exploring culture by ah forough ameri

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Exploring Culture

[email protected]:

Amirhamid Forough Ameri

Feb. 2016

mailto:[email protected]

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Exploring Culture

As teachers we have two responsibilities:

1. To familiarize students with their new target culture and language

2. To be aware of the impact culture has on our students’ daily lives

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Tips for Exploring Culture

1. Have students articulate their own definition of culture2. Raise culture to a conscious level3. Point out the hidden aspects of culture4. Show how cultures may value the same thing differently5. Help students understand how culture works6. Build awareness about stress caused by cultural adjustment

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1. Have students articulate their own definition of culture Students have different ways of explaining what culture means to

them. It is helpful to have students describe what they think culture is. What the research saysCulture is a dynamic concept, an ever-changing phenomenon.The following disciplines have contributed to our understanding of

culture: anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, and communication.

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Three features of culture: Its historical dimension Its interdependency of components Its complex nature Three interrelated components of culture:Products or artifactsPractices or actionsPerspectives or meanings.

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Robert Kohls (1996) offers this comprehensive definition: Culture = an integrated system of learned behavior patterns that are characteristics of the members of any given society. Culture refers to the total way of life of particular groups of people including everything they think, say, do, and make. Culture is learned and transmitted from generation to generation.

There is no firm agreement on a definition of culture.

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What the teacher can do Help students by talking about how we have come to define

culture and how it is related to our own lives Help them to become bicultural as well as bilingual Use class activities that encourage them to articulate their own

ideas

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2. Raise culture to a conscious level Often students are not conscious of how culture affects their

daily lives. Errors in appropriate cultural behavior can often pass

without comment. What the research says Atkinson (1999):

Culture had not been adequately addressed by TESOL profession in the 15-year period leading up to his study.

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Damen (1987), a pragmatic ethnographer, sets forth six observable characteristics of culture:CHARACTERISTIC INTERPRETATIONCulture is learned Culture can be taught

Cultures and cultural patterns change Adapt to a culture, not just learn about it

Culture is a universal fact of human life No human group exists without culture. Cultural patterns are closely aligned to human needs.

Culture offers blueprints for living and values and beliefs to support it

Values and beliefs are linked strongly.

Language and culture are related and interactive Culture is conveyed through language

Culture functions as a filter between its possessor and the environment

Intercultural communicators need to be able to go beyond their own filters

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What the teacher can do Introduce Damen’s characteristics of culture Use them as discussion topics Teachers can share their own stories about experiencing new

cultures

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3. Point out the hidden aspects of culture Many aspects of culture are hidden below the surface, not visible. A teacher can bring these hidden features to the surface. What the research says Peterson (2004): Big C culture: classic or grand themes visible tip of an

iceberg or invisibleLittle c culture: minor or common themes invisible bottom

of an iceberg or visible

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Big C visible culture:

LiteratureClassical musicArchitectureHistorical figures Geography

Big C invisible culture:

Core valuesAttitudesSociety’s normsLegal foundationsAssumptionsCognitive processes

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Little c visible culture:

GesturesBody postureUse of spaceClothing stylesFoodHobbies

Little c invisible culture:

Popular issuesOpinionsPreferences or tastesTrivia and facts

Intercultural Competence: skills, knowledge, attitudes, and cultural

awareness we need to interact successfully with sb from another culture.

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4. Show how cultures may value the same thing differently Many of us believe the behavior of our own family provides the

definition of NORMAL behavior. We assume our own cultures’ values are the norm and other ways of

doing things are strange.Example:Teacher: what do you think about the economic problems in Japan?Makoto: it’s not my place to suggest causes.Paul: they’re the result of poor advice.

Unspoken ideas about attitudes towards authority

and of being critical of superiors.

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What the research sayso Beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes are fundamental elements

of any culture which affect people’s behavior.

Beliefs:Convictions of the truth of sth;

Specific statements people hold as true;

They vary inter and intra-culturally.

e.g.Religious belief in

the power of prayer.

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Norms: Principles of appropriate

behavior which guide proper behavior in terms of what

members should and should not do.

e.g.

One’s work ethic.The importance of

group membership.

Values: Our feelings about the worth, usefulness, or importance of sth;

Our standards about what is right or wrong.

e.g.

Showing respect by bowing to

elders; avoiding plagiarism.

Mores: morally binding behavior

distinguishing right from wrong

Taboos: banned actions

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Attitudes: Mental stances we take regarding a fact.

Feelings we show toward sthe.g.

People’s instant dislike of others who ‘’look like

foreigners’’

Attribution: How we interpret the behavior of others with

our own cultural lens. Our Beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes are

used to explain what we ‘’see’’.

e.g.

In some cultures people get a job

as they’re qualified; in

others, as they’re related to the

boss.

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Ethnocentrism: Our tendency to consider our own cultural

practices superior to those of others, usually unconsciously

e.g.

Americans that regard themselves

as better businessmen than Latin Americans

Enculturation: The act of learning a primary

culture and becoming socialized into it as a lifelong

process.

Acculturation: The learning of a

supplementary culture when we deliberately learn about a 2nd culture as we are living in

the new culture, without abandoning our native cultural

identity.

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Enculturation:A young immigrant who has lived most of his life in the US

calls himself an American and identifies with the American culture, yet his home life still includes beliefs from his native country.

Acculturation:A woman from the US who lives and works abroad for a

number of years continues to self-identify with her home country, though she is fluent in the 2nd language and enjoys its culture.

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What the teacher can do:Help students see that Beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes are

part of every culture andthat different cultures value the same things, though it is not

always evident.Help students understand why others view the world in a

different way.

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5. Help students understand how culture works Hofstede et al. (2002) categorize five dimensions of a culture:

Dimension ContinuumIdentity Collectivism IndividualismHierarchy Large power distance Small power distance

Social gender role

Feminine Masculine

Truth value Strong uncertainty avoidance Weak uncertainty avoidance

Virtue Long term orientation Short term orientation

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Tips for Exploring Culture 1. Identity

Collectivism

Group rightsGroup-oriented needsDependence as a way to

promote cooperation within the group

We identity

IndividualismIndividual identityIndividual rightsIndividual needsIndividual goalsI identity

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Tips for Exploring Culture 2. Hierarchy

Power distance: the degree of acceptance of the unequal distribution of power by the less powerful members of a culture.

In cultures with a small power distance, people value an equal distribution of power, equal rights, and the idea that rewards or punishments should be granted based on how a task is executed.

In cultures with a large power distance, people accept an unequal distribution of power, a chain of commands regarding one’s rights, unbalanced role relations, and the idea that rewards or punishments should be determined by factors such as age, rank, status… .

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Tips for Exploring Culture3. Social gender role

It includes the question of roles for females and males. Traditional gender roles:

Social gender role: the degree to which a society reinforces the traditional male and female roles.

Men WomenForcefulTough

Materialistic

HumbleSensitive

Worried about the quality of life

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Tips for Exploring Culture4. Truth value

Uncertainty avoidance: the degree to which members of a culture feel threatened by situations that are uncertain or unknown to them.

If uncertainty avoidance is strong, the individual feels a powerful threat and tries hard to stay away from that.

Weak uncertainty avoidance cultures promote risk taking, whereas strong uncertainty avoidance cultures favor rules and laws.

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Tips for Exploring Culture5. Virtue

Long-term orientation

Such societies stress social order respect hierarchy believe in collective face-saving practice long-term planning are centered on thrift focus on long-term outcomes

Short-term orientation Such societies emphasize personal survival respect personal dignity believe in individual face-

saving practice short-term planning are centered on spending focus on short-term outcomes

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What the teacher can do: Teachers can introduce the concept of critical incident.

A critical incident offers students a brief story in which

some type of cultural miscommunication takes place. They read and discuss the incident trying to understand why the miscommunication

took place and how it could be resolved.

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6. Build awareness about stress caused by cultural adjustment When students spend time in another culture, their adjustment to

the new culture can cause feelings of stress. Barna (1988) highlights potential stumbling blocks hindering

effective intercultural communication: Assumption of similarity

When people from different cultures first meet and each person wears similar clothes and speaks the same language, we feel a sense of confidence. Only by assuming that subtle differences do exist can our interpretation be adjusted.

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Language difference

Misinterpreting nonverbal communication

• Components of language: vocab, grammar, idioms, slang, dialects,…• Sociocultural aspects of language also include cultural competence, or knowing

what to say, how to say it, when and where to say it, and why it is being said.• Sometimes we think we understand what is being said when in fact we do not.

• Gestures, postures, …, which are easily observable, are often misunderstood.• Time and spatial relationships, which are more subtle, are more prone to

misinterpretation.

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Preconceptions and stereotypes

Immediate evaluation

• Rather than attempting to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, many of us all too quickly move to approve or disapprove of the actions and assertions of other people, which hinders open-mindedness.

• Stereotypes: overgeneralized beliefs that provide conceptual bases from which to ‘make sense’ out of what goes on around us. They are firmly rooted as either myths or truths in our culture.

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High anxiety or ‘internal noise’:

What the teacher can do: Making students aware of these stumbling blocks Help them begin to develop empathy towards people who

are different from them.

• Anxiety is a basic part of the other stumbling blocks. • Being positive prepares us to meet these challenges energetically.

exploring culture by ah forough ameri

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