Language and Culture

Culture, defined as membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history and common imaginings, entered the field of applied linguistics through the study of language in its sociocultural context – that is, discourse. Discourse, as a verbal communicative practice and habit of thought, embodies a community’s identity and moral values, its understanding of history, and its aspirations for the future. Cross-cultural pragmatics, intercultural communication, and intercultural learning are some of the areas of applied linguistics that study the link between language and culture. The field right now is grappling with the tension between structuralist and post-structuralist approaches to…