Is the development of language rooted in evolution, biology, or environment? How and why does language change over time? Do language and speech change depending on social context? A Survey of Language and Culture: Linguistic Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Communication answers these and other questions through discussion of the basics of linguistic anthropology and cross-cultural communication. The book is a survey of language and culture from an anthropological perspective. Through nine chapters students explore everything from the actual definition of language to language acquisition, from theoretical perspectives on language development to applied linguistics. Topics include how language emerged, linguistic competence and whether it is innate or interaction-based, syntax, morphology and phonology, signal communication, folklore and sacred language, and old world versus new world languages. Thorough yet concise and accessible, the book discusses the relationship between language and culture in a way appropriate for undergraduate study. A Survey of Language and Culture can be used in classes in cultural anthropology, linguistics, communication studies, and multicultural or ethnic studies.

This work investigates the close relationship between language and culture. It explains key concepts such as social context and cultural authenticity, using insights from fields which includes linguistics, sociology, and anthropology.

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Culture presents the first comprehensive survey of research on the relationship between language and culture. It provides readers with a clear and accessible introduction to both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies of language and culture, and addresses key issues of language and culturally based linguistic research from a variety of perspectives and theoretical frameworks. This Handbook features thirty-three newly commissioned chapters which cover key areas such as cognitive psychology, cognitive linguistics, cognitive anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, and sociolinguistics offer insights into the historical development, contemporary theory, research, and practice of each topic, and explore the potential future directions of the field show readers how language and culture research can be of practical benefit to applied areas of research and practice, such as intercultural communication and second language teaching and learning. Written by a group of prominent scholars from around the globe, The Routledge Handbook of Language and Culture provides a vital resource for scholars and students working in this area.

Is the development of language rooted in evolution, biology, or environment? How and why does language change over time? Do language and speech change depending on social context? A Survey of Language and Culture: Linguistic Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Communication answers these and other questions through discussion of the basics of linguistic anthropology and cross-cultural communication. The book is a survey of language and culture from an anthropological perspective. Through nine chapters students explore everything from the actual definition of language to language acquisition, from theoretical perspectives on language development to applied linguistics. Topics include how language emerged, linguistic competence and whether it is innate or interaction-based, syntax, morphology and phonology, signal communication, folklore and sacred language, and old world versus new world languages. Thorough yet concise and accessible, the book discusses the relationship between language and culture in a way appropriate for undergraduate study. A Survey of Language and Culture can be used in classes in cultural anthropology, linguistics, communication studies, and multicultural or ethnic studies.

This innovative and provocative work introduces complexity theory and its application to both the study of language and the study of material culture. The book begins with a wide-ranging theoretical background, covering the areas of dialect geography, the anthropological study of material culture, and a general introduction to the study of complex adaptive systems. Following this general introduction, the principles of complexity theory are demonstrated in data drawn from linguistics and material culture studies. Language and Material Culture further highlights the principles of complexity through a series of case studies, using data from the Linguistic Atlas, colonial American inventories and the Historic American Building Survey. LMC shows that language and material culture are intertwined as they interact within the same cultural complex system. The book is designed for students in courses that focus on language variation, American English and material culture, in addition to general courses on applications of complex systems.

Language users, such as survey respondents and interviewers, must speak the same language literally and figuratively to interact with each other. As diversity grows in the United States and globally, interviewers and respondents may speak a different language or speak the same language differently that reflects their own cultural norms of communication. This book discusses the role of language in survey research when comparisons across groups, cultures, and countries are of interest. Language use in surveys is dynamic, including words, symbols (e.g., arrows), and even emojis. The entire survey life cycle is carried out through language. Researchers write or translate questions and instructions that will address research questions and then pretest them using various techniques, including qualitative inquiry that focuses on context beyond just “the numbers.” Human or virtual data collectors use persuasive messages to communicate with survey respondents and encourage their survey participation. Respondents must comprehend and interpret survey questions and instructions to provide a response. All of these survey processes and products contribute to data quality, and the role of language is essential. Praise for The Essential Role of Language in Survey Research “This book highlights the importance of language issues for data quality, provides frameworks for conceptualizing the underlying processes, presents diverse methods for identifying problems at an early stage, and illustratesand evaluates potential solutions in the form of improved translation and pretesting procedures.” --Daphna Oyserman and Norbert Schwarz, University of Southern California “The role of language and issues of language are particularly salient for multinational, multiregional, or multicultural (3MC) comparative surveys that are designed to collect data and compare findings from two or more populations. This book highlights the critical need to consider a range ofissues pertaining to language at various aspects and stages of 3MC survey design and implementation.” --Julie de Jong, Kristen Cibelli Hibben, and Jennifer Kelley, University of Michigan, and Dorothée Behr, GESIS–Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany “The need to reach increasingly diverse target populations requires survey researchers to be ever more aware of the role of verbal and nonverbal language in the survey research process. This book provides a great resource for readers new to the subject, as well as experts, seeking to understand the implications of language for survey design, implementation, and resulting data quality.” --Antje Kirchner, RTI International, and Coeditor of Big Data Meets Survey Science: A Collection of Innovative Methods “Covering a range of topics fundamental to high-quality surveys in cross-cultural contexts, this new volume features ‘language’ in its varied roles within survey methodology and practice, including questionnaire design, translation, and fieldwork implementation for quantitative and qualitative research. The Essential Role of Language in Survey Research uses in-country examples and analyses from across the globe to underscore specific challenges that survey researchers confront in their work.” --Patrick Moynihan and Martha McRoy, Pew Research Center