CROSS CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN CULTURE

Parlindungan Pardede Universitas Kristen Indonesia Jakarta

Chapter1 THE NATURE OF CULTURE & ITS ROLE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAM

What is Culture? Categories of Cultures Characteristics of Culture Cultures Role a Foreign Language Program Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes Goals of Cultural Teaching

WHAT IS CULTURE?
o Tylor: That complex whole which includes knowledge, believe, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. (concrete elements) o Arvizu, et al.: A set of ways of behaving; possession of high level of education, or a particular style of artistic expression in areas like art and music. (behavior) o The context within which a member of a society exists, thinks, feels and relates to other (= the shared value system of a societys members).

WHAT IS CULTURE?
o The blue print or integrated patterns of abstraction derived from observable behavior of a group of people. o Culture is the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behavior. o Hofstede: culture is the software of the mind (mind= hardware= human brain)

Categories of Cultures
Culture consists of three interrelated categories, i.e. products, ideas, and behaviors.

ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
A Culture consists of VISIBLE elements (i.e. the achievement or product of people as reflected in their history, social institutions, music, architecture, literature) and INVISIBLE elements (i.e. the culturally influenced beliefs and perceptions, as expressed through language and behaviors, that affect acceptability in the host community).

CATEGORIES OF CULTURE(2))

Foreigners visible elements

Invisible elements

LAYERS OF CULTURE
People even within the same culture carry several layers of mental programming within themselves. Different layers of culture exist at the following levels:

The national level: Associated with the nation as a whole. The regional level: Associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation. Global Culture: Associated with the universal habits, norms, and ways of life though they are manifested in a bit different way. The gender level: Associated with gender differences (female vs. male) The generation level: Associated with the differences between grandparents and parents, parents and children. The social class level: Associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation. The corporate level: Associated with the particular culture of an organization. Applicable to those who are employed

Culture is an Adaptive Mechanism Culture is learned Cultures Change People are Usually not Aware of Their Culture We Do Not Know All of Our Own Culture Culture Gives Us a Range of Permissible Behavior Patterns Cultures No Longer Exist in Isolation

BASIC NATURE OF CULTURE

BASED ON THE PREVIOUS DEFINITIONS, ELEMENTS. LAYERS, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE, TWO IMPORTANT CONCEPTS ARE DERIVED:
1.

Culture is dynamic and it changes according to the behavior and thought process of the people in that culture. Culture is not one entity: it is a body comprising different but interrelated elements. Proper understanding of one element of culture can only be achieved with the contribution of other elements within the same culture.

2.

SAMPLES OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Look at the following pictures!

Where do you think these people are from? What are the differences in the ways they greet each other?

Where do these people come from?

Where are these buildings located?

THE ROLE OF CULTURAL TEACHING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAM IN COMMUNICATING THROUGH LANGUAGE, PEOPLE INVOLVE BOTH LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE & PERCEPTION, IDEA, GESTURE & OTHER THINGS SHAPED BY THEIR CULTURE

OBJECTIVES OF CULTURAL TEACHING

TO ENABLE THE LEARNERS TO EXPLAIN ASPECTS OF A SPECIFIC CULTURE TO DEVELOP CULTURAL AWARENESS AS PART OF THE LEARNERS PERSONAL GROWTH AND EXPERIENCE

GOALS OF CCU
TO UNDERSTAND SOME BASIC ASPECTS OF AMERICAN CULTURE, INCLUDING: BASIC FEATURE OF AMERICAN PEOPLE AN OUTLINE OF THE US HISTORY FAMILY VALUES SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP EDUCATIONAL VALUES WORK VALUES RELIGIONS IN AMERICA AMERICAN GOVERNMENT COMMON CHARACTER OF AMERICANS

LANGUAGE & CULTURE INTERRELATIONSHIP

LANGUAGE IS A PART OF A CULTURE AND A CULTURE IS A PART OF A LANGUAGE.

THUS, CULTURAL INSTRUCTION IS VERY CRUCIAL IN A SECOND/FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING/TEACHING PROGRAM.

TWO BARRIERS IN STUDYING CULTURES ETHNOCENTRISM: the belief that ones own culture is the best and that his interpretation of the world of reality is the most reliable and truthful the principle of cultural relativity STREOTYPES: an over generalized and sometimes distorted description of groups of people Know more about them