Culture: "Vision of Life" and Human Language Technology in Language Education

1 Culture: “Vision of Life” and Human Language Technology in Language Education Rita Santillan C. 1 University of British Columbia Theory without practice leads to an empty idealism and action without philosophical reflection leads to mindless activism. (Elias & Merriam) Summary This essay explores two relevant aspects in rethinking language education. First, there is the inextricable relationship between language and culture -- or rather language, culture, and thought. In this regard D. Ferriz’s notion of culture as “vision of life” is considered. Second, there is the development of Human Language Technology (HLT), especially in terms of neural machine translation and social media. Technology is considered as never neutral. These two themes lead us to explore the suitability of R. de la Ferrière’s pedagogical thinking. This holds that pedagogy, besides the teaching of a subject, is also important in nurturing the learner’s spirit of observation and reflection, critical thinking in their research, and love of the truth. This could lead to the discovery of a transcendental learner. Introduction Language is intertwined with culture in complex ways (they have evolved together, influencing one another in the process, and ultimately shaping what it means to be human). Although there is much in common among languages, each is unique, both in its structure and in the way it reflects the culture of the people who speak it. Over time, applied linguistics has sought to incorporate socio-cultural contexts into the pedagogical construct. Yet culture is a crucial facet in language education. Culture is notoriously difficult to define. Kroeber and Kluckhon (1952), in attempting to systematize its meaning, offered a classification that totalled 174 notions of culture, these being further divided into groups and subgroups. In the 1980s, Raymond Williams argued that culture was “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.” 1 Corresponding author [email protected] Copyright: 2022 by the author. 2 In “Developments in Culture Teaching Theory,” Morillas (2001) asserts that the very notion of culture is the major stumbling block in teaching culture theory and practice and its pervasive presence is precisely what makes the concept of culture nearly unmanageable. Yet despite researchers’ increasing awareness over the last two decades of the need to properly understand the meaning of culture, the rise of new technology -- without yet figuring out how best to make use of it -- has meant that the definitional challenge remains as acute. Indeed, the possibilities and power of technology, which are increasing almost exponentially, add to the challenge. Mc Luhan asserted that the cultural significance of media lies not in their content, but in the way they alter our perception of the world. In this paper two aspects of HLT are broadly discussed: neural machine translation that has greatly automated translation, and secondly, social media. Translation in one form or another has been present in all major exchanges between cultures throughout history and has never been an easy task. Nowadays, the cliché that translations bridge linguistic borders and allow people to communicate easily with each other (even if they do not speak a common language) – has to some extent come true. One result has been the loss of college foreign language programs: according to the Modern Language Association 651 such institutions lost foreign language programs from 2013 to 2016. 2 The ubiquity of screened-communication technologies allows us, for the most part, to communicate whenever and wherever we are inclined to do so. Communication theorist Ignacio Ramonet posits that in human history there have been four Communication Revolutions that have transformed our vision of life. The first was the origin of speech; the second, the invention of writing; the third, the printing press; and the fourth, the recent emergence of “social media” -- online platforms for communicating with others. In The Age of Conspiracy: Trump, the Cult of Lies and the Assault on Capitol Hill, Ramonet discusses the role of social networks in the crises of truth, which he finds interrelated with crisis of information and democracy. Today it is literally impossible to know whether something is true or false. Getting information is very difficult. Numerous and interesting studies show a global dynamic of disinformation in the most sophisticated forms of manipulation. 2 https://theconversation.com/foreign-language-classes-becoming-more-scarce-102235. 3 A dialectical approach assumes that social media platforms add complexity to reduce complexity, and paradoxes emerge that cannot be conclusively resolved. As Massullo observes, this tension leaves people in a sort of existential limbo – knowing social media can distress them but not always having the will to leave. Damasio (2018) asserts that nothing short of a massive and enlightened negotiation between affect and reason could ever succeeded. He refers to conflicts that originate within each individual. He points on Freud’s description of the human condition with merciless clarity. The main reason of his pessimism, was the internally flawed condition of humans. He did not blame cultures or specific groups. He blamed the human beings. Why magical thinking continues to gain followers? Do really people want the truth? The ignorance and dogmatism often associated with social media represent a huge educational challenge, especially as the greater the ignorance, the greater the dogmatism. Jung says that “dogma is like a dream, reflecting the spontaneous and autonomous activity of the objective psyche: the unconscious.” To address this unprecedented educational challenge, I argue for a relational pedagogy that focuses on transcendence with a de-colonial, non-hegemonic turn. This proposal is in line with the pedagogical thinking of the French sage Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière (1916-1962). He holds that, besides teaching a subject, it is also important to nurture the learner’s spirit of observation and reflection, critical thinking in their research, and love of the truth. This focus helps learners to understand and transcend the world in which they live or are going to live and transform such world through their own transcendence. Culture: Vision of Life The earliest meaning of culture (Latin cultus, pp colere, to till, cultivate) is related to man’s formation. Bacon’s "the culture and manurance of minds" is extended metaphorically to the cultivation of mind. In the “Cultic Root of Culture,” Halton argues that the concept of culture may be an achievement and legacy of the Neolithic Age. Cicero used the term cultura animi to mean cultivation of the soul. 4 Later meanings of culture focus on the outcome of such formation. Ferriz sees it as the set of cultivated and polished ways of living and thinking; the impulse to find meaning; and education as the cognitive capacity to become a ‘true’ and genuine human being. He suggests that this formation allows for individual self-reflection and self-realization. In short, it views formation as that which enables human beings to live in their world in a better and more perfect way. A human being is a biological being, but without an understanding of culture, s/he would be among the lowest primates. Biological phenomena can prompt and shape cultural phenomena. The interdisciplinary field of cultural evolution rests on the premise that cultural change -- changes in socially transmitted beliefs, knowledge, customs, skills, attitudes, languages, and so on -- can be described in Darwinian evolutionary terms similar in key respects to (although not identical with) biological/genetic evolution. Mesoudi (2016) explains that the complex technological and social innovations that seem to underlie our specie’s success -- from the bow-and-arrow to the internet – were primarily achieved via social learning. These innovations gradually evolve over successive generations not mainly genetically but culturally. Damasio agrees that cultural evolution accompanies genetic evolution. As Edgard Morin says, the mind is brought forth by culture but would not exist without the brain. Furthermore, Ferriz asserts that spirituality is based on and conditioned by the culture of a particular at any one time. This is why the spirituality of primitive man is different -- but cannot be described as higher or lower. He also suggests that man’s skills, cognitive capacity and cultural and spiritual commitment has in great part the producer of his/her evolution. Bronowski claims, “the personal commitment of a man to his skill, the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working together as one, has made the Ascent of Man.” ************ In contemporary meaning, we can identify at least two main senses of culture, one specific and one general. As to the specific, we can refer to self-contained cultures (e.g., Mexican culture or peace culture). The more general sense of culture can be so wide as to embrace all human activity: culture as opposed to nature. In this context a natural question emerges: Is it possible to consider barbarism or wars as culture? When we see war, violence, insecurity, does this mean that culture has failed? 5 The answer is no. Tragedies such as wars, or any kind of barbarism, cannot be considered as culture. However, they should be studied as part of human experience. One hopes that societies have been so galvanized, for instance, by the horrors of the World Wars and the threats of the Cold War that they will find cooperative ways to address problems peacefully. Halton asserts that “culture is capable of self-critical cultivation, a living system – a way of living – fully open to contingency, spontaneity, purposive growth and decay.” Culture itself has the power to transform and transmute. Carleton Coon argues that culture is the total sum of the things that people do as a result of having been so taught. R. de la Ferrière goes further and asserts that “to make productive what one has assimilated is the secret of true culture.” Ferriz argues that culture has two constitutive characters: the search for truth in all domains, and man’s realization of the means to live in community. Culture, says Ferriz, has a higher reality than things or facts. It is like an idea in the Platonic sense, an ideal, a form that humans should try to master and embody in themselves. It is to live within the ideas and values that were transmitted and recognised the parameters of historical continuity and tradition. This implies elucidation of various forms of knowledge and a philosophy of existence that leads to the universality of culture. This is the fruit of the multiplication and specification of research fields -- in harmony with history in its broad sense. To achieve unity among culture’s manifestations, Ferriz argues for the need to follow a determinative law in which ‘arts’ precedes philosophy and ‘philosophy’ precedes science. Art, in its many forms, is practised by almost all human cultures and can be regarded as one of the defining characteristics of the human being. Culture differs from nature in that it is not a mere presence. There is a concrete or abstract object that is associated with values. For example, a statue is not only a piece of marble but is an object valued for its beauty or utility. Hence, culture includes both material and nonmaterial components (language, sciences, techniques, instructions, traditional norms, values and symbols, models of behaviour socially transmitted and assimilated), which characterize any given human group in relation to others. 6 Every object created by a civilization is transformed into a mode and an object of culture. The objects of culture are formed or transformed by the spirit. And such objects are not only physical. Indeed in most cases they are not, for instance myths, legends, religious beliefs, social organizations, scientific ideas, historical heritage, moral practices, customs. Every human group of people has a culture. It is not born out of nothing, and is characterized by cultural creations and change. Culture is not only what is created and formed, it is also the act of the transformation itself that is inherent in human activity. Simmel conceives of culture as a dialectical process of objectification and subjectification. Subjects objectify their thoughts and their actions in a cultural form (objective culture); and by using these forms to express themselves, their identity is shaped and moulded in the process (subjective culture). In other words, the culture system reflects the objective spirit or spiritualization of objects, as well the interaction between subjective spirit and objective spirit. ************ Culture and understanding of the human condition influence, and are influenced by, technological development. This could be the best of times to be alive, for we are awash in spectacular scientific discovery and technical brilliance. These can enhance our future, their potential remains extraordinary, or they can spell our doom. There is an unresolved clash between these two scenarios. In the Ascent of Man, Bronowsky asserts that “in every age there is a turning point, a new way of seeing and asserting the coherence of the world … Each culture tries to fix its visionary moment, when it was transformed by a new conception either of nature or of man.” (p. 24) In our current transitional times, there is the unresolved clash between building an age of true research and peace based on the natural laws of evolution, or working against it by losing perspective or by being too critical. Although the term “culture” mostly refers to collective customs and achievements, we can also think about developing an individual’s culture. This should not be understood as individualistic culture or rugged individualism. Rather, it refers to the synergy between a great culture and a cultured person. The greatest cultures had legions of cultured individuals, and even the masses became aware of past tradition and the possibilities for their future. 7 Technology/Natural Language Technology (HLT) Technology is so influential that it cannot be regarded as neutral. Humans are fundamentally dependent on technology for both physical and cultural survival. Society has progressed from the simple small-scale of prehistorical technology to the more complex technology of modern times. Human Language Technologies is a field of artificial intelligence (AI), and is also known as Natural Language Processing (NLP). It is characterized by machines with the ability to read, analyze, and process human language. Common features are automatic speech recognition, automatic translation, classification and search engines. HLT is one of the most promising avenues for social media data processing. Very briefly, HLT’s origins can be traced to the 1950s. Alan Turing developed an idea for a test to determine if a computer could be deemed intelligent. Years later, Noam Chomsky’s generative grammar laid the basis for automatically formalizing and specifying linguistics rules. Both the horizon defined by Turing and the tools provided by Chomsky influenced most NLP. In the1960s, its main focus was automatic translations – especially of Russian Cold War-era texts into English. In 1966 the Automatic Language Processing Advisory Committee (ALPAC) noted the difficulty of achieving this task. During the 1970s and 1980s, the NLP community were heavily influenced by Chomsky. But in the late1980s a revolution in the world of NLP began. In part this was made possible by the availability of great amounts of data and of machines able to process it, and the gradual introduction of more solid statistical methods as well automatic learning. By the 1990s, NLP had developed new resources, tools, and applications, including linguistic resources such as WordNet. Thus, a new system based on data progressively replaced those based on linguistic rules. In 2010 AI experienced a breakthrough, especially in HLT, with the appearance of the deep neural network (DNN). LHT researcher Professor German Rigau asserts that DNN’s success is due to its capacity to learn vector representation of text data using unlabelled data (for vector initialization) and labelled data (for setting parameters) to solve a task. This implies a new change in methodology from a combination of modules into an architecture based on complex DNN trained with a great amount of text and voice from social media. 8 Further, inspired by the progress of great-scale language models, similar systems have been developed to create “generalist agents” that are capable to perform hundreds of tasks. For instance, the generative pre-trained transformer-3 (GPT-3), one of the biggest computer languages, learns specific tasks from few examples. Rigau explains that pre-trained language can perform PLN tasks with few examples and even without, provided a proper description is given. He finds it amazing that training language models can substantially increase performance with verbal instructions, and perform tasks not seen before. In other words, after being first trained with a large training set, they can then be reused in different tasks after minimal adaptation training. These great language models have several drawbacks. Girau discusses some. They include the fact that there is no clear comprehension of how they work, when they fail, or what their emerging properties are. These models can generate hateful text, and racist or biased or unpredictable texts. He notes that a solution is still being developed, but the prospects of doing so looks promising. However, access to the workings of the models is restricted to a few well-resourced labs, thereby impeding improvement or mitigation of toxicity. These models are very expensive to train: only a very few organizations with deep pockets, TL experts, and access to big data are able to develop and implement these language models. Also, energy consumption for this purpose is very high, and carbon dioxide emissions are significant. It has been estimated that the training of some models can emit as much carbon as five cars over their lifetimes. 3 Furthermore, there are about 7,000 spoken languages around the world, but NLP research focuses mostly on English. ************ HLT impels us to rethink language and culture education in at least two meaningful respects, namely social media and neural machine translation. O’Neil asserts that “algorithms are 3 https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/06/06/239031/training-a-single-ai-model-can-emit-as-much-carbon-as-fivecars-in-their-lifetimes/ 9 opinions embedded in code.” There are both positive and less positive issues in our minds and bodies that influence how we relate to media technologies. Neural machine translation offers impressive quality in both fidelity to the original text and fluidity of expression, but, paradoxically, this apparent quality can mask translation errors and make them more difficult to identify. Further, it is impossible to fix errors in the systems because they do not hold explicit linguistic knowledge. Also, it is difficult to find quality data for training the systems. It is necessary to be aware of the potential problems in using translation software and learn how to interact properly with it. With proper interaction, the program could develop more critical skills and linguistic sensitivity that would better enable it to capture cultural nuances expressed in written or verbal discourse. If the software is not used properly, there is a real danger that the technology could lead to reductionist perceptions of language. Language changes with the way people communicate, and communication changes with technology. It is likely that when we really learn to interact with technology, we could improve our modern languages that are currently so poor! On the other hand, the philosophy of history teaches us that if we aspire to greater culture, we must enrich and develop more complexity in our language in order to be able to communicate successfully. “Observe and reflect, apply critical thinking in research, and love the truth” The tangled links between language, culture, and thought remain elusive and still await consolidation in proper pedagogies, which must also integrate the growing media technologies ‒ technologies that are sometimes associated with the rise of ‘post-truth’ in today’s complex world. Indeed, neither lies, nor fallacies, nor fake news are new, but our consumption and use of information in this digital era since the beginning of the 21st century has a potency and characteristics never seen before. Undoubtedly post-truth is an epistemic problem. Ignorance is certainly an issue, but even more important is overcoming the instinctive (sometimes unconscious) tendency to belief. R. de la Ferrière once said that “the strength of a genius is sometimes needed to change our established thoughts.” This challenge is aggravated by our tendency, no matter how smart and well informed we are, to resist changing our views in