Page 43 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 43
What Kind of l s p Does LanGuide Propose?
nian as a foreign language, adjusting the cultural aspect according to the in-
trinsic principle of mutual interdependence between language and culture.
Furthermore, in her article with Nechifor and Borca (2020), they stated
that while conveying linguistic knowledge to students, the cultural factors
that must be considered are those of the language taught, and not neces-
sarily those of the students’ origin. However, the special case provided by
the LanGuide project context may address both at the same time, as it will
be described in the next pages.
Proceeding with a more in-depth examination of the relationship gener-
ated between a society and its culture, the next unavoidable stop is where
an even more delicate interface can be detected, namely, the relationship
formed between a society’s culture and its language. Without expelling two
opposing ideas that either view culture through the lenses of language, as
noted by Hantrais (1989, p. 17): ‘culture is the beliefs and practices gov-
erning the life of a society for which a particular language is the vehicle
of expression,’ or, in a reversed manner, see language as the major cre-
ator element of culture, we are more intrigued by the inclusive frame-
work promoted by Kramsch (1998, p. 8), who observed the connection be-
tween language and culture from two concurrent viewpoints, diachronic
and synchronic, both echoing a historical and a sociological component,
while claiming that: ‘Language is intimately linked not only to the culture
that is and the culture that was, but also to the culture of the imagination
that governs people’s decisions and actions far more than we may think.’
Therefore, ‘people do not only express experience but they also create ex-
perience through language’ (p. 66), and consequently, ‘language embod-
ies cultural reality’ (p. 14), the term ‘embodies’ representing a very good
choice to express a comprehensive and inclusive way of looking at this phe-
nomenon.
Subsequently, as foreign language teachers, we must recognize the im-
portance of teaching not only structures, frameworks, lexicon items, and
language abilities, but also indispensable pragmatic elements of the tex-
tual lives of the people whose language the students are yet to learn, be-
cause their appropriate, powerful, and multifaceted perspective can only
be comprehensive if and when they perceive the real situation through the
cultural perspective of that society, regardless of the context in which they
are learning. As a result, we had to contemplate the idea of including el-
ements of Romanian culture and civilization in the activities and tasks
designed for the LanGuide mobile application for the English language,
as they are directed, in perfect accordance with the project’s main objec-
43
nian as a foreign language, adjusting the cultural aspect according to the in-
trinsic principle of mutual interdependence between language and culture.
Furthermore, in her article with Nechifor and Borca (2020), they stated
that while conveying linguistic knowledge to students, the cultural factors
that must be considered are those of the language taught, and not neces-
sarily those of the students’ origin. However, the special case provided by
the LanGuide project context may address both at the same time, as it will
be described in the next pages.
Proceeding with a more in-depth examination of the relationship gener-
ated between a society and its culture, the next unavoidable stop is where
an even more delicate interface can be detected, namely, the relationship
formed between a society’s culture and its language. Without expelling two
opposing ideas that either view culture through the lenses of language, as
noted by Hantrais (1989, p. 17): ‘culture is the beliefs and practices gov-
erning the life of a society for which a particular language is the vehicle
of expression,’ or, in a reversed manner, see language as the major cre-
ator element of culture, we are more intrigued by the inclusive frame-
work promoted by Kramsch (1998, p. 8), who observed the connection be-
tween language and culture from two concurrent viewpoints, diachronic
and synchronic, both echoing a historical and a sociological component,
while claiming that: ‘Language is intimately linked not only to the culture
that is and the culture that was, but also to the culture of the imagination
that governs people’s decisions and actions far more than we may think.’
Therefore, ‘people do not only express experience but they also create ex-
perience through language’ (p. 66), and consequently, ‘language embod-
ies cultural reality’ (p. 14), the term ‘embodies’ representing a very good
choice to express a comprehensive and inclusive way of looking at this phe-
nomenon.
Subsequently, as foreign language teachers, we must recognize the im-
portance of teaching not only structures, frameworks, lexicon items, and
language abilities, but also indispensable pragmatic elements of the tex-
tual lives of the people whose language the students are yet to learn, be-
cause their appropriate, powerful, and multifaceted perspective can only
be comprehensive if and when they perceive the real situation through the
cultural perspective of that society, regardless of the context in which they
are learning. As a result, we had to contemplate the idea of including el-
ements of Romanian culture and civilization in the activities and tasks
designed for the LanGuide mobile application for the English language,
as they are directed, in perfect accordance with the project’s main objec-
43
