LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION The Meaning of Messages

• Main Author: Bonvillain, Nancy (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Prentice Hall 2000
• Edition: THIRD EDITION
• Subjects: Linguistics; Language and culture; Communication
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: ix, 405 pages illustrations, maps 21 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index
• ISBN: 0130104299

Written in accessible, non-technical language, this book explores the many interconnections among language, culture, and communicative meaning--using data from cultures and languages throughout the world. It examines the multi-faceted meanings and uses of language, emphasizes the ways that language encapsulates speakers' meanings and intentions, and highlights both similarities and differences in human languages. Features short, chapter-opening vignettes. The Form of the Message. Language and Cultural Meaning. Contextual Components: Outline of an Ethnography of Communication. Communicative Interactions. Societal Segmentation and Linguistic Variation: Class and Race. Language and Gender: English and English-Speakers. Cross-Cultural Studies of Language and Gender. Learning Language. Acquisition of Communicative Competence. Multilingual Nations. Bilingual Communities. Language and Institutional Encounters. Highlights topics of current concern and controversy: e.g., interactional and symbolic uses of African American Vernacular English; endangered languages and language maintenance efforts; U.S. state and federal legislation concerning language and bilingual education; the Ebonics controversy; the international dominance of English and the growth of "New Englishes." For anyone interested in Language and Culture, Anthropological Linguistics, and Language and Communication.