Culture and Language (Collected Papers)

Author: Wang Fuxiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-05-01
Features: In recent years, three closely related language disciplines have been spreading in China: one is language and national conditions studies, one is cross-cultural communication studies, and the other is cultural linguistics. These three language disciplines share similar research content but differ in focus. They all aim to study the relationship between culture and language, with the goal of improving language teaching quality and facilitating effective cross-cultural communication. Language and national conditions studies emerged in the early 1970s in the Soviet Union, focusing on the cultural aspects of Russian vocabulary. Cross-cultural communication studies originated in the United States and began in the 1960s, focusing on communicative culture. Cultural linguistics was pioneered in China and rose in the mid-1980s, focusing on the relationship between Chinese and cultural traditions, ethnic psychology, and ethnic customs. Meanwhile, linguistics itself is a shared research topic among these three language disciplines. Language and national conditions studies, cross-cultural communication studies, and cultural linguistics all belong to macro-linguistics and are emerging interdisciplinary fields. They are closely related to cultural studies, sociology, communication studies, sociolinguistics, linguistic psychology, and pragmatics. The rise and development of these three language disciplines are directly linked to language teaching and increasingly frequent cross-cultural interactions. Actively conducting research on the relationship between culture and language is not only of great theoretical significance but also holds significant practical value. This collection of essays broadly covers the following aspects: the history of the rise of these three cultural language disciplines, their research content, theoretical foundations, and the relationship between language and culture; some recent achievements in China's research on language and national conditions studies and cross-cultural communication studies; culture and translation; culture and foreign language teaching; and linguistic acculturation and teaching. Due to space constraints, only a few articles can be selected for each aspect to provide readers with a taste. Most of the articles have been previously published, with some authors providing supplements; some are newly written; and some are too lengthy, so the editors have made appropriate. The purpose of compiling this collection is to inspire and encourage more people, especially foreign language teachers and graduate students, to engage in research on culture and language, to inspire each other, to actively exchange ideas, and to work together to elevate China's language teaching, particularly foreign language teaching, to a higher level.