.
The reason for this is because different languages establish different
limitations, so people of the same culture but different languages have different
world views. Language is a system of signs that by itself has cultural value. People
identify themselves and others through language. In other words, they see language
as a symbol of their social identity.
Language and culture developed together and influenced each other as they
evolved.
3.2. Language and culture: generic and differential
In this study, the linguistic concept of language is the central focus, not the
metaphorical uses of the language concept that one meets in other cultural and
societal studies, not least those with semiotic or formal orientation, and in
everyday language. The Cultural Studies movement typically operates with an
extended concept of language, as, for example, describes by Stuart Hall:
“How does language construct meanings? How does it sustain the dialogue
between participants which enables them to build up a culture of shared
understanding and so interpret the world in roughly the same ways? Language is
able to do this because it operates as a representational system. In language, we
use signs and symbols – whether they are sounds, written words, electronically
produced images, musical notes, even object – to stand for or represent to other
people our concepts, ideas and feelings.”
As mentioned, Risager is basing her theory on an integrative conception of
language, which means her basic premise is that language is to be conceived as an

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integral part of culture and society and of the psyche, and the study of language
should have this understanding as its point od departure. She is of one the opinion,
that linguistic practice is always cultural, in the sense that it is in itself a form of
cultural practice. It is, however, very important when examining the relationship
between language and culture to distinguish between language and culture in the
generics sense, on the one hand, and language and culture in the differential sense
on the other.
3.2.1. In the generic sense
Risager is dealing with language and culture as phenomena shared by all
humanity (culture-in-general). The generic sense comes in two forms: a
psychological/ cognitive one and a social one – one can view language and culture
psychological/ cognitive phenomena which, to some extend or other, have certain
speci-specific (neuro) physiological prerequisites, or one can view language and
culture as social phenomena that have developed as part of the social life of the
human species.
At the generic level, it makes no sense to say that language and culture can
be separated.
3.2.2. In the differential sense
In the differential sense, Risager is dealing with various languages and
various cultural phenomena. She is dealing with specific forms of linguistic
practice, such as “whole” languages, language varieties, registers and loan words
as well as with specific forms of cultural practice: various meanings and
meaningful forms (in relation to such sign systems as images, fashion, food, music,
dance), various forms and values, symbols, ideas and ideologies. The question of
language and culture spread belongs to the differential level, as does to the
question of language teaching (teaching of specific languages and specific cultural

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phenomena). Theoretical concepts such as foreign language/ children’s culture and
written language/ literature culture belong to the differential level.
At the differential level, according to Risager, one has to distinguish
between a general and a specific level; the theoretical concepts of foreign language
and written language belong to the general level.
Risager believes that the confusion concerning the relationship between
language and culture is basically that one fails to distinguish clearly between the
generic and differential level.

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CHAPTER 4. LANGUAGE INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK
AND WORK

Language is part of culture and culture has an effect on the way a person
thinks, which initiates behaviors. The way speakers interpret the things they feel,
hear and see can be complicated because it is influences by personal experiences,
norms, cultural rules, traditions and languages. Thoughts come from words and
these thoughts initiate behaviors.
Studies have shown that changing how people speak influences their
thoughts too; language shapes culture and culture shapes language. The language
we speak and grow up in has a substantial impact on our thinking patterns and the
way we behave.
Language is learned, which means it can be culturally transmitted. Pre-
school children take on their first language from their exposure to random words
they encounter in and out of their homes. When they reach school age, they are
taught either their first language or another language. If it is the first language, the
children are taught writing and reading, the correct ways to construct sentences and
how to use formal grammar. However, the initial knowledge of the child about the
essential structure and vocabulary of the first language was learned before the child
went to school. For instance, teaching them new color words changes how they
discriminate colors. Showing a new way on how to talk about time gives new
thoughts about the way people think.
Language plays a significant role in filtering perception, attention, and
memory. Every time we interpret or construct a sentence, we need to focus on the
statement and the specific aspects described by it. Very interestingly, brain
imaging facilities already confirm the hypothesis of states that language shapes the
way people think. Linguists say that these salient aspects are either lexicalized or
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grammaticalised. Lexicalizing means that you have words for concepts, which
work as shorthands for those concepts. This is useful because you don't need to
explain (or paraphrase) the meaning you want to convey. Instead of saying, “that
cold and white thing that falls from the sky in the cold days of winter,” you just say
snow.
Different cultures have different ideologies and perspectives about the
world. The difference in the structure of a language, with its syntax and specific
logical rules affect how a person looks at the world. For example, German speakers
often correlate the action to its end goal. For example, when shown a picture of a
woman walking in a parking lot, English speakers usually say that the woman is
walking. German speakers on the other hand are likely to day that the woman is
walking towards her car.
In the same country, the same culture, but in different regions people will
have different voices and pronunciation, which we call "dialect". Thus, many
people cultivate the right dialect with is phonological, grammatical and lexical
features to make themselves better than the rest and get accepted in new
communities. For example, in Vietnam, the Kinh accent is considered the standard
voice of the whole country, so other ethnic groups are required to learn Kinh
language to be able to communicate with others.
We’ve known for thousands of years that we become what we repeatedly
think. This is the ancient proverb, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
In a scholarly article that was first published in 1991, which still applies
today, it says that adults do not realize the impact their words have on young
children. The effect is greater the younger the child is. Because a young child still
does not have a firm concept of time, denying the child something could mean a
protest through bad behavior because the child's facility to express himself or

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herself is still limited. With this result, it can be said that the normal behavior
displayed according to age is akin to language development. As the facility to
express oneself in a language develops, the behavior of the child improves.
Language is a communication tool. It is important in showing social
behaviors as well. It is used by people, especially younger children to interact with
the rest of the world. Self-regulating social behavior requires the presence of
language. A child expresses his or her feelings and emotions through language.
The child learns how to use language to influence other people's behaviors. The
same rules often apply to adults as well.

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CHAPTER 5. CULTURE INFLUENCE THE WAY PEOPLE THINK
AND WORK

Culture can shape our view of the world. It sounds way to obvious to even
be an argument. Many studies have shown that people from different cultures see
and perceive things differently and that is probably due to how their culture shaped
the way they view the world.
One fascinating influence of culture on thinking comes from research by
Richard Nisbett and his colleagues. They have looked at differences between
people from Western cultures (like the U.S. and Europe) and those from Eastern
cultures (like Japan, China, and Korea).
These cultures differ in how strongly individualistic they are. Broadly
speaking, Western culture focuses on the individual. Western culture looks at
individual performance and achievement. Members of Western culture do not need
to be strongly attuned to who else is in the room when they speak, because
Western cultures do not have a strong hierarchy.
Eastern cultures are more collectivist. They focus on the welfare of the
group and expect group members to think of their group identity before their
individual identity. As a result, members of Eastern cultures often have to be
acutely aware of who is in the room and to give deference to those whose position
demands more respect.
Indians and Japanese tend to use more nouns which make the language
heavy and cumbersome; native users of the language, on the other hand, use more
verbs which make the language more direct and dynamic. For example:
“The candidate submitted an application for the job.” vs. “The candidate
applied for the job.”

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 “The police conducted an investigation into the murder.” vs. “The police
investigated the murder.”
An Indian may say “Haan ji” or “Theek hai”, which when literally translated
means “yes”, rather than the more direct “No” or “I can’t” which makes them
uncomfortable or embarrassed. It could sometimes even be simple face-saving.
Westerners are often frustrated at this “miscommunication” and at times even
question the honesty of the communicator.
Most people are blissfully unaware of these deep influences of their culture
on the way they think. Luckily, by knowing more about the way culture affects
thought, you can change your own typical way of doing things. If you have a
tendency to focus on individual people and objects, then start paying attention to
the way people and objects interact. These relationships are often a fertile source of
new ideas. Paying more attention to the context of behavior helps you to recognize
these situational influences on behavior more easily.
For example, when you watch another person’s behavior, you often assume
that they acted as they did because of some characteristic of who they are. But, the
situation in which someone is engaged has a profound influence on what they do.
Then, if you are trying to influence what people are doing, thinking about the
context of behavior provides more opportunities to influence their environment to
change the situation around them in ways that will have the desired outcome.
Finally, learning more about how culture influences thought will help you to
distinguish between those aspects of the way people think that are truly part of
human nature, and those that are the result of the decades of cultural programming
you have gone through before you reached adulthood.

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 CONCLUSION

The relationship between culture, language, thought and behavior has long
been one of the most important topics for those who wish to understand the nature
of human cognition. This issue has been investigated for decades across a broad
range of research disciplines. The idea that thought is shaped by language is most
commonly associated with the works of American linguistics Edward Sapir and
Benjamin Lee Whorf. According to Whorf, the categories of every human
language present a way of perceiving, analyzing and acting in the world. The
strong view of the Sapir Whorf Hypothesis that thought and actions are completely
determined by language has been rejected in the field of linguistics. However,
answering a less deterministic weaker version ‘does language affect thought” has
proven to be a very difficult task for the researchers. In recent times researches
have found new evidences which highlight the effects of language on thought. This
assignment discusses the effect of language and culture on people’s thinking and
behavior.

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 REFERENCES
https://www.hec.edu/en/knowledge/articles/culture-and-economy-
understanding-dynamics-globalization
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-
competence/understand-culture-social-organization/main
https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/sociology-brief-edition-v1.1/s05-02-
the-elements-of-culture.html
https://www.slideshare.net/dennismarkdelacruz/relationships-between-arts-
and-culture
https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/2018/05/the-relationship-between-
language-and-culture-defined-11480/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language
Based on the book “Language and culture”- Nguyen Van Do, Thang Long
University

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