Space in Language and Culture: Are the Representations Different?

Abstract

When we describe space we use two perspectives; survey perspective and route perspective. Many studies have shown that there are many differences between representations from survey perspective and the ones from route perspective. However, most of the research in this field is done in English and our knowledge in connection to space description and the Japanese language is extremely limited. Responding to this gap in knowledge, the present study proceeded in a comparison between data drawn from a Japanese and an English research focusing on space description. This comparison revealed two differences in spatial representations between Japanese and English speakers. Firstly, Japanese speakers have difficulties to form a spatial representation from the survey perspective and secondly, Japanese speakers are less able in processing locative information than English speakers. Factors such as language and culture are thought to be responsible for the differences. This study is not a direct comparison which can control extraneous variables, thus we cannot locate the contribution factor. Many hypotheses are possible which include factors such as linguistic, cultural, environmental, and racial ones.