Multimedia as a Cross-Channel for Cultures and Languages

Abstract

Around the world many communities have been constantly struggling to maintain their customs, traditions and language. Many communities have been on the move from place to place due to various factors of social change, such as war, search of food, land, and climatic calamities. Such forces have given rise to different cultures and languages through fusion or the creation of new cultures. The cultures not only exist within nationalities and ethnic groups, but also within communities, organizations and other systems. A language is an integral component of cultural identification (Rogers & Steinfatt, 1999). Matsumoto (1996, p. 16) defined culture as, “the set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours shared by a group of people, but different for each individual, communicated from one generation to the next.” A culture is dynamic in nature; if static, it will cease or lose its identity in due course of time. Cultural values are affected and reinforced by languages. A language is a representation of a different way of thinking as well as a different way of speaking. Languages have significant influence on the cognition (Gudykunst & Asante, 1989; Pincas, 2001).