Welcome to our website scholars.co.tz. In this article, are you looking for The Significance Of Language To A Society – English Language 1 Notes Form 5 & 6, is there any Significance Of Language, what are the Significance Of Language, mention and explain the Significance Of Language, how Significance Of Language is to the society
What is language?
The term Language can be defined in different ways as follows:
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols and signs that are conventionally used for human communication
OR
Language is the conventional system of arbitrary vocal symbols used by human beings for communication
Language is defined a rule-governed system for human communication. The traditional areas of linguistic inquire are phonology (sound system), morphology (word formation), syntax (word order), semantics (meaning), and lexicon (vocabulary)
The Significance Of Language To A Society
Language has a number of significances to play in a society.
Among them are:
1. Language as a unifying factor
Language unifies people in a society or country/nation. It inspires a sense of oneness. For example how Kiswahili unifies people i.e. many tribes in Tanzania.
2. As a factor for national identity
There are many elements that make a particular society distinct from others; like their types of food, dressing etc. but language gives an identity that is more specific and obvious.
So language remains as one permanent mark of an identity.
3. As a factor for social development
Social development depends largely on language. It enables people to interact and work together towards the intended goal. Through it, the leaders are also able to give directives in the efforts like building the schools, hospitals, roads etc for development
4. A s a factor for social stratification
The class to which a member of society belongs is determined by the way they use language among other things.
People of different classes use language differently in terms of their choice of vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation and other aspects of language.
Language can distinguish different classes like educated and non-educated, villagers and urban dwellers, the rich and the poor etc.
5. As a reflection of culture
Language reflects different customs, traditions and beliefs. It shows how people of given community define the world surrounding them. For example the word ugali is found in Kiswahili but it lacks its equivalent in English because the native speakers of English do not eat ugali as their food. So ugali is not part of their culture.
6. As the medium of communication
Language facilitates the transfer of information from one place to another. Radios, Televisions and newspaper use language to give information.
The Significance Of Language To A Society
THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
Communication
Simply refers to the process of transferring and interpreting message from a sender to a receiver. The process of human communication involves:-
i. The message: this is what is to be communicated. It may be ideas, feelings signs etc
ii. The sender (encoder): this is a person who delivers the idea and then encodes it. (put it into symbols that are understood by the hearer).
iii. The signals: the symbols (written or spoken) that have communicative value.
iv. The channel: is the medium through which the message is passed. It may be through face to face, telephone etc.
v. The receiver (decoder): the one who receives the message. She/he decodes (turns the symbols spoken or written into meaning)
vi. The feedback: is the response from the receiver, in action or words that show that the message has reached the receiver. It may be actions like coming, turning, signs like gesture and facial expression.
NOTES 2: The Significance Of Language To A Society – English Language 1 Notes Form 5 & 6
SIGNIFICANCE OF LANGUAGE IN HUMAN SOCIETY
Language being the only medium of communication used by human beings has a great role or significance that it plays in human society as follows.
1. Language as a unifying and dividing factor.
Language is an important factor in the enforcing unity among the people i.e. it brings members of the society together as either a sole means of communication or as an element which inspires a sense of oneness or togetherness among the people of a respective society. This putting together of members of a society makes language a unifying factor.
For example Swahili has made Tanzania feel united due to the fact that Tanzanians use Swahili as there day to day language the same applies to English in UK and USA.
There are cases when language is said to be a dividing factor. This is when language does not put members of the community together. This happens especially in countries with multiplicity of languages i.e. the countries were many language with or of more or less the same demographic or social importance exist and each language users struggle for dominance of other languages in the country, hence conflict for example in Nigeria there are three languages Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba, in Benin Yoruba, Dogon and Ga. Rwanda/ Burundi – Hutu, Tutsi
In some countries, the foreign language have been adopted as their national languages, for example English in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Uganda, French in Senegal, Ivory Coast and DRC.
2. Language as a factor for cultural and National identity.
In a society there are many elements that could identify a particular cultural entity such as dress, make ups, foods, taboos, particular manners etc.Nonetheless language is the most dominant element of culture which is more obvious and specific than elements, that is the culture of a particular community is easily identified through the language used by that community.
However language is also an identity of the nationality of an individual since a speaker speaking a certain language can identify his country of origin, which means language among the ways that can identify nations in the world. For example if you are in a foreign state and you’re heard speaking Swahili, people will without doubt, judge you as a Tanzanian.
3. Language as a factor for social stratification
Language may play the role to faster, re-enforce or perpetuate differences in the society. I.e. it facilitates the social classes existing in the society. This is noted in the fact that the use of a certain language or language variety determines the social classes existing in the society determines the social class would tend to use a different variety of language.
These can be identified in the use of certain words, choice of words, the command of language as well as the use of a certain accent (pronunciation) Special stratification may involve educated Vs Non-educated, villagers Vs Urban dwellers, poor Vs rich, farmers Vs Workers
4. Language as a mirror of cultural and physical realities
As a mirror it reflects an image, equally language reflects all the accumulated knowledge, customs, traditions and believes and other forms of experiences of a given social group. It also shows how people of a given community define the world surrounding them.
Language therefore is the means by which cultural and physical experiences are accumulated, stored and transmitted from one generation to another. For example the use of certain word reflect the culture of the community using that word, such as Ugali reflect the bantu culture as used in Swahili.
5. Language as a factor social development
Language plays a very significant role in the promotion of social activities and services such as school, hospital, water supply, housing and transport etc. i.e. human beings used language to co-ordinate various activities.
Through language we also get information through mass media such as newspapers, radio and Television which in Euro accelerate social development.
Where a common language exist between leaders and masses, there is always a sense of closeness, understanding and belongings hence the leaders are easily implemented to promote social development i.e. when the policy makers communicate their policies to the policy implementers and the implementers put the policies in practice, in that way development is attained.
Here language plays a great role because these policies are presented using language but for the countries were foreign language are adopted as National languages; there is always a big gap between leaders and the masses and these for a hindrance for social development.
6. Language as tool or medium of communication
Language facilitates the transfer of information from one person or place to another. This is the central or most significant role of language since language is the medium through which human beings communicate their thoughts, ideas, opinions, experiences and expectations with language, human society is able to communicate in various ways and events in different form such as conversations, greetings, telephone, discussion, mass media instructions etc. all these ways use language for disseminating information.
