Lecture 6

No society exists without a culture.

Second Language Acquisition

WHAT IS CULTURE?

• Ideas, customs, skills, art and tools shared by a group of community in a certain period of time.

• Individual has his own culture. [ “a template for personal and social existence” (Brown, 2000)]

• We “tend to perceive reality within the context of our own culture” because we believe that our own reality is the correct perception.

• As a result, misunderstandings always happen between members of different cultures.

• A language is a part of culture, and a culture is a part of language.

• The acquisition of a second language is also the acquisition of a second culture.

Sociocultural Factors


FIRST WE STEREOTYPE, THEN WE GENERALIZE


Twain’s Interesting Views


“The French always tangle up everything to that degree that when you start into a sentence, you never know whether you are going to come out alive or not.”

“A gifted person ought to learn English in 30 hours, French in 30 days and German in 30 years.”

Twain’s Interesting Views


“If it (German language) is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently

set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.”

Stereotypes


Stereotype may be accurate in showing the ‘typical’ member of a culture, but it is inaccurate for describing a particular individual, simply because every person is unique.

Sometimes the oversimplified view of members of another culture could be wrong.

CULTURAL STEREOTYPE

• Stereotype is formed through our own cultural pattern and different perception is seen as either false or strange, and thus is oversimplified.

• Stereotype maybe accurate in depicting the ‘typical’ member of a culture but is inaccurate for describing a particular individual.

• Both teacher and students need to understand cultural differences and the fact that there are real differences between groups and cultures.

ATTITUDES


Attitude

• Negative attitude stemming from a stereotype.• Negative and biased attitudes are based on

insufficient knowledge, misinformed stereotyping and extreme ethnocentric thinking.

• Attitudes develop early in childhood through interaction -> will form their own culture.

Attitude

• Relationship between attitudes and language success. (John Oller, et al. (Brown, 2000) )

– L2 language learners’ positive attitude toward self, the native language group and the target language group helps in enhancing L2 proficiency.

–Negative attitude may lead to decreased motivation, decreased input of interaction which lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency.

How to help students instill positive attitude?

• Teacher needs to be aware that everyone is raised in different cultures and have positive and negative attitudes.

• Teacher can:– Expose students to reality-meet the actual person from

other cultures.– Dispel myths about other cultures and replace with facts.

• (books, article, internet websites etc)


Study by Oller et al. (1977) found a few meaningful clusters of attitudinal variables that correlated positively with attained proficiency.

Positive attitudes toward self, native language group and target language group enhanced proficiency.


So how does this attitude relate to the teaching of second language?

SECOND CULTURE ACQUISITION


Acculturation

SECOND CULTURE ACQUISITION

CULTURE SHOCK

4 STAGES

ANOMIE

SECOND CULTURE

ACCULTURATION

Acculturation


Second language learning involves the acquisition of a second identity, or known as acculturation.

Cont.

• Involves the acquisition of a second identity• Creation of a new identity is at the heart of culture

learning.• The process of acculturation runs even deeper

when language is brought into the picture.• A person’s world view, self-identity, and systems

of thinking, acting, feeling and communicating can be disrupted by a contact with another culture.

• A reorientation of thinking and feeling, also communication.

Culture Shock


Refers to phenomena ranging from irritability to deep psychological panic and crisis

Associated with feelings of estrangement, anger, hostility, indecision, frustration, unhappiness, sadness, loneliness, homesickness and even physical illness.

Cont.

• Persons undergoing culture shock view their new world out of resentment and alternate between self-pity and anger at others for not understanding them.

• As long as they can perceptually filter their surroundings and internalize the environment in their own world view, they feel at ease.

4 SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF CULTURE ACQUSITION

• 1st stage: excitement and euphoria of the new culture

• 2nd stage: Intrusion of more and more cultural differences

• 3rd stage: Acceptance of differences in thinking and feeling surround them

• 4th stage: Assimilation, adaptation.

SOCIAL DISTANCE

• Refers to the cognitive and affective proximity of two cultures that come into contact within an individual.

• Example: People from the United States are culturally similar to Canadians, while U.S natives and Chinese are, by comparison, relatively dissimilar.

• John Schumann (1976: 136) – social distance

JOHN SCHUMANN HYPOTHESIS

1. Dominance: • is the L2 group politically, culturally,technically,

or economically dominant, non-dominant, or subordinate in relation to the TL group?

2. Integration:• Is the integration pattern of the L2 group

assimilation, acculturation, or reservation?

3. Cohesiveness:• Is the L2 group cohesive?

4. Congruence:• Are the cultures of the two groups congruent-

similar in their value and belief systems?

5. Permanence:• What is the L2 group’s intended length of

residence in the target language area?

JOHN SCHUMANN 2 HYPOTHETICAL “BAD” LANGUAGE LEARNING SITUATIONS

• 1. TL group views the L2 group as dominant and the L2 group vies itself the same way. Both groups desire preservation and enclosure for the L2 group, the L2 group is both cohesive and large, the 2 cultures are not congruent, the two groups hold (-ve) attitudes toward each other, and the L2 group intends to remain in the TL area only for a short time.

• 2. L2 group considers itself subordinate and is considered subordinate by the TL group.

HOW TO MEASURE SOCIAL DISTANCE?• Schumann’s hypothesis: the greater the social

distance between two cultures, the greater the difficulty in learning the second language.

• William Acton(1979): Instead of trying to measure actual social distance, devised a measure of perceived social distance.

• When learners encounter a new culture, their acculturation process is a factor of how they perceive their own culture in relation to the culture of the target language.

HOW TO MEASURE SOCIAL DISTANCE?

• Perceived Social Distance through the Professed Difference in Attitude Questionnaire (PDAQ).

• PDAQ asked learners to quantify what they perceived

to be the differences in attitude toward various concepts: e.g “the automobile, divorce, socialism, policemen” on

• 3 dimensions:

a. Distance ( or difference) between themselves and their countrymen in general

b. Distance between themselves and members of TL in general

c. Distance between their countrymen and members of TL in general

OPTIMAL DISTANCE MODEL

• At stage 3 of second culture acquisition.• Typifies the “good” language learner.• Maintaining some distance between

themselves and both cultures.• Supported Lambert’s (1967) contention that

mastery of the foreign language takes place hand in hand with feelings of anomie or homelessness, where learners have moved away from their native culture but are still not completely assimilated into or adjusted to the target culture.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADULT AND CHILDREN

Adult

No reason for mastery since they have learned to cope without sophisticated

knowledge of the language

Acquired a sufficient number of functions of a L2 without acquiring the correct forms

CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM

1. What is culture in the classroom??

unspoken and frequently unconscious assumptions about how people (both the teacher and the

students) will behave during the lessons.

“Help students gain experience that contribute to

the increased cultural & self awareness”. (Robinson-Stuart & Nocon 1996)

2. Example (page 189): Kenji, a Japanese student was taught specific

behaviors (respect teacher – never to contradict the teacher, speak in class when necessary only & etc.). However, in U.S. language school, he realized that his youngish teachers are friendly & encourage a first-name basis, group work & interactive learning.

4 DIFFERENT CONCEPTUAL CATEGORIES TO STUDY THE CULTURAL NORMS

1. Individualism vs. Collectivism

2. Power Distance

3. Uncertainty Avoidance

4. Masculinity

INDIVIDUAL VS. COLLECTIVISM

Every one looks after his/her own interest &

the interest of his/her immediate family. Assume that any person through birth &

possible later events belongs to one/more tight “in-groups” from which he/she cannot detach him/herself.A collectivist society is tightly

integrated; an individualist society is loosely integrated.

POWER DISTANCE

Definition: the less powerful persons in a

society accept inequality in power & consider

it as normal.

“All societies are unequal, but some are more

unequal than others”

(Hofstede 1980: 136).

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

Definition: people within a culture are made nervous by situations they perceive as unstructured, unclear or unpredictable, situations which they therefore try to avoid by maintaining strict codes of behavior & a belief in absolute truths.

MASCULINITY

Opposes femininity. Men are expected to be assertive, ambitious &

competitive, to strive for material success,& to respect whatever is big, strong & fast.

Women are expected to serve & to care for

the non-material quality of life, for children &

for the weak.

LANGUAGE POLICY AND POLITICS


LANGUAGE POLICY & POLITICS

World Englishes

ESL & EFL

Linguistic Imperialism & Language Rights

Language Policy and the ‘English Only’ Debate

LANGUAGE POLICY AND POLITICS

• English is the subject of international debate as policy makers struggle over the legitimization of varieties of English.

• Some research suggest that English teaching worldwide threatens to form an elitist cultural hegemony, widening the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.

WORLD ENGLISHES

• The rapid growth of EIL (English as an international language) of communication has stimulated interesting (but often controversial) discussion about the status of English in its varieties – World Englishes.

• E.g: Learning English in India• “Indianization” of English in India – English has

few if any British cultural attributes.

WORLD ENGLISHES

• “Nativization” or “indigenization” of English – spread to an “outer circle” of countries, including India, Singapore, Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana, and others.

• English is commonly learned by children at school age, and is the medium for most of their primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

• We are advised to view English in terms of a broad range of its functions and the degree of its penetration into a country’s society.

ESL and EFL

• ESL – English as a Second Language• Learning ESL – English within a culture where

English is spoken natively – e.g. An Arabic speaker learning English in the USA or the UK, but not as easily identified where English is already an accepted and widely used language for education, government or business within the country.(learning English in Phil. Or India)

• Another context is where English has no official status but occupies such a high profile that virtually every educated person can comm. Competently with native speakers of English. (Scandinavia).

ESL and EFL

• EFL – English as a Foreign Language• Learning EFL – English in one’s own culture with few

immediate opportunities to use the language within the environment of that culture.(Japanese learning English in Japan)

• Two global developments mitigate the clarity of identifying a simple EFL context:

a) The current trend toward immigrant communities establishing themselves within various countries (Spanish communities in a large city in the US) provides ready access to users of so-called foreign languages;

b) The penetration of English based media (esp. TV, internet& motion picture industry) provides further ready access to English even in somewhat isolated settings.

ESL and EFL

• The problem with ESL/EFL terminology as Nayar (1997: 22) pointed out, is that it “seems to have created a world view that being a native speaker of English will somehow bestow on people not only unquestionable competence in the use and teaching of the language but also expertise in telling others how English ought to be taught.”

LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM & LANGUAGE RIGHTS

• A central issue in the linguistic imperialism is the devaluing of native languages through the colonial spread of English.

• For more than a century (Philipson 1992) there was little or no recognition of the imperialistic effect of the spread of English (& French) in colonial contexts. But in recent years, there have been some signs of hope for the preservation of indigenous languages.

• One of teacher’s primary tenets should be the highest respect for the languages and culture of our students.

• We must beware of imposing a foreign value system on our learners for the sake of bringing a common language to all.

LANGUAGE POLICY AND THE ‘ENGLISH ONLY’ DEBATE

• Language Policy – Questions in this field range from the language of the education of children to the adoption of ‘official’ status for a language(s) in a country.

• Language of education – involves the decision by some political entity to offer education in a designated language or languages.

• A tremendous clash of value systems is brought to bear the ultimate decision: linguistic diversity, cultural pluralism, ethnicity, race, power, status, politics, economics, and the list goes on.

LANGUAGE POLICY AND THE ‘ENGLISH ONLY’ DEBATE

• One of the most misunderstand issue in decade of twentieth century was the widespread move to establish English as an ‘official’ language.

• Proponents of ‘English only’ ballots across many states argued that an official English policy was needed to unify the country and end decades-long debates over bilingual education.

• Those campaigns did not reveal that the covert agenda of the ultimate devaluing of minority languages and cultures.

• Bilingual education was singled out as a waste of time and money.

• Those who end up suffering from such moves toward ‘English only’ are the already disenfranchised minority cultures.

LANGUAGE, THOUGHT AND CULTURE

1. The relationship between language, thought &

culture.

Cognitive development linguistic development

Example 1: “Weasel words”(to glorify very ordinary

products into those that are “unsurpassed”,

“ultimate”, “supercharged” & “the right

choice”.

A foreigner in the U.S. once remarked that in the U.S.

there are no “small” eggs, only “medium”, “large”,

“extra large” & “jumbo”.

Example 2: Euphemisms

1. Garbagemen → sanitary engineers.

2. Toilet → rest rooms/ladies/washrooms.

3. Deaths → collateral damage.

4. Retarded → mentally challenged/intellectually

disability/learning difficulties/special

needs.

lame

Cripple

Handicapped

Disabled

Physically

challenged

2. Verbal labels can shape the way we store events for later recall.

3. Words are not the only linguistic category affecting thought.

The way a sentence is structured will affect

nuances of meaning.

4. Culture is an integral part of the interaction between language & thought.

5. Lexical items may reflect sth about the intersection of culture & cognition.

Example: Color categorization.

6. Popular misconception about language & cognition came from Whorf (1956) claims about the expression of time in Hopi.

Arguing that Hopi contains no grammatical forms that refer to “time”, Whorf suggested that Hopi had “no general notion /intuition of time”.

Later, Whorf’s claim became accepted as fact.

However, Malotki showed that Hopi speech does contain tense, metaphors for time, units of time, & ways to quantify units of time.

“ Edward Sapir & Benjamin Whorf proposed a hypothesis known as : the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the Whorfian hypothesis, linguistic relativity or linguistic determinism”.

CONCLUSION

1. Teacher’s role is to expose students to different cultures so that the learning process of second language acquisition becomes easy & flawless.

2. Teacher must not discriminates students ability.

3. Students shouldn’t be stereotyped according to different race or country

First class facilities but THIRD WORLD MENTALITY

Documents

Lecture 6