Course: Linguistic Analysis, ENG 402 June 16, 2011 Professor: Brian E. OstrowskiWilliam SchoberIrvine UniversityMATESOL program

Cultural Sensitivity Considerations in the Contextualization of English as a Second Language for East-Asian Learners

Abstract

In times past, it was said that the sun never set on the British Empire. Along with British military and economic imperialism came British cultural imperialism; with remnants thereof still found in parts of the world such as in Hong Kong, India, and South Africa. Inextricably interlocked with cultural imperialism is linguistic imperialism; whereby, the mores and values of a dominant nation, infused in its national language, are imposed upon subjugates. Today, the ominous economic and military might of the United States of America has made English the present-day de facto lingua franca. In like manner to British imperialism; American imperialism, both cultural and linguistic, imposes its mores and values, no matter how incongruous, on the economically and militarily lesser nations of the world. The recent ‘Facebook Revolution’ in Libya is evidence of such influence; as is China’s balking at Google’s impolitic influence on Chinese culture, a recurrent conflict as of late. Herein lies an examination of linguistic imperialism per its ramifications in subjugate cultures, and how they relate to second language instruction.

Introduction

Discourse in the global superstrate, English, quickly betrays cultural differences between east and west that surface

an important consideration in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL): cultural sensitivity. Teachers of

Standard American English (S.A.E.) need to be circumspect in word choice, topic, content and style when imparting L2

(or L3) to learners in cultures not their own. A teacher, ignorant of a culture, may offend or commit gaffes. Teachers

must stay apprised of the pragmatic meanings English words and phrases assume in alien cultures to avoid

misinterpretations that can invite unwanted social consequence, i.e. that offend cultural sensibilities.

Linguistic Imperialism: a Subtype of Cultural Imperialism

To embark on a discussion of culture, it needs first be defined. The classical oft-quoted definition by the nineteenth-

century British anthropologist, E. B. Tylor states:

“Culture is…that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society" (Tylor 1924 [orig. 1871]:1).

Subsequently, cultural imperialism is the hegemonic imposition of a dominant nation’s culture upon a subjugate

nation. R. H. L. Phillipson (1992:65), a recognized authority in the field of linguistic imperialism, frames the

phenomenon thus:

“…imperialism theory provides a conceptual framework within which English linguistic imperialism, the dominance of English worldwide, and efforts to promote the language can be understood. Scientific imperialism, media imperialism and educational imperialism are all sub-types of cultural imperialism. So is linguistic imperialism. Linguistic imperialism also permeates all the other types of imperialism, since language is the means used to mediate and express them.”

Western civilizations predominance in medicine over eastern medicine serves as just one example of cultural

imperialism in the scientific vein. Chinese people and much of Southeast Asia subscribe to the concept of ‘chi’;

whereas, western civilization by and large does not. Another cultural difference between east and west is their differing

perspective on human rights. China defines ‘the right to eat’ as a basic human right; whereas, western civilization does

not, food being more abundant in the west. Manifestations of linguistic imperialism can be subtle or overt. Name order

is one ready example of linguistic disparity. The Chinese and much of Southeast Asia put their family name first,

before their individual names. This attends to the Confucian pre-eminence of the family. Conversely, in the West where

individualism is espoused, the individual’s name precedes his or her family name. Content and/or discourse from

western publishers may only include a nuclear family; whereas, eastern publishers present an extended family which

may include grandparents living in the same home as opposed to a geriatric home, a concept alien to most Asians. A

single-parent home, as the context of some particular content or discourse, is also an alien concept incompatible with

lower divorce rates in the East. Americans are individualistic; whereas, Asians are more group-oriented. C. J. Tyer

(2002) typifies the Asian phenomenon of group assimilation in relation to SLA as such:

“This point could be particularly true for Japanese learners of English who may be hesitant in taking an independent acting role at first…the reasons that role-play can work in some circumstances is down to an already existence of cultural importance on group or team-work, cooperative learning , memorization and imitation…”

Confucianism

Eastern cultures are generally undergirded by the precepts of Confucianism. R. Cornish determines it as such:

“Confucianism refers to the social and political system of ethnics credited to Confucius about 500 BC. This collection of wise sayings is not a religion-it addresses man’s relationship with each other more than God. As many as 1.5 billion people in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam follow these ideas.” (2010, 85)

Confucianism is a value system which regulates the relationships between government and citizenry, father and

son, husband and wife, friend and neighbor, and brother and sister. These relationships markedly contrast and, in

many instances, clash with those found in western cultures. Teachers of ESL in foreign cultures must stay

cognizant of such cultural dissimilarities with vigilance.

China-Google Conflict

Emblematic of the disparity between eastern and western cultures is the China-Google conflict. Beijing has

implemented new stricter censorship regulations in its bid to curb Google. Excerpts of these restrictions, issued

to media outlets by the ‘Ministry of Truth’, are chronicled by Xiao Qiang (2010) of the China Digital Times

(perhaps with the aid of Google Translator):

“All chief editors and managers:

Google has officially announced its withdrawal from the China market. This is a high-impact incident. It has triggered ‘netizens’ discussions which are not limited to a commercial level. Therefore please pay strict attention to the following content requirements during this period:

A. News Section

1. Only use Central Government main media (website) content; do not use content from other sources2. Reposting must not change title3. News recommendations should refer to Central government main media websites4. Do not produce relevant topic pages; do not set discussion sessions; do not conduct related investigative reporting;5. Online programs with experts and scholars on this matter must apply for permission ahead of time. This type of self-initiated program production is strictly forbidden.6. Carefully manage the commentary posts under news items.

B. Forums, blogs and other interactive media sections:

1. It is not permitted to hold discussions or investigations on the Google topic2. Interactive sections do not recommend this topic, do not place this topic and related comments at the top3. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which attack the Party, State, government agencies, Internet policies with the excuse of this event.4. All websites please clean up text, images and sound and videos which support Google, dedicate flowers to Google, ask Google to stay, cheer for Google and others have a different tune from government policy5. On topics related to Google, carefully manage the information in exchanges, comments and other interactive sessions6. Chief managers in different regions please assign specific manpower to monitor Google-related information; if there is information about mass incidents, please report it in a timely manner.

We ask the Monitoring and Control Group to immediately follow up monitoring and control actions along the above directions; once any problems are discovered, please communicate with respected sessions in a timely manner.”

Deng Xiaoping’s economic reconstruction embraced and incorporated many facets of capitalism. China today does

not fear the specter of capitalism so much as the demagoguery of its flagship.

Foreign Film Quotas

Another instrument, used by governments in staving off unwanted outside cultural influences, is foreign film

quotas. China, Korea and Vietnam all impose some type of this restriction. China recently had a row with the

World Trade organization; the latter requiring China to lift its restriction of U.S. books, music and film. It is

uncertain whether China has responded with any level of compliance. These imported books, music and films are

effective vehicles in infiltrating foreign cultures with American propaganda; English, once again, being the

medium of expression.

The Psychology of Cultural Imperialism

Buckingham Palace made an official apology in 2000, after Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the

Queen’s husband of nearly 60 years, toured a factory in Scotland. While looking at electrical equipment, the

prince remarked that the slipshod appearance of the equipment seemed as if it were “installed by an Indian.”

Although Prince Philip is not representative of all Britons, his remark points to a lingering air of superiority,

India once being colonized by Great Britain. This air of superiority can be racist, cultural or both. Prince

Philip’s comment had a hint of racism. The Russians, however, had a similar master-vassal relationship with

the former Soviet satellites; wherein, all the principal cultures were of the same race, Caucasian. Jane Elliot’s

renowned 1969 third-grade classroom experiment in Iowa, ofttimes entitled ‘Blue Eyed,’ segregated blue-

eyed children from brown-eyed children; the blue-eyed children being dubbed superior by the teacher for the

purposes of the experiment. In the experiment, the blue-eyed children acted aggressively superior to the

brown-eyed children; whereas, the brown-eyed children became passive. In this experiment, is found the

underlying operating principle of cultural imperialism: to instill a sense of inadequacy in the people of the

subjugate culture, thereby having them aspire to the dominant culture.

In Practice

Some English words and phrases carry with them good or bad connotations. These connotations are often lost in

translation from one language to the next, and the precise meaning is not duplicated and an unintended meaning is

conveyed. Decontextualized content precipitates such an effect. Unintended connotations, then, may also invite

miscommunication and offend cultural sensibilities. The good and bad connotations of words and phrases bring to

point euphemisms. Euphemisms are useful in TEFL insofar as words with incendiary connotations can be replaced by

words with more placatory connotations; thereby, avoiding any cultural trespass.

Conclusion

Although there is an abundance of research/studies done on cultural and linguistic imperialism, there is little or no

research directly relating it to the contextualization of content for learning a target language. Superstrate dogma,

propaganda, characterizations and cultural slants are, more often than not, included into the classroom content of books

from western publishers for learning English as a second language; but without explanation and with no cultural

references or background provided, rendering the content abstract. Moreover, there are many outside sources of

content, the internet being foremost, teachers resort to that are not screened for cultural incongruence. Countries such as

Japan, Korea, and Taiwan also publish their own books (i.e. eastern publishers) for English language, but with

instruction that reflect the more palatable values of eastern culture in preference to western culture.

Inconsistent cultural values, as betrayed by politically correct terms and to a lesser degree cultural references, are

inherent in the English used in classroom content from western publishers. Once these inconsistent cultural values are

identified by an instructor, the goal should become to determine any impediments they may pose to the acquisition of

the target language by learners.

References

Phillipson, R.H. L., (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Robert Phillipson is Research Professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Department of English. He received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam. His interests include language pedagogy, language policy, and linguistic human rights. He is well known for writing Linguistic Imperialism and English-Only Europe? He interprets linguistic imperialism as a subset of cultural imperialism. This work points out that linguistic imperialism permeates media, education, and scientific imperialism insofar as these are expressed through language. Teachers of ESL in foreign countries become unwitting agents of educational imperialism.

Tyers, Claire J (2002). Role Play and Interaction in Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved on May 30, 2010, from http://www.kjunshin.ac.jp/juntan/libhome/bulletin/No32/Tyers.pdfThe Institute for Employment Studies

Clair Tyers, credentialed in Applied/Occupational Psychology with a Master of Science from Cranfield University, is a principal associate at the Institute of Employment Studies in London. Her research is in the area of learning and skills pertaining to labor market outcomes of graduates; acquisition of English being a pivotal skill affecting outcome. Her work illuminates the group-oriented teamwork found in eastern cultures, such as Japan, in contrast with the individualism of the West.

Qiang, Xiao (2010). The Ministry of Truth Limits Reporting on Google in China. Retrieved on June 9, 2011, fromhttp://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/03/the-latest-directives-from-the-ministry-of-truth-032310/

Obtained and translated by the China Digital Times, a news site about China that's run by the University of California Berkeley. It details the government's conflict with Google, which it calls a "high-impact incident" and lists a series of "content requirements" which evidences the cultural differences that exist between China and the United States, i.e. between the East and the West. Xiao Qiang is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of China Digital Times. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism who became a full-time human-rights advocate after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989.

Cornish, R. (2010). 5 Minute Apologist: Maximum Truth in Minimum Time. NavPress Publishing Group. Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Rick Cornish is a former Marine Officer with an earned doctorate degree from Denver Seminary as well as a master’s degree in Greek and history from the University of Nebraska. He presently teaches in China. He previously served as U.S. Director and teacher of New Testament and systematic theology at Donetsk Christian University in Ukraine. Rick is the author of three books: 5 Minute Theologian, 5 Minute Apologist, and 5 Minute Church Historian. His narrative on Confucian is used to supports the position that Confucianism undergirds eastern culture. The precepts of Confucianism shed light on how eastern culture often conflicts with western culture.

Tylor, Edward B.(1924) [orig. 1871]. Primitive Culture. 2 vols. 7th ed. New York: Brentano's.

E. B. Tylor is a founding father in the science of social anthropology. His works are considered to be defining and permanent contributions to the field of anthropology; that began to take form in the nineteenth century. His work provides a functional definition of ‘culture’ that facilitates an understanding of cultural imperialism.