Language Teaching and Cross-Cultural Communication

Transcription

1 Language Teaching and Cross-Cultural Communication Oleg REDKIN Laboratory for Analysis and Modelling of Social Processes, St Petersburg State University, 11, Universitetskya emb. St Petersburg, , Russia and Olga BERNIKOVA Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes, St Petersburg State University, 11, Universitetskya emb. St Petersburg, , Russia ABSTRACT In the modern world language skills and abilities are among factors which determine competitiveness in personal and social life, competitiveness in business and labor market. These factors explain the growing interest to the problem of language education both among specialists and common public alike. As a result, the number of language programs at universities and high schools around the world constantly increases. In the current article authors venture to reexamine the process of language acquisition basing on their long-term experience of teaching Arabic at St Petersburg State University, Russia. The authors believe that effectiveness of teaching foreign language along with other factors also depends on an adequate understanding of the culture and mentality of native speakers, and hence our awareness about the correct connotations of words, and about idiomatic expressions as well. The authors endeavor to consider the problem from ethnolinguistic point of view and try to answer major questions related to this issue. Keywords: language acquisition, mother tongue, connotations, denotations, language environment, culture. 1. INTRODUCTION Although second language acquisition and bilingualism have been in the focus of study of scholars for at least fifty years, the character of these phenomena still remains uncertain and raises a number of questions. Correct understanding of factors which affect mother tongue acquisition and second language study are of great practical importance since it may improve the very essence of the process of foreign language teaching and subsequently raise its effectiveness. In spite of a big number of theories which have been discussed and studied in multiple publications regarding different kinds of second language acquisition each of them only partially unveil the essence of this problem and the very character of the language acquisition process still remains uncertain both for scholars and teachers alike. In scholar tradition the problem of language learning as a rule is divided into two sub groups: 1) language (or second language) acquisition in early childhood; and 2) acquisition of second (foreign) language at schools and universities. 2. MOTHER TONGUE ACQUISITION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY The most vivid example of language learning is the mother tongue acquisition, which as a rule takes 290

2 place in early childhood and is limited by certain age period. In this case the process of language learning takes place in natural language and cultural environment, and coincides with the period of cognitive development and personal socialization. Development of language skills and cognitive development are interdependent and, as R. Noormohamadi states, "Mother tongue... is essential for learning as a part of intellectual ability"[1]. Meanwhile "the role of age in second language acquisition is a subject of much debate [2]. The Critical Period Hypothesis assumes that humans have a superior capacity for acquiring languages, and this capacity disappears or declines with maturation [3]. In our turn we believe that culture matters. Thus, after the formation of world picture is completed, the portal of another language acquisition becomes very narrow since the denotations and connotations are already tied to particular objects or phenomena of material or spiritual environment of certain culture, which has nothing to do with the age issue. In this case another language acquisition in most cases means only substitution of written or pronounced signs depicting the words in the native language by corresponding foreign signs. On the later stages second (foreign) language learning takes place at schools and universities where existing methodologies of foreign language teaching may be roughly divided into two major classes 1) development of communicative skills and 2) systematic study of foreign language grammar, dictionary and development of skills of speaking, reading and writing. Each kind of methodologies has its pros and contras, but both of them are nothing but examples of language acquisition in artificial environment. There are a numberof difficulties and restrains which limit effectiveness of second language teaching at schools and universities. According to C. Muñoz it has such limitations as: (1) instruction is limited to 2-4 sessions of approximately 50 minutes per week; (2) exposure to the target language during those class periods may be limited both in source (mainly the teacher) and quantity; (3) the target language is not the language of communication between peers; (4) the teacher s oral fluency in the target language may be limited; and (5) the target language is not spoken outside the classroom [4]. Thus, among the restrains one can mention limitation in time, the usage of the native language in and outside the classroom and even while explaining linguistic realities of another (foreign) language, limitations posed by teacher s personality (his/her experience, level of knowledge of foreign language, etc.). In addition to the above mentioned limitations we have to mention another one the lack of real ties between foreign language material acquired in classroom especially foreign words and phrases and their actual connotations with foreign culture realities. In other words, while studying in classroom students are exposed to familiar reality which they have already seen before, although described by means of another language - the fact which is often neglected not only by those who study but even by those who teach foreign language. Unlike in the classroom, foreign language acquisition is much easier and quicker within the language environment not only due to intensiveness of study and constant practical implementation of the theoretical knowledge through communication with the language speakers instead of grammar and lexis drills in the classroom, but because of their complete involvement into foreign culture. In this case there is also involvement of another factors such as the length of exposure... equated to the length of residence in the target language community, extending from the age of acquisition (or immigration) to the age at testing [5]. 3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING In order to understand some special features of the foreign language teaching it is necessary to describe and explain in simple terms the peculiarities of the language system as a whole. It is well known that language is a sign system with unique relations between its elements - morphemes, words, phrases and sentences, units which compose text and specify its arrangement. In their turn these unique relations between morphemes, words, phrases and sentences are governed by grammar which performs as information matrix and defines the ultimate structure and sequences of these units and as well as hierarchy between different linguistic levels. In this sense the role of grammatical matrix may be compared with the role of DNA in biological systems. In its turn each element in the linguistic sign system (a word or a phrase) may denote a range of ideas or classes of objects and may have special connotations which reflect language speakers' emotional attitudes towards these ideas and their previous experience. Besides that, 291

3 each of the words may be spoken or written i.e. have its written or oral representation. Words represent invisible unity of perceptible side of linguistic signs and their denotations and connotations as it is shown on Figure 1. Fig. 1. Denotations and connotations of words and perceptive signs depicting them. In the course of foreign language acquisition students as a rule learn how to deal with the units of the linguistic sign system i.e. the foreign words and phrases (foreign language inventory) in accordance with the rules and regulations of foreign language grammar (linguistic matrix). As a matter of fact, in most cases takes place just substitution of perceptible side of linguistic signs - spoken or written forms which are arranged in accordance with the rules of grammar and phonetics. Meanwhile denotations and connotations of ideas and objects which correspond to certain elements within the linguistic chain (i.e. linear sequence of words within phrase or sentence) are untouched and remain as they were in students' mother tongue. For instance when students say or read بيت 'bait' - 'house' in Arabic they continue to deal with familiar set of images and perceptions which correspond to their mother tongue meanwhile this word in foreign language may denote different range of ideas and objects, for instance 'house', 'clay house', 'tent', 'overnight'. 4. FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY It is traditionally believed that foreign language acquisition is nothing but development of speaking, understanding and reading skills based on acquisition of foreign dictionary (lexis), and grammar, i.e. rules which define changes of word forms and regulates their sequences within sentences from one hand, and system of writing, reading and phonetics from another. So the study of language begins with the learning of new words and expressions (foreign dictionary), grammar drills (rules of foreign dictionary functioning), reading, writing and phonetics. Basically the foreign language study relies on previous learning experience and explanations of new language realities are based on the mother tongue material. For instance, the foreign language realities are explained by means of the realities of the mother tongue and the usage of familiar terminology. For instance, the term اإلض اف ة 'al-'iḍāfa in Arabic is described as 'Status Constructus' in terms of Latin, or as English 'Genetive Construction'. In other words, in most cases there is simply substitution of native language words by foreign language lexis and vice versa, although built in linear sequence in accordance with grammar rules with little consideration of their initial cultural and ethnographic connotations. While learning foreign language students voluntarily or involuntarily rely on connotations and denotations of their mother tongue although using another language vocabulary. At the same time language acquisition is not just learning of linguistic inventory and rules of its functioning alone, but acquisition of a system, that describes both the material and virtual reality which belongs, or better say, is peculiar to language speakers, and reflects their thoughts and attitudes and hence, defines their actions. In other words, by means of language we describe the outer world with all its peculiarities relying on our mental perceptions of these realities, our personal inner visions and attitudes which are peculiar to certain society. Therefore, language acquisition on the very initial stage (the mother tongue acquisition) primarily means understanding and description, by means of the language, the surrounding reality, its rules and regulations that finally define the frameworks of behavior systems, judgments and evaluations, and, finally, personal chances to succeed or to survive. Hence foreign language acquisition should go along with the acquisition of another culture, its system of coordinates, measurements and values. 5. WORDS MATTER It also has to be taken into consideration that similar words in different languages have different connotations and denotations. 292

4 As a matter of fact, words, spoken or written alike, are nothing but signs indicating meanings and beliefs or certain objects, and each sign may depict certain set of meanings, i.e. words have semantic fields of their own. In their turn the semantic fields of similar words in different languages may vary. It means that the meanings of the word A in Arabic may not necessary coincide 100 percent with the similar word A in English, and there is a room for variations. The difference becomes even more obvious when we consider words depicting basic objects in different cultures, so called lexical primitives or 'concepts' [6]. As R. Jackendoff points out: It is easy to see that lexical concepts too are subject to the argument from creativity. For instance, consider the concept expressed by the word dog. Someone who knows this concept, upon encountering an indefinitely large variety of objects, will be able to judge whether they are dogs or not. Thus the concept cannot be encoded as a list of the dogs one has previously encountered; nor, because the brain is finite, can it be a list of all dogs there ever have been and will be, or of all possible dogs. Rather, it must be some sort of finite schema that can be compared with the mental representations of arbitrary new objects to produce a judgment of conformance or nonconformance [7].In relation to Arabic our observations prove that such words as near, far, early, late have a little bit different meanings than in Russian or English, not talking about the difference in meanings of such words as forest and desert, hot and cold, etc. I.e., each culture and social and economic environment leave impacts on meanings of words, and their semantic fields in certain languages. The words, both in their spoken and written forms, which are kept in native language speakers minds are anchored by meanings depicting the concepts of their (language speakers ) material and spiritual world, its objects and social and economic phenomena. As a result, in the course of crosscultural communication we may talk about slightly different ideas using the same set of words. 6. CONCLUSIONS We strongly believe that language acquisition on the very initial stage (mother tongue acquisition) goes along with the building of new system of the outer world. While studying foreign language students are exposed to another system of coordinates of mentality and behavior models, measures and values. Therefore, foreign language study apart from development of listening, speaking and reading skills along with knowledge of grammar also means acquisition of quite new set of habits, behavior models, measures and visions, evaluations criteria, cultural experience. Along with the foreign language acquisition students must learn about cultural, religious and ethnographic peculiarities which form the picture of the outer world of the foreign language speakers, considering the corelations between its elements, their ties and interdependences. The students also must clearly understand the picture which is painted on the canvas of the mentality of foreign language speakers by the images of their previous experience and conceptions, and expressed and implemented orally or in written form by means of linguistic tools. 5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge Saint-Petersburg State University (Russia) for a research grant REFERENCES [1] R. Noormohamadi, "Mother Tongue, a Necessary Step to Intellectual Development", Pan- Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 12, Issue 2, 2008, pp , p.25. [2] G. Dong, H. Ren, "The Role of Age in Second Language Acquisition - A Psychological Perspective", British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.1, No.1, December 2013, pp.1-6, p.1. [3] G. Dong, H. Ren, "The Role of Age in Second Language Acquisition - A Psychological Perspective", British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.1, No.1, December 2013, pp.1-6, p.2. [4] C. Muñoz, "On How Age Affects Foreign Language Learning", Advances in Research on Language Acquisition and Teaching: Selected Papers, 2010, pp , p

5 [5] C. Muñoz, "On How Age Affects Foreign Language Learning", Advances in Research on Language Acquisition and Teaching: Selected Papers, 2010, pp.39-49, p.44. [6] A. Wierzbicka, Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford - New York, [7] R. Jackendoff, "What is a Concept, that a Person May Grasp It?", Mind and Language, Vol. 4 Volume 4, Issue 1-2, March 1989, pp , p