The Intercultural Classroom

In this essay I will present the main content of two books attempting toaddress the increasing need to acquire cultural and intercultural skills andcompetence. I will focus on aspects of the two books which is relevant for myprofession as a teacher in an international secondary school in Trondheim,and then go on to discuss to what extent the information given helps medevelop the necessary skills needed to be a modern language teacher.

The main target, or business, of Edward T. Hall and Mildred Reed Hall's bookUnderstanding Cultural Differences (1990) is namely to cater to Fig 1.

business travelers and people who engage incultural exchanges with Germans, French and/orAmericans. In this paper I will focus on the latteras I am an English language teacher, and throughmy presentation of the content of this book I willfocus on the first chapter, but refer to the focuschapter on Americans. As the English culturalsphere expands way beyond the American one itis intercultural, or at least intracultural, in itsnature, and I would therefore deem theimportance of what is being presented by Halland Hall on Americans to be limiting in a world of 760 million speakers, orusers, of English (see fig. 1). The authors discuss many universal issues ofcultural differences which are still relevant today, although the book waspublished almost 20 years ago, and the key concepts are highly applicable tonot only English-speaking cultures, but also other cultures.

Hall and Hall writes that "Culture is communication" and dividecommunication into "words, material things and behavior", and they compareculture to a giant, extraordinary complex subtle computer (Hall and Hall: 3). Ifall for the temptation to upgrade their metaphor. To understand culture andhow to interpret and assess it is as challenging as to navigate the world wideweb. For argument's sake one could argue that the skills necessary to surfthe internet critically is more or less the same skills necessary to traverse theworld's numerous cultures and communicative systems. How does one teachthese skills? In their introductory chapter "Underlying Structures of Culture"Hall and Hall attempt to present some key concepts for the reader in orderto equip her for the challenge of deciphering the "complex, unspoken rulesof each language" (Hall and Hall: 4). The main concepts are context, space,

time, information flow, action chains and interfacing. I would deem them allrelevant for my work as a modern language teacher.

"Context is the information that surrounds an event; it is inextricably boundup with the meaning of that event" (Hall and Hall: 6). Edward T. Hallpresents a scaling device in which all cultures can be compared in terms ofhigh or low contexts. High context (HC) communication is marked by thefact that most of the information passing is already known by the involvedcommunicators, while low context (LC) communication is the opposite, "i.e.,the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code" (Hall and Hall: 6).Low-context cultures tend to "compartmentalize" their personal lives, whichin turns leads to the need for them to seek background information from thepeople they interact with. On the other end of the scale high-context culturesdo keep up to date on the events in the lives of people who are importantto them. Examples of high-context cultures include Japanese, Arabs andMediterranean while low-context cultures include American, German, Swiss,Scandinavian and other Northern European countries. Although this is arough generalization Hall and Hall are careful to point out that there existindividual differences in the need for contexting, meaning "the process offilling in background data" (Hall and Hall: 7). Perhaps the most notableinformation given in regards to context is that "any level of context is acommunication" (Hall and Hall: 7). This of course is relevant for a L2 user ofEnglish in an English-speaking culture, or for a L2 user of Japanse in Tokyo.There are tremendous differences in relationships and to what extent it is ahigh or low context communication which is taking place. "One of the greatcommunication challenges in life is to find the appropriate level of contextingneeded in each situation" (Hall and Hall: 9). This is intercultural knowledge.

Space. Hall and Hall defines space in the context of cultural differences asinvolving territoriality, the gradations of personal space, the multisensoryspatial experience and the unconscious reactions to spatial differences.Territoriality is basically a deeply rooted human characteristic related topossession and ownership. One's house, one's office or one's car are allexamples of places one might have a strong sense of territoriality. Again,there are considerably differences both on a cultural and individual level.Personal space do also have varying gradations, and people's 'bubbles',meaning the threshold of intimacy, tends to be large in Northern Europewhere people keep their distance to others while in Southern Europe thecommunication taking place can be very intimate and hardly any distancebetween the interlocutors. Interestingly, Hall and Hall mention the fact thatspace is perceived by all our senses, and there are great cultural differencesin the "programming" of the senses (Hall and Hall: 11). This multisensoryspatial experience include auditory (listening), thermal (touching), kinesthetic(muscles) and olfactory (smelling) space. An obvious example is theperceived 'noise' of Mediterranean conversations for a Scandinavian ear.

Time. Time is interesting as it is often a cause for great distress, annoyanceand grudge for tourists and business travelers as they visit other culturesthan their own where the perception of time differs. Hall and Hall presentthe division between monochronic and polychronic time. This is just a simpleclassification as there are many time systems around the world, but theycan be roughly grouped in the two perceptions of time. Monochronic culturesexperience time as something linear, and is divided into segments whichrequires it to be scheduled and planned. This allows for focus andconcentration on one task at the time. Schedules are important inmonochronic cultures, and might often take priority before anything else.Hall and Hall make the interesting comparison between monochronic timeand money - as something tangible and measurable. Time can be 'wasted','spent' or 'lost'. Polychronic systems on the other hand are the completeopposite. "There is more emphasis on completing human transactions, thanon holding to schedules" (Hall and Hall: 14). The focus on flexibility and theability to focus on "simultaneous occurrence of many things and by a greatinvolvement with people" characterizes polychronic cultures. Geographically,Latin and Mediterranean cultures belong to the latter, while US and NorthernEuropeans would characterize themselves as belonging to a monochronicsystem. As mentioned, this is cause for a great deal of challenges forScandinavian or American tourists traveling to Mediterranean destinations, oreven further to Subsaharan countries where a polychronic time predominates.Patience, then, is truly a virtue for the person with a monochronic timesystem.

Time is a fascinating topic within cultural and intercultral discourse as itis deeply embedded in a culture. Many misunderstandings arise from thedifferences in perceptions of time. Polychronic cultures might be accusedof laziness, inclined to interrupt, noise and disruptive while monochroniccultures are easily accused of being unfriendly, impersonal, too private andreclusive. On a personal note I would again use the earlier introducedupgrades metaphor of the internet when Hall and Hall write "Polychronicpeople live in a sea of information" (Hall and Hall: 16) and that they preferto surround themselves with people and information. It is hard to live bya monochronic time in global reality, although differences are still wellembedded in national cultures.

Furthermore, time affects the information flow and the exchanges ofinformation and whether it is 'in sync'. Rhythm, tempo and synchrony areimportant components in communication, and obvious pitfalls forinterlocutors from different cultures with respectively monochronic andpolychronic systems. "When we take our own time system for granted andproject it onto other cultures, we fail to read the hidden messages in theforeign time system and thereby deny ourselves vital feedback" (Hall and

Hall: 18). Knowledge of time systems are vital for seamless communicationand would embody undeniable prerequisites for the intercultural awareperson.

Interfacing. All of the discussed key concepts amount to five basic principlespresented by Hall and Hall which they choose to call cultural interfacing.The degree of difficulty will increase if the context is higher, more complex,distance greater and levels more abundant. However, very simple, low

context, highly evolved, mechanical systems tend to produce fewer problemsthan the systems which require human talent for their success (Hall and Hall:27).

Americans. In "Part 4: The Americans" Hall and Hall set out to describethe cultural characteristics of Americans, which, considering the size of thecountry and the population, is rather daunting and close to impossible.Nevertheless, despite "its ethnic diversity, the U.S. has managed to absorbbits and pieces of many cultures and weave them into a unique culture that isstrikingly consistent and distinct" (Hall and Hall: 140). For historic reasons aremany of the chief characteristics of the Northern American culture stronglyinfluenced by its roots in northern Europe or Anglo-Saxon culture. The chapterdiscusses Americans' perspective on time, space, education, mobility andwork ethic, and creates a knowledge base important for English languagelearners and users who will spend time in the US, or deal with Americannationals. I will return to particulars in my discussion later on. Hall andHall sum up their book at the end by reminding the reader "that cultureis many things, but it is primarily a system for creating, sending, storing,and processing information" (Hall and Hall: 179). Understanding CulturalDifferences does present, prepare and equip the reader with the necessaryknowledge, but leaves the experience and the reflection to be explored.

Veien til interkulturell kompetanseThe world has gotten smaller, and coined expressions such as the 'globalvillage', the 'networked community' and other images giving the impressionof a smaller world have perhaps prompted the Norwegian book Veien tilinterkulturell kompetanse by Henrik Bøhn and Magne Dypedahl, which hasa more updated and universal take on intercultural competence. In thepreface of the book the authors write "Hvis kunnskap om interkulturellkommunikasjon kombineres med erfaring og refleksjon, er sjansene storefor at man får bedre interkulturell kompetanse" (Bøhn and Dypedahl, 6),which roughly translates: If knowledge about intercultural communicationis combined with experience and reflection, the possibilities for a betterintercultural competence are greater (my trans.). If one could sum up themain message of the book it is the mantra of how intercultural competence isdeveloped through knowledge, experience, and reflection or attitudes.

The 11 chapters all begin with various scenarios from everyday life includingexchanges from hospitals, business meetings, diplomatic encounters andexam situations - the recurring theme being confusion and 'loss of face' dueto lack of intercultural competence. Intercultural competence is needed inmost situations in today's society, but it is perhaps the school's mandate andchallenge to teach intercultural competence to equip students for a global'networked society'? Key components to intercultural competence accordingto Bøhn and Dypedahl are mutual understanding and respect. Is it possible toteach respect and attitudes in a language classroom?

Again, the book opens and concludes with the trinity of knowledge,experience and reflection, but spends considerable time on presenting anddiscussing concepts such as etnocentrism, multiperspectives, culturalrelativism, stereotypes, prejudices, tolerance, verbal and non-verbalcommunication, perceptions, value systems, honor, conscience andadaptability. All of these discussed concepts are more or less components ofknowledge, but can only be reflected upon during and following experience ofculture.

Perhaps the most interesting point made by Bøhn and Dypedahl is presentedin the final chapter. It is not revolutionary, and has been part of interculturaldiscourse for decades, but nonetheless it is an important one. Finding a'mellomposisjon', or a 'third place' (Kramsch 1993: 233) requires theknowledge of the mentioned concepts as well as the personal experienceswhich one can apply the knowledge to, and then in turn reflect upon one'spractices and perspectives.

This 'third place', or 'mellomposisjon', is yet another position, or perspective,and early on in Bøhn and Dypedahl's book they discuss the interestingtopic of multiperspectives. In order to attain such a position it requirestraining and experience to see the world from different perspectives (Bøhnand Dypedahl 16). One of the most substantial problems in interculturalcommunication is the assumption that others are like us (16). People dohave different views of the world and differences in values, norms, traditions,habits and a range of preferences for how communication should take place(16). Bøhn and Dypedahl call for a constructive dialogue which leads to'perspektivflytting', or shifts in perspective, ideally, if I have understoodit correctly, a multiperspective. This is a lifelong process and can only beacquired through experience and reflection according to the authors of Veientil interkulturell kompetanse.

The most relevant and interesting points of the authors' discourse in the bookare perspectives, context and communication. If I have to focus on skills to

teach in the language classroom in an intercultural framework I would choosethese.

Perspectives. We all perceive the world differently, on a personal level basedupon our values, norms, background, and experiences, but also on a culturallevel based upon where we have been raised and lived our lives. All ofthese components embodies a persons' views of the world, and it will alwaysbe biased. "It gives us a flooring to view and assess what is good, right,desirable, positive and necessary" (Bøhn and Dypedahl: 52) (my trans.) Thisin turn leads to a perception of the world, and a perception is described asthe process in our brains which takes place as a result of our observationsand how we interpret them in such a way that they give meaning to us(Bøhn and Dypedahl: 52). Our perceptions are seen through a kulturelt filter,cultural filter, which means that our interpretation of our observations arecolored by our cultural background of internalized values, assumptions andcomprehension (Bøhn and Dypedahl: 55). Interestingly, the authors use theNorwegian school as an example of kulturbærere, or cultural transferrals (mytrans.) which transfers values such as gender equality, democracy and theindividual's rights. This of course, is of great importance for a Norwegianstudent who travels abroad. Naturally, it is important to add that there area distinction between partly individual personal traits, cultural characteristicsand universal human traits. It might not be easy to distinguish the threelevels of influences in one's perspective of the world, but it should perhapsbe obligatory to teach this knowledge and create an awareness of thelearner's perspective in order to understand the relationship between differentperspectives which can be vital for reflection and developing an awareness of"the other".

RelevanceBøhn and Dypedahl understand 'intercultural competence' as an ability tocommunicate with people of different cultural backgrounds than their own.This requires a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes (Bøhn: 152).I strongly believe this combination to be my mandate as a modern languageteacher. Students need to be taught about stereotypes, cultures,communication styles, verbal and non-verbal communication as well asvalues (Bøhn and Dypedahl: 153). This embodies the basic knowledge of thetarget culture, in my case English, and involves both national cultures as wellas subcultures as pointed out in figure 1 earlier.

I believe as a modern language teacher one can teach skills and to someextent attitudes, or perhaps more precisely facilitate and accommodate for alearning environment based upon basic human virtues such as respect for oneanother. This is particularly true being an international school with a rangeof students coming from a different background than a Norwegian. What

the students might lack in knowledge and reflection they do make up for inpersonal experience and herein subconscious and dormant knowledge.

How then does a modern language teacher teach the necessary skills tointerpret and make sense of the students' experience? The core skills can bedefined to be respect and responsibility for one's own culture and develop askill of self-reflection. (Byram?) As both the Norwegian (L1) and English (L2)language teacher in a small school I do have the benefit of making theseskills omnipresent in my lessons and in my communication with the students.Furthermore, I would list skills such as listening, assessment and reflectionin relation to personal perspective, the others' perspective, context andcommunication awareness. One might argue that these are universal skills inthe formation of a young person, or as the Norwegian noun 'dannelse', or theGerman 'Bildung', would more accurately define. Skills which are necessaryto become an independent thinking, critical and reflective citizen of theworld. Although this rings true I still think the language classroom presentsunique opportunities to teach such skills and facilitate an environment for thestudents to develop sound attitudes to their own culture, their peers' andperhaps more importantly, beyond the classroom.

The modern language teacher is able to teach knowledge and help studentsto train their skills for reflection and hence equip them with necessary skills.As mentioned earlier, the ability to assess situations and decipher contextsto communicate appropriately and at the appropriate level is interculturalknowledge. To find a 'third place', or a 'mellomposisjon', and treat othercultures, in my case, the English-speaking world, with the appropriate respecttuned to the context is a refined skills, which starts in the languageclassroom.

The language classroom itself has been criticized for not being an authenticarena for developing cultural and communicative knowledge with textbookexamples and artificial dialogues. In my case, this is not true, as the targetlanguage is part of all instructions in all subjects (except Norwegian) as wellas part of colloquial speech in between classes. Experience, therefore, doesalso start in the classroom. Treating each other with respect and acquiring thevaluable experience by putting the students in authentic learning situations inorder to focus on developing their metaknowledge about communication andculture which in turn will contribute to the establishment of an interculturalcompetence. This development will continue throughout life, through thestudents' travels and adventures abroad and at home as they socialize withother people with other backgrounds and other values and norms. Bøhn andDypedahl stress the fact that intercultural competence always can be refinedand developed further as it is impossible to acquire all the knowledge neededto comprehend other people's situations fully (Bøhn and Dypedahl: 158).

Experience requires reflection and again this is part of the modern languageteacher's responsibility. To equip the students with the necessary skills forreflecting on their experiences it is helpful to provide them with what Bøhnand Dypedahl presents as 'refleksjonsknagger', or markers for reflection.Understanding other peoples' set of thinking can either be explained by theconditions which are universal, cultural or individual (Bøhn and Dypedahl:31). Teaching 'markers for reflection' can create tools and skills for thestudents to develop reflective ability which is crucial for interculturalcompetence. It is important, as the Norwegian authors point out, that our ownintegrity is not threatened by multiperspectivity or intercultural sensitivity(Bøhn and Dypedahl: 33). Understanding one's own perception of culture inthe context of etnocentrism and taking the important 'third positition' is animportant component of the intercultural competence.

Conclusion

The art of teaching is not only passing on information and knowledge, butquite possibly more importantly to equip students with the appropriate toolsand necessary skills to use the knowledge they acquire and will continue toaccrue throughout life. Skills to interpret and comprehend contexts, seekingout different perspectives and ideally taking the role of the respectful,responsible and reflective person who engages in constructive and empathicdialogues with other people and aim not to necessarily to agree, but to beamazed and interested and acquire more experience to add to the lifelonglearning which is increasingly important in a global reality. One of theperceptions of communication is 'to do something together', which doesmeans that it is more important to create a constructive dialogue for mutualunderstanding rather than pass one-way information (Bøhn and Dypedahl).The constructive dialogue is, in my opinion, the goal for every lesson in theintercultural classroom.

Understanding Cultural Differences. Hall and Hall. Intercultural Press 1990Veien til interkulturell kompetanse. Bøhn og Dypedahl. Fagbokforlaget 2009