Culture Language and Identity Essay

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Total Length: 1283 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

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Observations of the Relationships between Culture, Language, and Identity

Part 1: The Lead/ What you already know about the topic

This paper works from the premise that our identities are influenced directly by the culture of our formative years and development: this includes the languages we speak. From this perspective “culture” actually refers to a melee of factors: the immediate culture of one’s family, the culture of one’s neighborhood/environment, and the culture of one’s work or school. Finally, one of the dominant forces upon culture, is of course, the dominant culture of one’s nation. Essentially, culture has a tremendous influence on identity and this includes a mix of national, societal, and familial culture. Culture makes a tremendous impact on how people view themselves and their place in the world, and often the path they take in life. In similar fashion, language has just as much influence. Language impacts how we view human interaction and the appropriate means of expression. For example, in Russian culture, if someone calls you and you are busy, it’s customary to just say, “I’m busy” and hang up. In American and English cultures, it more customary to be polite, and offer up an excuse or explanation of why one can’t talk at the moment. If you even examine the different ways of identifying oneself in various languages from their literal translations into English, the distinctions are profound: My name is ___, in French we have: I call myself ___, in German we have: I am called ____ and in Russian we have: They call me _______. Even with distinct phrasal identifiers such as this can demonstrate how much language influences oneself and one’s place in the world.

Part 2: What you wanted to find out.

Essentially, my goals when engaging in this research were very modest. I wanted to determine what the most significant findings had been in this field, regarding how culture and language influence research.

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I wanted to look at research that examined language and culture upon identity development in general, and research that examined specific pockets of culture and the issues of identity and language in those arenas. Essentially I wanted to look at the overlap of all of these elements and what researchers had concluded in the most general and specific ways possible.

Part 3: The story of your research

The first research study I examined was “Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism” by Oyserma and colleagues (2008). This study was one of the most direct in its purpose regarding culture/language on identity manifestation via one’s thought processes. The next part of the research process sought to determine a bigger picture perspective regarding culture and identity within the digital age. “Identity, language learning, and social change” by Norton and Toohey (2011) helped to scrutinize how digital technologies impact the identities of language learners everywhere along with the overall impact of globalization on the approach to language and self-reflection. The next piece of research examined was the book, “Global Linguistic Flows: Hip Hop Cultures, Youth Identities, and the Politics of Language” by Alim and colleagues looks at how something like Hip Hop, a music and cultural force has influenced young people all over the world, and the politics of language and self-expression, and with it, the pillars of identity. Finally, I read the article, “The Collapse of the American Identity” by Robert P. Jones examined how American culture is imploding and dissolving through a variety of forces.

Part 4: What you discovered

Many compelling and enlightening things were discovered. For example, I discovered….....

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