Language, Culture And Cognition: An Introduction

The course approaches language studies from the cognitive science perspective. Language does not work in a vacuum and is related to other mental faculty. Together they help us humans make sense of our experiences. Again, experiences can be different from one culture to another, thus bringing in another angle to the mind and cognition relationship: culture. This course gives a brief overview of the relation between language, cognition and culture, discussed through three different angles of Cognitive Linguistics, cognitive neuroscience of language and language processing. Each of these domains will be discussed in terms of theoretical underpinning as well as the latest state of the art research. The lectures will connect language structure, brain areas responsible for various linguistic functions, relationship of language with attention, executive control and so on, embedding them in the cultural backdrop wherever applicable. The interaction between the inner and outer world of humans through language is the main focus of this course.INTENDED AUDIENCE:Undergraduates, Postgraduates, PhD students, Faculty Development ProgrammePRE-REQUISITE:NilINDUSTRY SUPPORT:Nil.

Week 1:Introduction to cognition, mind, culture and languageWeek 2:Categorization its relationship with language; cultural variation.
Week 3:Frames and their use, Frame analysis of culture, metonymy and metaphorWeek 4:Language and embodied mind: image schema, social cognitionWeek 5:Language acquisition and social cognition
Week 6:Language in the brain: Cognitive neuroscience of languageWeek 7:Language processing and attentionWeek 8:Language, executive control, simulation semantics