The word and the world: Exploring world views of monolingual and bilingual Chinese through the use of proverbs.

摘要

Many thinkers argue that major differences among languages lead to major differences in experience and thought. Each speech community possibly embodies a distinct world view. The purpose of this study was to explore, through the use of proverbs, the relationship between acculturation and world views among monolingual and bilingual Chinese, with proficiency in Chinese and/or English used a proxy for level of acculturation. Data were collected through questionnaires and qualitative interviews regarding attitudes to English and Chinese proverbs. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS and modified grounded theory methodology. The statistical and qualitative findings contradicted each other: the former found a significant effect for monolingual English speakers, while the latter indicated much more mixed responses with no clear patterns related to language. Implications of findings were discussed and a "global view" was proposed to take the place of a culturally-based world view.