Language Barriers in Intercultural Relations

Abstract

Language Barriers 41in the scientific area is but one aspect of SL more general movement among advanced thinkers directed at the achievement of "one world." We have only recently embarked upon the second half of the Twentieth Century and already a new movement-our own-motivated by a clearly perceived need to unify and integrate the endeavors of those engaged in the several fields of communication, has taken form. In a very real sense, this movement includes and logically extends beyond the unification of science, for it envisions a comprehensive communion of ideas and methodologic procedures among workers engaged in the arts, humanities and everyday human endeavors as well as in the scientific disciplines. As Wendell Johnson has pointed out, the better part d science is its language. This holds equally true for the arts, humanities and human activities in general. Language cuts across all serious study and it is this fact that promises to yield most in our effort to achieve unification and integration within the areas of communication. The immediate task consists in bringing about a revision of our language structure and halbits so as to facilitate inter-and intrapersonal communication and to fashion our verbal maps in a way that corresponds more closely (in terms of adaptation) to the territory they are intended to represent, This is an enormous task and fraught with countless practical difficulties.The ecologic die has been cast and failure to deal effectively with the fundamental issues relative to communication will be tantamount to failure in the even more fundamental issue of survival of the race. The stakes are high.Yet we dare not postpone it longer.We have become accustomed to think of man as a member of a particular race, with a corresponding language, and with a culture that represents his biological and linguistic origin. There is no doubt that the nature of man is the sum total of these basic determinants, but the assumption that these factors are necessarily correlated leads to misleading conclusions in our cultural understanding. The relationship of race, language and culture seems obvious at a first glance, so we unwittingly accept their correlation. In fact, much of the "knowledge" which we have regarding other cultures is nothing more than traditilonal relationship which we have inherited as standards of knowledge. In tlhe Southwest, for example, there is a marked tendency to designate as "Spanish any culture trait, culture content, or racial characteristics observed in persons whose native tongue is Spanish. They refer to tortillas, chile, and tamales as "Spanish food", and, because this fare is characteristic of many Spanish speaking individuals, they also conclude that Spanish people are very fond of hot foods. Again,

One-dimensional lattice of oscillators coupled through power-law interactions: Continuum limit and dynamics of spatial Fourier modes

“…1. These properties can also be proved analytically [20]. It is also easy to prove that Λ m (α) → 0 as m → ∞.…”

Cross-Cultural Partnerships between Home and International Students

“…It has been remarked (e.g., Hall, 1983) that time can be construed as monochronic versus polychronic with the collectivist cultures tending toward the latter. The monochronic concept regards time as a scarce commodity to be rationed out; it is often dramatised by the use of whistles, bells, lights, or even gunfire, whereas in industrialised, mechanised societies, punctuality is highly important (Campa, 1951). The polychronic view of time, which is more characteristic of collectivist societies, accords priority to the maintenance of personal relationships and treats time as flexible to do justice to one's human obligations.…”