Culture Influences the Words Used:
(pg 111)
- Culture Influences Language use but communication between cultures can be difficult.
- Dominant Culture, or the culture in power is composed of people whom share the same beliefs and values as well as the same way of communicating.
- Co-Cultures, or subset group cultures have meanings, beliefs and values of their own.
- Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis helps us shape the types of language we speak, its holds the lables we use to help us to create and understand the way we think about our world. The way that we see the world around us and how we behave in that world makes people in different cultures perceive stimuli differently. For example, in Deaf Culture they use sign language to communicate, different signs mean different words. However, in Deaf Culture of the United States, Northern America and Southern America, some signs mean different things. Like the sign for grateful in the north is actually the sign for Red Neck in the south, because of the different types of people in their environment.
Cultural Differences Can Lead to Confused Translation:
- Because different cultures have different ways of communicating and different words that may mean different things to different cultures, translations between cultures can become very confusing. These language barriers that are created between cultures can lead to problems or insult.l It is extremely important to have good translation between cultures to prevent miscommunication .
Culture Influences Communication Style:
- Each culture has a different communication style. For example, Asian culture practice omoiyari (the ability to be a listener and understand what is being communicated with little or no explanation). Language is used more sparingly and feelings are kept to themselves. However, in American Culture we talk everything out, listening is important but sharing personal feelings and explanations are imparaitive to the way Americans communicate.
Prejudiced Talk:
- Sometimes those in a dominant culture, use words to that are derogatory or racists towards those whom are different from them in co-cultures to set them apart from the mainstream group.
- Linguistic prejudice or prejudice language, reflects the dominant group's desire to exert its power over other groups. (pg 113)
- Racial Code words- words that are discriminatory but not necessarily racists such as, "you people" or , "one of them".
