Editorial
This article was presented at the 2009 IATEFL Conference.

Aren’t Language Teachers Too Concerned About Cultural Issues?

Mandana Arfa Kaboodvand, Iran

Mandana Arfa Kaboodvand is a PhD student of TESOL at the University of Exeter, UK. She is also a lecturer at Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran and has been teaching English to both young and adult learners for 23 years. Her main areas of interest are teaching English to YLs and culture- related issues in language teaching.
E-mail: m_arfa@yahoo.com

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Abstract
Introduction
The survey: part 1
The survey: part 1
Conclusion
References
Appendix

Abstract

In order to investigate the attitude of ordinary people towards culturally inappropriate behavior in real social contexts, a small survey with 2 sections was carried out, which could be the basis of a more elaborate research in the area of culture and language teaching. The findings so far show that the respondents who were all adults and educated were quite tolerant of cultural mistakes that non-native speakers made.

Introduction

There is no denying that the more one knows about the speech community; and therefore, the culture of the country whose language he/she is learning, the more confident the person would be and the easier the communication between her/him and the members of the new community would become. Numerous researches have also verified the importance of cultural literacy and cultural awareness (Johnson, 2005; Qing & Maley, 2008; Nikitina & Furuoka, 2009). However, cultural issues are too vast to be completely covered in every language class. There are certain questions, though, the answers to which could facilitate the process of acculturation or at least make it more realistic and possibly less demanding for both teachers and learners. The first question one might ask is how far should language teachers, elaborate on the relevant issues and what should they expect from their students at different age and proficiency levels? Does/should cultural awareness lead to cognitive reconstruction? Does/should it only lead to awareness, with little effect on changing behavior? Teachers hope that learners would not experience culture shock, but does that mean that the non-native speakers should act like the residents of the community they have moved to? Do they expect that from themselves and do the others expect this from them? There is no one to one relationship between a culture and a language, so, for example when teaching English, which culture should we base our work on when teaching a language? Do people outside the class really have issues with intercultural communication and is it understandable and justifiable to native speakers, that a NNS may make cultural mistakes?

In order to investigate these and the whole issue of culture, a small scale survey with 2 parts was carried out, which basically scrutinized the answer to the last question and could be the basis of a long term research with a bigger population to examine the degree of importance of teaching different cultural issues in language classes and based on the findings, maybe the answer to some of the other questions concerning culture can be sought.

The survey: part 1

As for the first part a questionnaire (appendix) was prepared and distributed among 30 people from different nationalities, living in a variety of countries out of their own homelands. It dealt with their experiences with and their impressions of culture of the new community they were living in. Table 1 shows the distribution of the age and gender of the population under study.

Table 1

The first 2 questions dealt with what these people’s concept of culturally inappropriate behavior was and what they considered to be a minor mistake and also what they believed to be a major one. The reason for including these 2 questions was to find out whether different people shared the same views about cultural misconduct and whether, they were aware of the unacceptable types of behavior. Here are some typical examples put forth in the questionnaires.

• Asking personal questions on first meetings
• Kissing (who, how many)
• Invading personal space
• Being Too blunt/ too indirect
• Standing /not standing on ceremony
• Standing/ not standing up for teachers, elderly
• Taking/not taking off shoes in the houses
• Tipping whom, how much)
• Prejudices in general (including racist remarks)

It should be highlighted that people did not share the same opinion about which of the above mentioned examples were considered minor and which ones were major misconducts.

Questions 3 and 4 dealt with the reaction of the respondents themselves in the likely event of encountering cultural insensitivity towards the cultural issues of the speech community of their origin, the answers to which can be seen in the table below.

Table 2

1 Stop the person immediately and explain/somehow show my disapproval

Question 5 examined how much the respondents paid attention to cultural issues in the new setting they were living in, in their daily lives. Considering the fact that all of the people who filled in the questionnaire were either students or had university degrees and were above 18, the expectation was that they would be particularly conscious about them; and would therefore, take them seriously. 9 of the respondents declared that they paid a lot of attention, while 20 said to some extent, and there was one person who paid only a little attention. As can be seen, it turned out that cultural issues were paid attention to by the majority. There was no one who completely ignored culture.

In answer to questions 6 and 7 all of the respondents admitted that they had been in situations in which either they or their friends had committed culture-related mistakes. They were asked to provide their stories. Based on what these people have said it can be assumed that the type of culturally inappropriate behavior these respondents have exhibited can be categorized as both verbal (leading to breaking down in communication) and non verbal and either well tolerated by the host community or not very well tolerated by them.

Then the next question meant to find out how the respondents had felt after having made those mistakes and to see whether they had become embarrassed or had coped with the situation decently.

The most frequent answer was feeling embarrassed, but at the same time being able to handle the situation. There was only one person who said that he had not cared at all. 7 people had been very embarrassed and 9 had handled the situation with no shame and thought that it was natural for foreigners to make mistakes. Of course, 1 person did not know and 1 person had been a bit uncomfortable.

Apparently, the next question (question 9) should have been the kind of reaction the natives had had towards these non-natives when the mistake had been committed. The most frequent answers were being treated nicely, but receiving and explanation about the unacceptability of the situation (11 people), and the natives being ok and just explaining the reason for the awkwardness of the situation. 4 said that they had been made fun of and 2 have said they had been treated with disrespect.

Then based on this limited data it can be assumed that:

• in most cases culturally inappropriate behavior is better tolerated than is generally expected and this is regardless of where the host country is and/or the nationality of the non-natives.
• in some cases the people who had committed the mistake had been more uncomfortable than the people of the host country.

The survey: part 2

In the second part of the survey 10 educated Iranian adults who lived in Tehran and had never lived abroad were interviewed concerning their reactions to cultural issues and their tolerance towards culturally inappropriate behavior and misconduct.

• What would you think/do if a foreigner who knew some Farsi_ the native language of Iran_ committed a language/cultural mistake? What if the mistake was culturally an awkward one? Would you be offended? Would you try to explain the situation to him? Would you laugh at him? Would you take it easy? Would it matter to you which country the foreigner came from?

1. They all said they would not be offended if they were sure the mistake was not made intentionally. They all agreed that they would be very happy to see someone trying to learn Farsi and would not be offended if that person made even serious mistakes both verbal and non verbal.
2. They all mentioned they would try to find suitable ways for clarifying the situation to that person if the mistake resulted in an embarrassing situation; otherwise they would not even mention it. 5 of them admitted that later they might talk about it to other people and crack a joke about the mistake and laugh, but that would not really mean that they were making fun of the non native.
3. They believed that nationality did not matter, but all of them expected that people from the neighboring countries and those with similar cultural backgrounds should be more sensitive and pay more attention.

In addition, based on the findings provided here, it can be assumed that the following points do matter when considering cultural issues and the tolerance of people towards them.

• The host country’s language: If the language is not an international or a widely used one then at least educated people tend to tolerate the mistakes better, because they value the efforts of the foreigner in learning their language.
• The way the foreigner looks (compared to the natives of the land he/she is in)
• The attitude of the people of the host country towards the nationality of the non-native

Conclusion

Even though sensitivity to cultural matters is really important and as a large number of researches have also clarified that creating awareness of both similarities and differences between cultures is necessary and valuable, it seems that cultural misconduct as far it is taken as unintentional and with no hidden purpose is well tolerated by at least the educated people in a community and maybe promoting this awareness is vital. Therefore, it is essential that awareness of other cultures and sensitivity towards them be taught to all people, whether learning a new language or not, and promoted in all communities by all educators including language teachers.

References

Alptekin, C. & Aleptkin, M. (1984) The Question of Culture: EFL teaching in non_ English speaking countries, ELT Journal 38/1

Asraf, R M. (1997) “The Cultural Implications of Teaching English as a Second Language or Foreign Language”, Muslim Education Quarterly, Vol. 14 No. 4

Hinkel, E. (ed) (1999), Culture in Second Language teaching and Learning, NY: CUP

Johnson, D. (2005) Teaching Culture in Adult ESL: Pedagogical and Ethical Considerations, TESL-EJ, Volume 9, Number 1, pp.1-12

Kramsch, C. (1998), Language and Culture, Oxford: OUP

Nikitina, L & Furuoka, F. (2009), Teacher-Student Relationship and the Conceptualization of the “Good Language Teacher”: Does Culture Matter?, The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, Volume 11, Issue 2, pp.163-187

Qing, G & Maley, A. (2008), Changing Places: A Study of Chinese Students in the UK. Language and Intercultural Communication Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 224-245,
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14708470802303025

Valdes, M. J. (ed) (1995), Culture Bound Bridging the gap in cultural gap in language teaching, NY: CUP

Yan, G. (2008), A Process Approach to Teaching Culture, English Teaching Professional, Issue 59

Appendix

This questionnaire deals with cultural issues and the problems, discomforts or situations that either you or someone you know may have encountered while living in a foreign country. I will be very thankful if you take some time to answer it. (In the questionnaire, verbal cultural mistakes are those that are related to the use of language (speaking, understanding and writing) and non-verbal ones can be about rites, rituals, body language, etc.) Please send the completed questionnaires in the form of an attachment to my e-mail address at: m_arfa@iauctb.ac.ir.

General information
The country that you originally come from/The country you feel you culturally belong to __________
The foreign country you are living/have lived in __________
Age a. between 18_300 □ b. between 31-600 □ c. above 600 □
Gender a. f □ b. m □
Culture-related Questions

1. Please give at least one example of what you consider to be a minor cultural mistake.
   __________________________________________
2. Please give at least one example of what you consider to be a major cultural mistake.
   __________________________________________
3. In all honesty what do you do/think you will normally do if someone who is not necessarily your friend, makes a minor cultural mistake in your own community or in the community that you are living in at the moment? (You may choose more than one answer, but if you do please justify your choices.)
   1. I will make fun of her/him right into his face. □
   2. I will make fun of her/him, but after she/he has left. □
   3. I will explain to her/him what mistake she/he has made. □
   4. I tell myself that she/he is a foreigner and do nothing. □
   5. I would not care at all. □
   6. others_________________________________
4. In all honesty what do you do/think you will do if someone who is not necessarily your friend, makes a major cultural mistake in your own community or in the community that you are living in at the moment? (You may choose more than one answer, but if you do please justify your choices.)
   1. I will make fun of her/him right into his face. □
   2. I will make fun of her/him, but after she/he has left. □
   3. I will explain to her/him what mistake she0he has made. □
   4. I tell myself that she/he is a foreigner and do nothing. □
   5. I would not care at all. □
   6. Others_______________________________
5. Do/did you pay attention to cultural issues altogether, particularly in the new setting that you live/ have lived in?
   1. a lot □
   2. to some extent □
   3. a little □
   4. not at all □
6. Have you ever been in a situation in which you committed a cultural mistake? (verbal or non verbal)?
   1. yes □
   2. no □
   3. I don’t remember □
   If yes, elaborate. Write of one incident.
   _____________________________________________________
7. If no, have you encountered a situation in which someone else made a cultural mistake?
   1. yes □
   2. no □
   3. I don’t remember □
   If yes, elaborate. (If you have already answered question 7, you do not need to answer this question.)
   ____________________________________________
   If your answers to questions 6 and 7 were not yes, you do not need to continue filling the questionnaire. Thank you for having taken the time to read so far.
8. How did you/your friend, who had made the mistake, feel at that moment when the mistake was made?
   1. I/my friend was very embarrassed. □
   2. I/my friend was cool with it and thought that it was natural for a foreigner to make mistakes. □
   3. I/my friend was embarrassed, but was able to somehow handle the situation. □
   4. I/my friend felt nothing special. □
   5. I don’t remember. □
   6. I don’t know. □
   7. Others______________________________________________
9. How did the other people react towards you/your friend in the above-mentioned case?
   1. They treated me nicely, but explained to me that what I had said/done was unacceptable in their culture. □
   2. They behaved unkindly and treated me with disrespect. □
   3. They told me they were offended and did not do anything else. □
   4. They were ok and just explained to me about the awkwardness of the situation. □
   5. They made fun of me. □
   6. They showed no reaction. □
   7. Others____________________________________________________

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