Claude Debussy - Clair de Lune

Gluck-Sgambati Melody from Orpheus by Wang, Yujia

COM 325 / Week #8 Discussion: Language and social cohesion

  Language can help maintain the purity and distinctiveness of a given culture. Therefore, many countries, such as France and China, have a language policy to restrict the substitute-usage of foreign languages and the importation of foreign cultural products. What are your views on this restriction?  

COM 325 / Week #8 Discussion: The benefits of learning a second language

   Explain the benefits of learning a second language.  Why should U.S. citizens learn a second language?

COM 325 / Week #8 Discussion: Language and social identity

     Language plays an important role in the formation and expression of one's identity. For example, Ebonics "helps create and reinforce a sense of mutual identity among African-Americans." Yet, some African-American leaders have voiced their concern toward the negative effect of Ebonics on African Americans' identity. For example, Bill Cosby slammed Ebonics:

      “Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal,…” “These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend $200 for ‘Hooked on Phonics.’ . . .“They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English,” “I can’t even talk the way these people talk: ‘Why you ain’t,’ ‘Where you is’ . . . And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. . . . Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. . . . You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!”

     What do you think?

COM 325 / Week #8 Discussion: The synergy of language and culture

    The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that language is a dominant influence in shaping one's worldview and perception. Others think this hypothesis overstates the effect of language on shaping our worldview. What's your take on this issue? To me, the synergy of language and culture is very strong. For example, I have up to six different words to differentiate among my father's sister, my mother's sister, the wife of my father's brother, the sister of the wife of my father's brother... But in English, I only use one word - aunt - to refer to those female relatives.

COM 325 / Week #8 Discussion: How does my native tongue limit my understanding of the world?

  Wittgenstein once said: "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." Based on your experience with studying a foreign language, what do you think are some strengths and shortcoming of your native tongue?  How has this influenced your perspective? In other words, how does your native tongue limit your understanding of the world? For me, my native tongue, the Chinese, helps me view the world holistically but hinders my analytic thinking.

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Overture