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World Cultures and Languages

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World Cultures and Languages

Read the briefing and use the data table to investigate how languages and cultural practices connect people around the world. Answer in complete sentences where asked.

Robotics Club: Greetings Across the Globe

Omar, Harper and Anh are preparing a display for their robotics club’s community open day. They want visitors to see how language and culture help people share ideas. The club’s research notes say that Mandarin Chinese has the largest number of native speakers worldwide. English is used widely as an additional language in many places. Spanish is spoken across much of Spain and Latin America, while Arabic is spoken in many countries across North Africa and Southwest Asia. These languages are not limited to one country, and people within any country may speak several languages. The team also learns that culture includes shared practices and ways of expressing identity, such as language, celebrations, music, food and stories. People in the same cultural group do not all have identical lives or beliefs. Food can be connected to place, family history and special occasions, but recipes and traditions change as people move and share ideas. Australia is home to people with many languages and cultural backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, whose cultures and languages are diverse and continuing.

1.Which statement best explains why language is an important part of culture?

It can help people communicate ideas, stories and identity.
Everyone in a country must speak the same language.
Languages never change when people move.
A language belongs to only one place.

2.The briefing says Mandarin Chinese has the largest number of native speakers. Does this mean it is the only language spoken in the places where it is used? Explain using an idea from the briefing.

3.Choose two examples of culture named in the briefing.

Celebrations and stories
Mountain height and rainfall
Hair colour and shoe size
Road signs and time zones

Language Data for the Open Day

A survey of 25 club visitors asked which language they use most often at home. The results are shown below. The survey records one response per person; it does not show every language each person knows.

Language

Visitors

English

Mandarin

Arabic

Spanish

Hindi

4.How many visitors use Mandarin most often at home, according to the survey?

5.Which language has the fewest responses, and how many visitors chose it?

6.How many more visitors chose English than Arabic? Show or explain your calculation.

7.What is one thing this survey can tell the club, and one thing it cannot tell the club?

8.The club wants to make a bar graph of the survey. What should the graph’s categories and values show?

9.True or false: Everyone who speaks the same language shares exactly the same cultural practices. Explain your choice.

10.A visitor offers to teach the club a greeting in a language they speak at home. Write one respectful question the club could ask before adding it to the display.

11.Why might learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and cultures be important in Australia? Give one reason, using the briefing.