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1、LanguageandCulture:WordsandMeaningTheImportanceofLanguageTheimportanceoflanguagetothestudyofinterculturalcommunicationisclearlycapturedbyfilmmakerFedericoFellini’ssimplesentence:“Adifferentviewoflife.”Hisobservationtakesonaddedsignificancewhenyoureali
2、zetheoneofthemajorcharacteristicsidentifyingyouashumanisyourabilitytouselanguage.AsCartmillpointout,“Peoplecantalk.Otheranimalcan’t.”Yetlanguageismorethanjustaskill;ithasevolvedarichandexpressiveversatilitythatwasrecognizedbyPaulTillichwhenheobservedt
3、hat“languagehascreatedtheword“loneliness”toexpressthepainofbeingaloneandtheword“solitude”toexpressthejoyofbeingalong”orbytheAthenianpoetAristophanes,whoglorifiedthebeautyofwordswhenheremarked“Bywordsthemindwinged.”Yourabilitytousewordsisindeedaremarka
4、blegift.Overcountlessthousandsofyears,Homosapienshasevolvedthebraincapacityandanatomynecessarytoproduceandreceivesounds;inamuchshorterspanoftime,ithascreatedculturalsystemsinwhichthosesoundshavetakenonmeaningbyrepresentingthings,feelings,andideas.Yett
5、hereseemstobesomeevidenceofageneticbasistiedtotheuseoflanguage.TherecentlydiscoveredFOXP2gene,althoughnotbelievetohavecausedspeech,seemstoenhancethespeechbypermittinghumanstospeakmoreclearly,contributingtothedevelopmentofsuperiorlanguageabilities.This
6、combinationofevolutionandculturehasledtothedevelopmentofafour-partprocessthatenablesyoutoshareyourinternalstateswithotherhumanbeings.Inshort,youcanreceive,store,manipulate,andgeneratesymbolstorepresentyourpersonalizedrealities.But,toalargedegree,yourl
7、anguagebehaviorismediatedbyyourculture.Thatistosay,whilehowyouuselanguageishighlyindividualistic,manyoftheformsoflanguagethatyouuse,andthepurposestowhichyouchoosetoapplylanguage,aresubjecttoyourculturalbackground.Everythingyouknowandfeelisinsideyourbo
8、dyandcanonlybesharedbylanguage.Mostofthisinternalstateisanelectrochemicalmélangeresidinginyourbrain.Yourbeliefs,values,attitudes,wordviews,emotions,andmyriadotheraspectsofyourselfandpersonalityarelockedupinside.Youcanconveysomeaspectsofyoursel
