Cultural conceptualisations and language: Theoretical framework and applications

This talk focuses on the theoretical framework of cultural conceptualisations, cultural cognition, and language which I have been developing since 2001. It draws on a multidisciplinary background in cognitive science, cognitive linguistics, and cognitive anthropology. The rationale for this work was to establish a framework for the study of language as it is grounded in cultural cognition, as this is a missing link in the interface between the disciplines drawn upon. The model has been inspired by sub-paradigms within the relevant disciplines, such as connectionism, distributed cognition, and Complex Adaptive Systems, all of which have been very useful in modeling group-level cognitive and conceptual systems such as cultural level of cognition and conceptualization.
The talk will also provide illustrations of the applications of the theoretical model of cultural conceptualisations to areas such as dialectal variation, (in Aboriginal English in particular); intercultural communication and intercultural pragmatics; as well as second language acquisition and English as an International Language. The cases presented will indicate the potential of the theoretical framework I have developed to produce a fine-grained analysis of language by exploring its grounding in cultural conceptualisations and thence eventually in cultural cognition.