Language and Culture Flashcards
What is an “utterance”?
It is the sounds made by one person to another.
What is “locution”?
They are words placed in a sentence.
What is “illocution”?
It is words places in sequence and the context in which this is done.
What are the 5 sorts of meanings people can use language to communicate?
Representatives (to make a statement)
Directives (to make someone do something)
Commissives (to make a commitment - a promise)
Expressives (express psychological or emotional state)
Declarations (to make a statement, and by doing so, making it true)
What is “linguistic relativity”?
The theory which suggests that people speaking different languages have different world views.
What 2 categories do we know from the linguistic category model?
Abstract - what people are like and concrete language - what people do.
What is “paralanguage”?
Nonverbal elements of speech which accompany spoken language.
What is speach style?
The way something is said rather than the content of it.
What is the matched-guise technique?
It is a way of measuring attitudes just from the speech style.
What are social markers?
They are features of speech style that transmit cues about mood, context, status, or group membership.
What is an “ethnolinguistic group”?
It is a group which is defined principally in terms of its language.
Describe the “ethnolinguistic identity theory”?
The theory suggests that people’s sense of identity is shaped by their language and culture.
What is the “speech accommodation theory”?
The theory that people change their speech style to the context.
How is “speech convergence” different from “speech divergence”?
Speech convergence is adjusting one’s speech style to match that of the other person, while speech divergence means intentionally making one’s speech style different to assert one’s identity/status/etc.
What are the 2 factors based on which we recognise facial expression?
ontogenetic factors (cross-cultural commonalities in early socialisation) and phylogenetic factors (innate link between emotions and facial expressions)
Describe what is “visual dominance behavior”?
It is the tendency to gaze fixedly when speaking at a person of a lower status
What are “kinesics”?
Linguistics of body communication.
What are “emblems” in body language?
These are gestures used to replace spoken language.
What are 5 distinct categories of touch?
- positive affect 2. playful 3. control 4. ritualistic (greetings, departures) 5.task-related 6. negative affect 7. aggressive touches
What are “proxemics”?
It is a study of interpersonal distance.
What are some features of CMC? (computer-mediater communication)
- restricts paralanguage 2. compromises trust 3. can encourage honesty 4. suppresses the amount of information 5. prevents interaction and group performance initially, but people adapt
What is the etic-emic distinction?
It is the contrast if a psychological construct applies cross-culturally or is bound to one culture. Etic - universal, emic - one group/culture.
Define “subculture of violence.”
It is a subgroup of society in which higher levels of violence are accepted.
What is “culture of honor”?
A culture where it is accepted for male violence to be the way of addressing threats to social reputation or economic position.
Describe “machismo.”
It is the code under which differences in opinion must be met with fists or other weapons.
What kind of self produces West and what kind of self produces East culture.
West: independent, East: interdependent.
What is “prisoner’s dilemma”?
A game scenario where 2 individuals have to decide to cooperate or compete with the outcome determined by both choices.
What is “contact hypothesis”?
It is the hypothesis that suggests that bringing 2 opposing groups together will make them cooperate better and will lower the differences between the two groups.
What are the 4 ways that immigrants acculturate?
- integration (maintain home culture & relate to dominant culture) 2. assimilation (give up home culture & embrace dominant culture) 3. separation (maintain home culture & isolate from dominant culture) 4. marginalization (give up home culture but fail to relate properly to dominant culture)
What is the “post-modern paradox”?
It is when a society claims to be embracing diversity but only recognizes certain aspects of the culture/identity and suppresses/ignores others.
