Cultural competence of the Gujarati language consists of interacting with the social and cultural aspects of Gujarati culture in reference to language learning. I find that the cultural aspect of Gujarati language and Indian culture itself, greatly contributes to my understanding of the language as a whole. Cultural competence of the language demonstrates that I can convey and interpret messages inter-personally within a given context. The classroom learning aspect is not where I derive this from. It is in the conversations my language partners and I have about culture surrounding the family, honor, food, education, and money.
Even in the context of the Gujarati language as a whole, cultural competence would have me aware that there are many different dialects. One of my language partners has a more "desi" dialect which means she speaks more colloquial Gujarati. She is from a small village and was raised with Gujarati "slang" if you will. I was interested to find this difference, and that even arguments would ensure between my language partners over the proper pronunciation of certain words.
From these situations, it is important to be cognizant of the "sociolinguistic competence" as stated in Communicative Competence by H.D. Brown. As a language learner I have to become more culturally aware of what words to use and how I use them in certain situations. I also have to make sure that pronunciation is on key so that I do not confuse native speakers in social situations. For example, I can't pronounce (matha) as (mata) or I wouldn't be talking about my mom, I would be talking about my head. Being aware of both context and pronunciation are the keys to governing conversation. My aim in Gujarati language learning is to gain respect from Gujarati's in social situations. It all starts with showing respect for their native tongue in my learning endeavors and in my speaking endeavors.
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