Dalmonech
Language Differences
Paola Dalmonech
SSY 105 – Learning and Education
Prof. Beaty
November 14, 2009
Research Paper
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When it comes to the topic of language most of us will readily agree that it is a
uniquely effective vehicle or a medium in human interaction. I see language as a tool that
serves a range of functions; undoubtedly, we use language everyday for everything we
have to do, and sometimes we don’t even realize how fortunate we are to have such a
tremendous advantage. In fact, language permits the information stored by a human
society to exceed by far that of any nonhuman group. Hence, everyone agrees that
language is our principal means of communicating. Where this agreement usually ends,
however, is on the questions of how much of our ability to produce and comprehend
language is programmed into our genes, and how much do we acquire only with
environmental stimulus? Whereas nature proponents see language as a very autonomous
ability, nurture proponents tend to see it as more inseparable from other, general
cognitive abilities. However, both sides agree that language draws from and influences
other thought processes.
Thus, we all can say for sure that language, like so many other aspects of human
behavior, has proven to be the product of nature and nurture together. This amazing
human ability to communicate through language is both the result and the cause of our
uniqueness as human beings. To answer the two questions listed above, I had to read and
research a bit on the theory of learning a language. Both Piaget and Chomsky argue that
children are not molded by the external environment, but spontaneously create mental
structures. Chomsky believes that “children will automatically create grammatical forms
according to the genetic design”; on the other hand, Piaget’s view is different because he
believes “cognitive structures emerge simply from the child’s own efforts to deal with
and make sense of the world” (Crain, 2005, p. 364). Noam Chomsky suggests that
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language is something structured by children themselves whereas some other learning
theorists believe we must look to the social environment for the source of linguistic
patterning. In my opinion, language cannot be fully genetic. Humans speak a wide variety
of different languages, and very young children of any race or ethnic background can
learn to speak and understand any of these if exposed to appropriate models at the proper
time in development. Similarly, children cannot learn to speak a public language without
this critical exposure. Therefore, as is the case with most aspects of human behavior the
truth most likely lies in some combination of nature and nurture. Language acquisition is
one particularly interesting field within the nature-nurture debate that has drawn heated
testimony from both sides. The discovery of language during the childhood of every
individual is one of the wonders of human life, and the ability of using it is a very
important part of human cognition.
Learning language enables us to become members of the larger social community.
One obvious use for public language is to communicate one’s thoughts to other people,
and I think this is the most important use of our linguistic abilities. However, I think there
are other uses that must be stressed. For instance, children need to be able to speak if they
intent to induce action in other people. I remember my little sister, when she was a year
old, she couldn’t say to my mother, “I want that toy which is on the high shelf”, and so,
she would get frustrated because we couldn’t understand what she wanted us to do. Soon,
she learned the word “toy” and she was able to point to the one in particular that she
wanted. Next, language can be used as a tool by one individual to help that individual
remember things. In this way, language expands cognitive abilities that are already
present in the human brain. For example, my father called me last Sunday to remind me
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of my Grandmother’s Birthday because he knows I am very busy here in New York, and
if he hadn’t called me, I would have surely forgotten it. The third use of language I feel
it’s relevant to my research involves the transfer of explanations or knowledge from one
person to another, and the best example for this can be found in a lecture on the
respiratory system that a Biology professor gives to his or her students in College, for
example.
Thus, there is general agreement on the importance of language in human
cognition, yet even in the different ways we use this necessary skill, and that is exactly
what I would like to explore at this particular point. In fact, we all acknowledge that we
use language in a wide variety of ways. Yule (2006) reports that sociolinguistics is a
term, including the aspects of linguistics, applied toward the connections between
language and society, and the ways we use it in different social situations. No language is
a uniform system in which everyone talks just like everyone else. Therefore, it comes
natural to ask the question that Kottak (2009) inquired. In other words,he asked, “How do
different speakers use a given language? (p. 312).
This question clearly reflects on the power point project that my group members
and I presented a week ago. We all did some sort of field work in which we observed,
defined, and measured variable use of language in real-world situations. When people use
language to communicate, the language itself has become part of the society. The society
somehow influences and sometimes determines the language. As a consequence, it
dictates the behavior of an individual. The varieties of language that speakers use reflect
their regional, social, or ethnic type, and maybe their gender too. Moreover, the ways of
speaking, the choices of words, and the rules for conversing are highly determined by
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certain social requirements. This explanation makes me reflect and ponder about the
examples were given in the group project, as they show the society I am in contact with
and its relationship with language. Specifically, when I talk to my supervisor in the office
of the Modern Languages Department at LaGuardia Community College, the terms I use
convey or imply the existence of a status difference that interferes between the two of us.
In other words, when I am addressing her because I need to communicate her some
important information, I would say, “Good Morning Prof. Ibarra. May I speak to you for
a moment?” Here, clearly you can immediately conclude that the way I speak to her is
absolutely polite and it sounds very educated. On the contrary, if you recall those slides
of our presentation that portray and depict they ways I usually approach my colleague
Salvatore, you will definitely remember how relaxed and laid-back I appeared to be. The
posture I had clearly showed my calm attitude, though you don’t hear us talking and
conversing.
The reason why I brought to light the example of postures and gestureswithin my
workplace is because our facial expressions, bodily stances, gestures, and movements,
even if unconscious, convey informationand are part of our communication styles. For
instance, Italians, my peoples, use a lot of gestures when talking, such as a jab on the
hand, or a pat on somebody’s back, to express emphasis. In addition to this, we use verbal
and nonverbal ways of communicating our moods: enthusiasm, sadness, joy, and regret.
We also vary our intonation and the pitch or loudness of our voices.
The study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and
facial expressions is called “kinesics” (Kottak, 2009, p. 306). This is veryfascinating
because it shows howpowerful language is even when it’s not spoken; this is because
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gesture is considered to be a communication tool not only for children who have not
learned how to speak yet, but also for adults. In fact, Bukatko & Daehler (2004) claim,
“Both adults and children tend to use gestures as an accompaniment to their speech,
giving emphasis to what they are saying or elaborating on a concept visually” (p. 236).
This is the idea that shines through the vignettes in which Salvatore and I look so
naturally relaxed compared to the nervousness that I happen to experience with my
supervisor Angeles.
Furthermore, I included my experiences as an Italian tutor for the LaGuardia
Modern Languages Program, and I explained how some of my students show their
respect towards me by using fancy words, literally defined as honorifics, which “are
terms used with people, often by being added to their names, to “honor” them” (Kottak,
2009, p. 314). Indeed, some of my students would enter the classroom and say to me,
“Good Morning, Prof. Paola, how are you today?” as a form of high respect. On the other
hand, I once happened to encounter one of my students using much more informal terms.
For instance, he came to me and said, “Hey Paola, what’s up? Sorry, I’m late.”
In fact, James Paul Gee (1996) observes that “each different community and
social group masters a home-based discourse that integrates words, actions, interactions,
values, feelings, attitudes and thinking in specific and distinctive ways” (p. XVII). At this
point, it is normal to ask this question, what is a discourse?A discourse is a “combination
of saying the right sorts of things in the right way, while engaging in the rights sorts of
actions and interactions, and appearing to think and feel the right way and have the right
sorts of values” (Gee, 1996, p. XV).
Therefore, I now endorse my student’s way of verbally approaching me as it is
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tightly connected to a particular social group that characterizes his way of being in the
words, his ‘form of life’, and his identity.
Lastly, I wanted to examine the major milestones in the acquisition of
communication and language skills, as it is a crucial and relevant point to the argument of
my entire paper. Because I was exposed to learning other languages than my mother
tongue, which is Italian, I do have some sense of how remarkable the mastery of
communication is. I remember this very complex and ample process as I was studying
German and English in High School. I recall managing such a seemingly overwhelming
task quite well. Hence, the most important basic language skills that human can develop
are related to grammar, semantics and pragmatics. What is the difference among these
three? Grammar principles are “rules pertaining to the structure of language” learned as
the child begins to combine words (Bukatko & Daehler, 2004, p. 230). Semantics deals
“with the conventional meaning conveyed by the use of words, phrases and sentences of
a language” (Yule, 2006, p. 100). Finally, pragmatics is what I am focusing on in this
paper. In other words, this field centers its attention on “the rules for using language
effectively and appropriately according to the social context” (Bukatko & Daehler, 2004,
p. 230). Communication clearly depends on not only recognizing the meaning or the
structure of words in an utterance, but also recognizing what speakers mean by them.
Most importantly, what counts as polite or rude behavior can differ substantially from
one group or culture to the next.
Overall, I realize that language is a tool that is not just something that is spoken,
but it is expressed in many more ways, such as body language, facial expression, vocal
ranges… We all adapt to different environment and communicate with each other with
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the aid of code-switching as well. In New York City, for example, I constantly hear
people using more than one language in conversation. Most often, I hear Americans, who
perhaps have Latin American origins, speaking Spanish and English at the same time and
with a speed that is just incredible. I experience it every time I go to work to the
LaGuardia Modern Languages Program, and I see people from different cultures and
nationalities. They switch the two languages (Spanish and English) terrifically. The two
people I have in mind that code-switch very often are two of my colleagues, both of them
from Latin America. Because Martha and Maritza tutor and teach Spanish to American
students, sometimes they speak to each other using both Spanish and English. In other
words, they would start a sentence in Spanish and conclude it in English. I noticed this
happens especially when the topic of the conversation is linked to their work and job
tasks. Therefore, I believe code-switching occurs more easily when two languages, and
more precisely, their syntaxes, align in a sentence. I learned through experience that if
two languages don’t present any similarities in terms of grammar constraints, codeswitching will not easily take place. It certainly becomes a more natural process between
multilingual speakers who share two or more languages in common that are somehow
similar in syntax and grammar. Thus, language really makes us unique, as it allows us to
express ourselves in many different ways. Nevertheless, what is still debatable is its
complexity; we may never completely understand just how genetics and experience
interact to produce this most integral human trait. What we know for sure is that the
ability to communicate our thoughts, emotions, and opinions to others is truly a
remarkable ability that it will always accompany us in life.
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References
Bukatko, D., & Daehler, M. W. (2004). Child development: A thematic approach (5th
ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Crain, W. (2005). Theories of development: Concepts and applications (5th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. London:
Taylor and Francis.
Kottak, C. P. (2009). Anthropology: The exploration of human diversity (13th ed.). New
York: McGraw Hill Higher Education.
Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3rd ed.). Cambridge: University Press.