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1、LanguageandCulture:WordsandmeaningTheImportanceofLanguageTheimportanceoflanguagetothestudyofinterculturalcommunicationisclearlycapturedbyfilmmakerFedericoFellini’ssimplesentence:“Adifferentviewoflife.”Hisobservationtakesonaddedsignificancewhenyourealizetheoneofthemajorcharacteristic
2、sidentifyingyouashumanisyourabilitytouselanguage.AsCartmillpointout,“Peoplecantalk.Otheranimalcan’t.”Yetlanguageismorethanjustaskill;ithasevolvedarichandexpressiveversatilitythatwasrecognizedbyPaulTillichwhenheobservedthat“languagehascreatedtheword“loneliness”toexpressthepainofbeing
3、aloneandtheword“solitude”toexpressthejoyofbeingalong”orbytheAthenianpoetAristophanes,whoglorifiedthebeautyofwordswhenheremarked“Bywordsthemindwinged.”Yourabilitytousewordsisindeedaremarkablegift.Overcountlessthousandsofyears,Homosapienshasevolvedthebraincapacityandanatomynecessaryto
4、produceandreceivesounds;inamuchshorterspanoftime,ithascreatedculturalsystemsinwhichthosesoundshavetakenonmeaningbyrepresentingthings,feelings,andideas.Yetthereseemstobesomeevidenceofageneticbasistiedtotheuseoflanguage.TherecentlydiscoveredFOXP2gene,althoughnotbelievetohavecausedspee
5、ch,seemstoenhancethespeechbypermittinghumanstospeakmoreclearly,contributingtothedevelopmentofsuperiorlanguageabilities.Thiscombinationofevolutionandculturehasledtothedevelopmentofafour-partprocessthatenablesyoutoshareyourinternalstateswithotherhumanbeings.Inshort,youcanreceive,store
6、,manipulate,andgeneratesymbolstorepresentyourpersonalizedrealities.But,toalargedegree,yourlanguagebehaviorismediatedbyyourculture.Thatistosay,whilehowyouuselanguageishighlyindividualistic,manyoftheformsoflanguagethatyouuse,andthepurposestowhichyouchoosetoapplylanguage,aresubjecttoyo
7、urculturalbackground.Everythingyouknowandfeelisinsideyourbodyandcanonlybesharedbylanguage.Mostofthisinternalstateisanelectrochemicalmélangeresidinginyourbrain.Yourbeliefs,values,attitudes,wordviews,emotions,andmyriadotheraspectsofyourselfandpersonalityarelockedupinside.Youcanconveys
8、omeaspectsofyoursel
