Introduction to Intercultural Studies: Language and Culture

Who is the course for?

The course is for anyone with an interest in the relationship between language and culture, you don’t need any previous experience.

This course is also ideal if you are working with languages, you are preparing to move to a different country for work or study or you work with groups of people from different cultures to yours. By completing all aspects of the course you will have achieved 14 hours of CPD time.

What topics will you cover?

The relationship between language, nation and cultural identity.

The way in which language shapes how we think.

The extent to which language might limit and shape what we are able to articulate and think.

The challenges faced by translators when trying to make concepts understandable for audiences with different cultural reference points and backgrounds.

How politeness is distinct to a culture, and the ways in which language is used to reinforce ideas of politeness.

How languages can reinforce cultural identity, and the challenges of retaining that identity in the face of language loss and endangerment.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to…

Investigate how languages shape cultural identity both within and across political borders.

Assess the extent to which language both supports and inhibits the sharing of ideas between cultures.

Debate the ways in which language can shape and control how we think.

Explore the relationship between language, culture and politeness.

Reflect on the association between language and cultural identity and the effects of language loss and endangerment on communities.

Discuss the notion that translation is as much a cultural process as a linguistic one.