The Link between Language and Culture and Effective Ways to Learn a Language - Case Study Example

?Running Head: ROOM OBSERVATION REPORT FOR CULTURAL ISSUES IN ESL [College] Introduction It is often said that language is areflection of culture, the relationship of langue to culture is formed through speaking it, it only reflects part of a culture as it expression to the rest of the culture is partial. One of the means of capturing the view of a language, communication and culture is through observing the communicative trend in a naturalistic environment and to have some members of the cultural group to identify the vital aspects of culture that affect a language (Fong, 219). Teaching an ESL class should comprise of an understanding the different cultures represented in the class, the objective of the course and that of the students in finding out the kind literacy and knowledge valued and continuously finding new ways of making the classroom more interesting to improve the learning capability of the students especially when both the teacher and the students come from different cultures “ Even more of a gap in expectations ,beliefs and classrooms practices may arise where students come from a culture that is relatively distinct or distant from that of the teacher” (Byram & Michael, 1998 p.101) I. Description of the classroom context The classroom observed was at The International Language Institute in Washington, DC. It has provided language training to thousands of students from around the world, the fact that students come from different parts of the world implies that the classroom is endowed with a variety of cultures that should all be put into consideration when planning for ESL classes. The influence of culture is more that the background effect “It has a deep effect on classroom processes because it is significant factor in how teachers and students perceive language learning and how they evaluate each other role and classroom performance” (Jin & Cortazzi, p.98)". Apart from the cultural aspect the students in the class range from businessmen, to professionals, to tourists and students interested in broadening their horizons. The native-speaking teacher engages the class in groups and individual tutorials in many languages (Klyukanov, 2005). The Instructor observed was Jonathan Selkin with twenty years of experience in the field of ESL, both in the United States and in Europe, he has worked in every facet of the industry and this has widened his experience in handling student from diverse backgrounds. He has also devised ESL programs for some of the world's leading corporations, including Alstom, Business Objects, McKinsey, Raytheon and authored over a dozen manuals for learners of English for Specific Purposes. The Institute offers a comprehensive, eight week certificate course. The course provided focus on practice in teaching the four fundamental language skills of reading, speaking, listening and writing, and the sub skills of pronunciation vocabulary and grammar. Components of the course include planning of lessons, teaching practice in individual and group settings, observing peers and practicing teachers, keeping teaching records, critical self-observation and compiling of a portfolio of materials for teaching, and career planning and management (International Language Institute, 2010). The main goal of the course is to teach and perfect the students reading, speaking, writing and listening skills in the language being undertaken. Most of the students have the goal of becoming efficient users of the foreign language so that they can apply it in their professional capacity and at individual levels. II. Description and analysis of the cultural elements observed There were a number of cultural aspects, both explicit and implicit which were observed in the class, as discussed below; Cross Cultural Understanding was the most outstanding explicit cultural element that was observed. The fundamentals of cross cultural understanding are that people have the basic ability to recognize, interpret and correctly react to people within business. Another explicit element that was noticed was misunderstandings that arose were mainly are due to cultural differences (Klyukanov, 2005).An example of cultural differences that was observed was that foreigners in Ukraine find that being late is a norm that should attract a fine, for Ukrainians, any individual who arrives about five minutes late for a meeting or an appointment should have a fine subjected to him/her. This characteristic can cause irritation between foreigners and Ukraine business partners. An implicit element that was observed was forging an understanding of other people's cultures, their styles of communication and behaviors. This aspect improved relationships and led to a more successful attainment of language in an intercultural environment as Samovar and Porter puts it "...the function of an educational system is to teach the informal knowledge of a culture"(Samovar & Porter, 2001 p.26). Improving Intercultural Communication is yet another cultural element that was observed, given that many organizations find themselves involved in communication across cultures, it is essential to improve one's intercultural communication skills. Most intercultural communication is based on respect, when one shows respect to the others; it builds a more open relationship. Although, communication may be boring and behavior may not be proper, patience plays a big role in overcoming such challenges. For instance, western cultures of learning share different forms of cultural norms, Chinese culture of learning simply means getting information from the book and teacher “jiao shu” which mean teach, is read as ‘teach the book’ .When the students and the teacher, choose to know why someone behaves in a certain way, it is simply because of their intellectual understanding of an aspect. These are some of the aspects that help to improve communication skills (Klyukanov, 2005). The importance of Intercultural Communication to the instructor is that his students will be in a position to undertake or benefit from the following; Business International Network and World Trade Organisation have liberalized trade between membership countries. In addition, most businesses have worldwide networks and this has led to the development of intercultural business communication. Thus intercultural communication is now a basic requirement for any organisation or business with the aim of succeeding in its activities. The change of the communication technology, such as e-mail, faxes, the Internet, satellites, and telephones, has brought about technology revolution and this has enhanced the communication between international partners and facilities. Through the internet, businesses can find new markets, suppliers, and partners in any part of the world. As a result, intercultural business communication has become relevant and important than ever before. Due to immigration and refugees, many countries have diversity among their population. Cultural differences do not prevent people from working with each other but promotes cultural diversity. Indeed any given organization that does not promote cultural divert is seen as repugnant to change “Regardless of the culture, systems of formal and informal education seek to meet the perceived needs of societies” (Samovar et al.pg 1998) Diversity in the workplace is a vital factor in achieving intercultural business communication. Intercultural communication is an essential skill for any individual in the contemporary society. In a global economic environment, one needs to build relationships with people from other cultures, communicate and interact with people from other cultures. In fact intercultural communication skills lead to good performance in business. III. Description and analysis of the types of literacy and knowledge valued After talking to the lecturer, the types of literary learning observed were linguistic communication. Language is by far the most powerful and versatile medium of communication, in fact all human kind posses language .In analyzing linguistic phenomena within a socially defined universe, the class language usage reflected a more general behavior norm. Another literary learning and teaching element observed was speech. An individual's choice from among allowable alternatives in a particular speech event may reveal his background and his or her social objective, this may make him to be identified as a Southerner, Northerner, urbanite, a rustic, a member of the educated or uneducated classes and may even indicate whether he wishes to appear friendly or distant, familiar or differential, superior or inferior. Just as intelligibility presupposes fundamental rules of grammar, the communication of social information presupposes the existence of regular relationships between language usage and social structure. Before one can judge a speaker's social intent, he/she must know something about the norms defining the appropriateness of linguistically acceptable alternates for particular types of speakers. Norms vary among subgroups and among social settings, wherever the relationships between language choice and rules of social appropriateness can be formalized, they allow the teacher and learners to group relevant linguistic forms into distinct dialects, styles, and occupational or other special parlances. From the observation, the following literary and knowledge were valued in the course Dialectology which establishes the importance of social factors in language change. The distribution of rural speech patterns was found to be directly related to such factors as political boundaries during the preceding centuries, traditional market works among others. Diversity at the neighborhood level is bridged by the significantly broader spread of superposed varieties, serving as media of communication within the locality; this aspect was also valued in the class (Gee, 2004). Special parlance and classical languages were not highly valued in the course, while other scholars dealt with the languages of occupationally specialized minority group, craft jargons, secret argots, and the like. In some cases, such as the Romany of the gypsies and the Yiddish of Jews, these parlances derive from foreign importations which survive as linguistic islands surrounded by other tongues. Their speakers tend to be bilingual as Aristotle wrote learning is a natural pleasure, it is does not conform to philosophers alone but it’s also not common to all men "(Samovar & Porter, 2001) Linguistic acculturation was highly discouraged because it leads to the development of a non existence language. Wherever two or more speech communities maintain prolonged contact within a broad field of communication, there are crosscurrents of diffusion. The result is the formation of a Sprachbund, comprising a group of varieties which coexist in social space as dialects, distinct neighboring languages, or special parlances. Persistent borrowing over long periods creates within such groups’ similarities in linguistic structure, which tend to obscure preexisting genetic distinctions. Another language aspect that is discouraged is varietal distribution, superposed and dialectal varieties rarely coincide in their geographical extent. The largest quantity of linguistic variety is found at the level of local, tribal, peasant, or lower class urban populations. IV. Evaluation/suggestions To complement past emphasis on understanding other cultures, the area of intercultural communication in business requires a stronger focus on understanding oneself. Cultural uniqueness is the individual’s sense of self which is got from formal or informal membership in groups that pass on and inculcate knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life. A broad conception of cultural identity should not favor nationalities but should balance components related to vocation, class, geography, philosophy, language, and the social aspects of biology. There is enough cultural prominence in the course , given that the class is composed of students from different nationality and professions ,the classes evokes a rich and diverse environment that allows cultural teaching to take place. According to Fong (2004) culture is entangled with power and privilege, affected by close associations, and negotiated through communication, all these aspects can be found in this class. The model of cultural identity, shows components which are directly related to business, such as economic class and professional affiliation, and demonstrates how culture not only connects people but also defines them as unique individuals. This model can expand research and make teaching in intercultural business communication richer. "An essential aim of studies on language, communication, and culture using ethnography of communication approach is to make implicit cultural beliefs, attitudes, values, norms of interpretation, rules of speaking, norms of interpretation, and so forth explicit in order to understand and to practice communication competence within a particular culture." (Mary Fong, 2006 pg 217) To improve students on matters of culture requires that more time is spent with the instructors and also with students from different cultural backgrounds so as to make them acquainted with the different cultural values and help them in their interactions. In addition, students ought to have material on compact disks and also form groups which have people with a good command of the language that they are studying and thus aid them in being conversant with the language. The Chinese have a saying, "By nature all men are alike, but by education widely different.” (Samovar & Porter, 2001).The teaching atmosphere could also be changed and made more interesting, this would make students have less pressure in their studies (Gee, 2004). References Byram ,M & Michaela F. (1998)Language Learning in Intercultural /Perspective, London: Cambridge University Press. Gee, J.P. (2004). Situated Language and Learning: a critique of traditional schooling. New York, NY: Routledge Gudykunst, W.B & Lee, C.M. (2003). Cross-Cultural Communication Theories. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. International Language Institute. English as a second language, accessed on from http://www.transemantics.com/about.html on 9th April 2010 Fong, M. (2006). The Nexus of Language, Communication and Culture. In L. Samovar & R.E Porter & E.R McDaniel (Ed), Intercultural Communication: A Reader (pp. 214 – 221). Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education Klyukanov, I.E. (2005). Principles of Intercultural Communication. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Scollon, R & Scollon, S.W. (2001). Intercultural communication: a discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Read More