It was my first dinner party in France and I was chatting with a Parisian couple. All was well until I asked what I thought was a perfectly innocent question: “How did the two of you meet?” My husband Eric (who is French) shot me a look of horror. When we got home he explained: “We don’t ask that type of question to strangers in France. It’s like asking them the color of their underpants.”
It’s a classic mistake. One of the first things you notice when arriving in a new culture is that the rules about what information is and is not appropriate to ask and share with strangers are different. Understanding those rules, however, is a prerequisite for succeeding in that new culture; simply applying your own rules gets you into hot water pretty quickly.
A good way to prepare is to ask yourself whether the new culture is a “peach” or a “coconut”. This is a distinction drawn by culture experts Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. In peach cultures like the USA or Brazil people tend to be friendly (“soft”) with new acquaintances. They smile frequently at strangers, move quickly to first-name usage, share information about themselves, and ask personal questions of those they hardly know. But after a little friendly interaction with a peach, you may suddenly get to the hard shell of the pit where the peach protects his real self and the relationship suddenly stops.
In coconut cultures such Russia and Germany, people are initially more closed off from those they don’t have friendships with. They rarely smile at strangers, ask casual acquaintances personal questions, or offer personal information to those they don’t know intimately. But over time, as coconuts get to know you, they become gradually warmer and friendlier. And while relationships are built up slowly, they also tend to last longer.
III Developing background knowledge (B1/B2/C1)
1. Give a talk on a) Edward S. Hall; b) Geert Hofstede
- give a brief account of some biographical facts;
- innumerate the main aspects of the theory;
- speak on the criticism of the theory
2. Speak about American cultural values.
3. Speak about English cultural values.
IV Exchanging views and ideas (B1 -B2/C1)
- Group work. Organize a brainstorming session and define the notion:
a) tolerance; b) cultural awareness; c) cultural sensitivity.
- Discussion. What is the difference between stereotype and generalization? Give examples of stereotypes. Do we need stereotypes to learn another culture?
- Discussion. What is Englishness? What is Americanness? Study the following fragments and discuss the notions:
a) For a long time ‘Englishness’ was a way of life, a lifestyle for centuries many people of the world had tried to follow. ‘Englishness’ meant honourable, trustworthy, gallant, stiff upper lip, one who could be relied upon. The men knew how to treat a lady but never known as the best lovers in the world and the ladies not mentioning such things. We would patiently wait in queues, give our seat to a lady, generally be well mannered and polite, and certainly know the little etiquettes that help give a meaning to ‘Englishness’… Now we have evolved into a selfish nation were it is unlikely man will give up his seat, open the door for a lady, walk on the street side of the pavement when walking with a lady, stand back and let a lady go first, and many more niceties that was part of ‘Englishness’ now man cannot be bothered explaining “why should I, now women have equal rights”
(From ‘Englishness’ has it gone? An Englishman’s thoughts on 'Englishness' by Reginald Stanley Birch)
b) There's nothing like traveling abroad to learn what it means to be American and what being American means to everyone else who is not. I lived in Europe for a year when I was 14, and two unpleasant instances brought the complicated nature of our national identity into sharp relief. The first happened at a party. After finding out I was American, a young Italian hipster suddenly started attacking me for my country's voracious, imperialist appetite. She cited chapter and verse: interventions in Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala. But the accusation that shook me most was when she questioned U.S. rights to the Hawaiian Islands. She left me speechless. Having assumed the weight of the sins of the American Empire, I was then unprepared for an encounter a few months later with a middle-aged German woman who had firm ideas about who was and who wasn't American. Unable to disentangle my ethnic and national identities, she insisted that I wasn't a real American. "You might live in Los Angeles," she said rather tartly. "But you're not American. You're Mexican." No, I replied. I'm Mexican-American, a U.S. citizen with Mexican roots. In the end, she walked away unconvinced of my citizenship. I, however, left that conversation more convinced than ever
(From 'I assert my Americanness proudly... even defiantly' by Gregory Rodriguez)
V Summarizing the topic (B1/B2/C1)
- Make a power point presentation on the topic:
1) Polychronic Cultures;
2) Monochronic Cultures.
- In the article for an intercultural forum Making culture happen in the English language classroom the author, Barry Tomalin, suggests teachers a number of questions for discussion. Answer these questions on cultural methodology.
How should we teach cultural awareness? Should we be teaching it as a special slot, such as a culture corner or culture spot in the lesson, or should each lesson seek to contain a cultural awareness skill that students develop through working through the textbook and associated materials? Should we be teaching the skills of identifying culturally significant information, how to research cultural information and how to develop cultural skills?
Should we have lectures and presentations where we tell our students what they need to know? Should we be using task-based learning and discovery techniques to help our students learn for themselves? Are some methods more appropriate than others for teachers who are not native-speakers (and may be less familiar with the culture) or have large classes of sixty or more students?
In other words, when do you include culture in your lessons and how do you teach it? What methodology works for you?
VI Project work (B1/B2/C1)
- There are different stereotypes: racial, ethnic, geographical, gender, social, political, professional. Think over a few examples of each type. Interview your group-mates and find out if they have any stereotypes. Present the results of your survey in a Report.
- Write an essay on one of the following topics:
1) What is tolerance?
2) Five ways of building cultural awareness.
3) Pros and cons of stereotypes.
4) Internet as a means of intercultural communication.
B PRACTISING SKILLS
TEXT 1 (B2)
Put the word(s) in brackets in the right form.