ERIC Number: ED166276
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1978
Pages: 43
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Defining Cross-Cultural Situations.
St. Clair, Robert N.
In this essay, the cross cultural conflicts associated with linguistic problems are explored in terms of the development of linguistic theory from 1933 to the present. The linguistic code, positivism, the existential approach to sociolinguistics, linguistic solidarity, defining the situation, language and culture, and cross-cultural conflicts in linguistic expression (Japan and the United States) are discussed. Ideas set forth in the essay include the following: (1) problems of cross-cultural interference are not all related to mismatches between linguistic codes; (2) positivism is inadequate for dealing with problems of a bilingual or bicultural nature; (3) the concept of a completely homogeneous superstructure of linguistic competence is nonexistent; (4) a system of cultural idealism should replace cultural concepts based on elitist or materialistic frameworks; (5) a parallel can be drawn between the role that an official dialect plays in a society and an official ideology provides for a nation; (6) socially transmitted language inferences play a major role in defining the context of a situation; and (7) a social and psychological approach to language in cross-cultural situations is imperative. (Author/WI)
Descriptors: Contrastive Linguistics, Cross Cultural Studies, Cultural Differences, Language Patterns, Linguistic Theory, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Structural Linguistics, Transformational Generative Grammar
Not available separately; See UD 018 804
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Henry Luce Foundation, New York, NY.
Authoring Institution: City Univ. of New York, NY. City Coll. Dept. of Asian Studies.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: For related documents, see UD 018 805-809 and UD 018 811-813