ANNUAL FACULTY LECTURE TIES LANGUAGE TO THE REALITY OF A CULTURE

Contact: Mary Daniel

(KINGSVILLE, April 1, 1996) -- Dr. Jacqueline Thomas, professor of language and literature at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, will discuss how people who know more than one language gain additional perceptions of reality and are more flexible in their thought patterns when she presents "Language, Thought and Reality" at the A&M-Kingsville Annual Faculty Lecture Tuesday, April 9, in the Little Theatre. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception in the Ben Bailey Art Gallery.

" People's perceptions of reality and their thought patterns are determined by the language that they learn as children," said Thomas.

Having learned and taught foreign languages in France, England, and Japan, Thomas will illustrate how each language has its own way of conveying ideas and influences the thinking patterns of its speakers. "The verbal patterns that speakers of a specific language acquire both mold and are molded by the learned and shared behavior we call culture." Thomas further commented "that language and culture are inseparable."

In her lecture, Thomas will present recent theories about how native languages are learned by children. "We do not mimic the sounds we hear around us but rather we hypothesize about rules of grammar and pronunciation and modify our hypotheses as we get input from mature speakers," she explained. The differences between expressions and concepts in one culture's language are not easily translatable to another language. "For example, speakers of Japanese divide the color spectrum differently and call the 'green' of traffic signals 'blue'," elaborates the professor of language acquisition and development.

Thomas will summarize by citing studies that show learning another language gives a different perspective of reality and expands flexibility in thinking.

The Annual Faculty Lecture is open to the public at no charge. For more information call (512) 595-3901.

-TAMUK-
-Mary Daniel