The Consequences of Language
Chapter 2. What Are The Approaches to the Study of Language ?
This chapter presents an overview of the concepts of language and culture and how linguists and
anthropologists approached them. A definition of culture; approaches to the study of culture
(idealist, materialist, social organization, practice); features of culture; agency; power and
privilege. A definition of language; approaches to the study of language (language as grammar,
language as discourse and language as thing). The language circle.
1. What is language?
Language as Grammar, Language as Discourse and Language as Thing
In popular and even professional usage, the term language covers a wide variety of
meanings as is illustrated in the following examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
I know I don't speak English correctly.1
Most French-Canadians prefer to speak French, even though they can speak English too.
The treaty wasn't ready to sign until both sides had a chance to look over the language.
A polyglot is someone who knows many languages.
A linguist is someone who can analyze language structure.
Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world.
American thought and language.
I need to work on my language skills.
When Fred speaks to Sam, sometimes he uses English and sometimes Arabic.
While we take the view that no one meaning is more correct than another, we also argue
that we need to have a clear understanding of what we mean when we use the term. When I look at
these sentences, I see three different meanings being used for the word language: language as
grammar, language as discourse and language as thing.
Language as grammatical structure
The capacity or potential to make sentences in any human language is infinite. The study
of how this is done is termed the study of grammatical structure. The study of this aspect of
language is the central focus of the field of linguistics.
Linguists are not interested in whether one’s usage is correct or not, but rather what sort of grammar produced this
usage.
1
In studying how it is possible for
Linguistic System
Linguistic Sub-field
Examples
any language to generate an infinite
Lexical
Morphology
words, word parts
number of sentences, linguists have
Phonemic
Phonology
distinctive sounds
identified three distinct sign
Syntactic
Syntax
sentence types
(semiological)-systems that work collectively to produce the sentences of a language, known as
morphology, phonology and syntax. We will have more to say about the study of grammar in
chapter 3.
Language as discourse
This area investigates what goes on when people communicate. Here one is not interested
in how sentences are constructed as in the study of grammar, but what a language text means and
how people interact with it. Language as discourse investigates the purpose of language, which in
the words of Paul Ricoeur (1978) is “for someone to same something about something to
someone.” Important questions include: what is the relationship between the participants of the
communicative situation; what is the intent of each of the participants; what resources are
available to the participants, what additional knowledge do the participants use to interpret the
meaning of the text and what choices do they make?
Saussure highlighted the distinction between grammar and discourse in his General Course
in Linguistics (1915) where he separated language grammar and discourse.2 In a like way, the
philosopher Ricoeur has broadened this opposition as between structure (grammar) =grammar)
and event (discourse) in order to include other phenomena such as the opposition between culture
and practice (praxis) discussed above.
The study of grammar was the major focus of linguistics during the 20th century. In
making the distinction between langue and parole, Saussure noted that both approaches were
useful, but he advocated the study of langue (structure) because it would lead to a “scientific”
study of language, whereas, the study of parole would not.
Language as thing
This usage is perhaps the most easily identifiable sense of language. For when we speak of
language as thing, we mean a whole of a language such as English, Swahili or Japanese. Language
Actually Saussure, writing in French used the terms langue (‘language’) for what we call grammar and the term
parole (‘speech’) for what we call discourse. Saussure also used a third term language, which also translates as
2
is used in this third sense takes on questions of which language to use, language and identity,
national language planning, language revival and the phenomenon of switching between
languages known as code switching.
The Language Circle
The sidebar provides a
graphic representation of the
different areas of language as
grammatical structure, language as
discourse and language as thing.
With this threefold
distinction, we can now group the
sample sentences at the beginning
of this section as: language as
grammar, language as discourse
and language as thing.
Language as Grammar
1. I know I don't speak
English correctly.
5. The linguist is
someone who can
analyze language
structure
Language as Discourse
Language as Thing.
3. The treaty wasn't ready to
sign until both sides had a
chance to look over the
language.
7. American thought and
language
8. I need to work on my
language skills.
2. Most French-Canadians prefer to speak French,
even though they can speak English too.
4. A polyglot is someone who knows many languages.
6. Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the
world.
9. When Fred speaks to Sam, sometimes he uses
English and sometimes Arabic.
Questions for Study and Review
1. The kinds of cultural difference reported by Jin and Cortazzi are common. One’s first reaction
is often to confuse a cultural difference for an individual trait, only to discover that others with
the same ethnic background have the same trait.
2. The table in the subsection on Dimensions of the study of culture lists several authors who have
worked in the three dimensions of anthropology, idealist, materialist and social organization.
‘language’ as a broader term that includes both langue and parole.
The Consequences of Language: Approaches to the Study of Language and Culture
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Chapter 2 Page 4
The following are actual titles published by these authors. To make sure you understand the
difference these dimensions, see if you can match the title with the dimension. (If you are
stumped, check the bibliography at the end of the book.) 1. The interpretation of cultures, 2)
Cultural Materialism, 3) The savage Mind, 4) African Political Systems, 5) The Mother’s
Brother in South Africa, and 6) Ecology, Meaning and Religion (this last one is a bit tricky but
the first word is the key word here.)
Earlier ethnographic descriptions of other “cultures” which did not include a practice-oriented
approach were often dull and uninteresting and were not popular with undergraduates.
Anthropology teachers often replaced these books with novels that are more readable and
biographies like Achebe’s Things fall apart, or Soyinka’s Aku. Why would novels be more
helpful in illustrating a praxis perspective than a traditional ethnography?
What are the main components of institutions? Although institutions may be either large (the
U.S. educational system) or small (the class room), they should all have the same elements:
field, goal, roles and role definitions, types of capital, and order of discourse. Select one or
more such institutions from your own experience and then identify and describe these
elements.
At the beginning of the 20th century, when physical sciences had made huge contributions to
our understanding of the natural world, the social “sciences” including linguistics were
struggling for legitimacy. This lead to numerous efforts to show that each of the social
sciences was equally scientific and to be selective in the kinds of data and approaches that
could be used. Can you explain how this influenced Saussure’s decision to include langue but
not parole in his linguistics?
Using the language wheel, how would you classify the following statements? As grammar, as
discourse or as thing? 1) They were just playing language games. 2) I think I am Japanese, but
I can’t speak it at all. All of the 3) words beginning with the letter v came into 4) English from
French. 5. You say tomato and I say tomahto. 6. I think the United States should be an English
only country. 7) Canada is a bilingual country.
Language is often a topic of discussion and commentary. By just keeping an “eye out” for this,
you will be able to collect more examples of sentences about language. As you collect them,
see if they fit into the categories of: potential (grammar), use (discourse) or thing.
Suggestions for Further Reading
1. Jin & Cortazzi, Cultural Orientation and Academic Language Use. 1993. Language and Culture (Graddol et al
eds.). Multilingual Matters.
2. Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. The Mother=s Brother in South Africa. In Anthropological Theory, Jon McGee and
Richard Warms (eds). Mayfield Press (1996).
3. Harris, Marvin. Cultural Materialism. New York: Random House, 1979.
4. Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973. (See the chapter entitled “thick
description.”).
5. Berger, P. and T. Luckmann. The social construction of Reality. Doubleday, 1967.
6. Most people find Bourdieu to be difficult to read. One of the more accessible readings is John Thompson’s
introduction to an invitation to reflexive sociology by Pierre Bourdieu and Loïc J.D. Wacquant. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Glossary
Agency The recognition of the importance of the agent in social analysis. See agent.
The Consequences of Language: Approaches to the Study of Language and Culture
Chapter 2 Page 5
Boundedness: A property of society in which all the institutions have the same boundaries.
Because institutions often do not share the same boundaries, this is offered as a criticism of the
traditional concept of culture.
Code switching: A situation where two different codes (languages or language varieties) are used
in the same sentence. Example: Creo que you are crazy. ‘I believe that you are crazy.’
Diachronic: One of the two general approaches to the study of language. As opposed to a
synchronic, a diachronic approach investigates language over time.
Dialectical: See dialectic (chapter 1).
Discourse (Language as): One of the three ways of looking at language. Discourse concerns the
use of language in a social context. See chapter 1.
Grammar (Language as): One of the three approaches to the study of language. Grammar, also
called language structure includes the study of phonology, the lexicon (morphology) and
syntax.
Institution: A unit of social interaction with roles, practices, goals, discourses and legitimations.
See text
Language circle: A way of showing the three approaches to the study of language.
Language universals: Features of grammar that are common to all languages. Universals may be
phonological, lexical or syntactic.
Langue: As opposed to parole, the structural component of language. Saussure identified langue
as the focus of a science of linguistics.
Order of discourse: A way of talking about something, including special types of vocabulary,
syntax, topic and style.
Parole: The aspect of language that concerns language use. Termed by Saussure as “the executive
side of language.” In this text, we prefer to use the term ‘discourse’ in place of parole.
Phonology: The study of sound systems. See chapter 3.
Power: Social power concerns the control of the individual by institutions or other individuals.
Privilege: A situation where some individuals, often a group, have greater access to resources and
rights, than other members of a society.
Saussure A Swiss linguist who introduced the synchronic approach to the study of language and
the field of semiology, the study of sign systems.
Structuralist: See structure.
Synchronic: The study of a language system at one point in time.
Thing (Language as): An approach to the study of language by viewing the specific language
(not its grammar or its use) as the focus. Questions in this area include: language planning;
policy; multilingualism; standardization; identity; and the like.