Language in a Cultural Context Flashcards
What is an anglophone world?
Refers to the places in the world where English is spoken
What is a text?
Any written work or transcribed piece of speech
What is culture?
- The values, goals, convictions, and attitudes that people share in society
- Refers to the fine arts and a society’s appreciation for them
What is context?
Refers to the circumstances that surround the writing and the reading of a text
What is cultural bias?
Judging something from a different culture with reference to what is usual in your own culture
What is language currency?
The value of language
What is instrumental motivation?
Explains how people often learn a language in order to accomplish something
What is lingua franca?
A language spoken by people who do not share a native language
In linguistics, what is convergence?
What happens when people come together and accommodate for each other through their use of language
What is integrative motivation?
Refers to learning a language in order to become an integrated member of a particular society
What is bilingualism?
The phenomenon of people using two languages regularly
What is language borrowing?
The act of importing words into one language from another culture’s language
What are loan words?
Words that one culture borrows and incorporates from another language into its own
What is a jargon?
The vocabulary and manner of speech that defines and reflects a particular profession, which are difficult for others to understand
What is an idiolect?
A person’s unique use of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation
What is divergence?
The process of cultures splitting from each other, developing their use of language separately
What is language?
A system of communication that is mutually intelligible among all members of a society
What is accent?
The way in which someone pronounces a language
What is dialect?
A variety of language that is unique in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary
What are pidgins?
Improvised languages stripped of grammar, that are invented in order for people to communicate with each other
What is code-switching?
Switching from one dialect or language to another depending on whom they are talking to or what they wish to accomplish
What is a vernacular?
A language that is characteristic of a region
What is language death?
Occurs when the last native speakers of a language have died and no new generations speak their ancestors’ language fluently
What is language planning?
The effort made to prevent language death
What is language imperialism?
The dominance of one language over others
What are primary sources?
Stories, plays, films, etc., that reveal an event for the first time
What are secondary sources?
Texts about texts
What is an audience?
The group of listeners or readers for whom a text or message is intended
What is register?
The level of formality or informality expressed through one’s use of language
What is a colloquialism?
A linguistic feature that is associated with informal situations
What is linguistic determinism?
The concept that language determines what we are able to think
What is purpose?
The description of the writer’s intentions in writing a text
What is deductive reasoning?
An argument that comes to a specific conclusion by drawing on general rules
What is inductive reasoning?
An argument that comes to a general conclusion by drawing on specific cases
What are the premises?
The statements or propositions that arguments rely on to come to conclusions
What is diction?
The choice of vocabulary that a writer uses in order to create a tone
What is close reading?
The skill of analyzing and interpreting texts
What are stylistic devices?
Techniques that writers and speakers employ to instigate a response from their audiences
What is denotation?
Refers to what a word stands for in its most literal sense
What is connotation?
Refers to the aura of emotional meaning that we associate with a word
