Language: a ‘mirror’ of the culture and its application English language teaching

Abstract

This article is intended to highlight the linguistic principle proposed by anthropological linguists, “Language is a mirror of the culture.” The purpose of study attempts to explore foreign language teaching and learning from the perspective of language shapes thought and to improve language learning through a cross a cross-cultural communication. The first part of this article, the linguistic principle, is reflected in the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis or the Whorfian hypothesis briefly highlighted. Second part focuses on the practical use of the Whorfian hypothesis for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), especially cross culture understanding (CCU) and the English teaching for specific purposes (ESP).