Benefits of Teaching Culture and Language

Benefits of Teaching Culture and Language Definition of culture Culture (from the Latin â€Å"cutura† stemming from colre meaning â€Å"to cultivate†) generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance. â€Å"Farhang†, meaning culture, has always been the focal point of Iranian civilization. Values (the ideas about what in life seems important), norms (expectations of how people will behave in various situations), institutions (the structure of a society), and artifacts (things or aspects of material culture, which derive from values and norms) are four components of culture (Wikipedia, 2009). The culture of a people refers to all aspects of shared life in community. Children growing up in a social group learn ways of doing things, ways of expressing themselves, ways of looking at things, what things they should value and what things they should despise or avoid, what is expected of them and what they may expect of others. We can define culture from different points of view. But the most common definition of culture among several scholars is what Haddley (2003) have in his book â€Å"Teaching Language in Context†. She tries to classify aspects of culture into two groups. The first group is the best in human life. This is what is called Big-C culture. Literature, music, art, etc. fall into this category. The second group is everything in human life. This is called the small-c culture. This category includes the way people eat, dress, and behaves in their society. The importance of studying culture There are many benefits that people can obtain from studying culture. It is useful for understanding the people of other cultures and also one’s own culture (Kitao, 1991). It can also help us to be more tolerant (Saz as cited in De Gordon, 2007). Dominant thoughts in the societies during the history, the way people look at the world, living manners and different forms of socializing, enculturation and like that lead us to a better understanding and appreciation of economic affairs. According to various developments in the world we can say that although the content and form of culture may change, it never fade away. (Pahlavan, 2003). Culture has been studied under different sciences and fields of study and this can show the importance of culture by dealing with this phenomenon. Culture and language In this section we will come to a wider area and look at the culture with respect to the relation it may have to the concept of language. As usual in this section we will divide these relationships into different sections according to what different scholars believe. There are three kinds of relationship determined between culture and language. The structure of a language determines the way in which speakers of that language view the world. The culture of a people finds reflection in the language they employ. Cultural requirements certainly influence how a language used and perhaps determines why specific bits and pieces are the way they are. A neutral: there is little or no relationship between language and culture (Wardaugh, 1993) Culture and L2/FL Teaching and learning Although some teachers think that the present of culture in current writings is relative recent, a review of the L2/FL literature shows that this is clearly not the case. The early ages were the time people learned an L2/FL for the purpose of reading and studying its literature. Literature is categorized as the high culture or the best in human life (brook, 1975, as cited in Haddley 2003, p.361). The next stage of concerning with culture is the era of Audio-lingual. This is the era of communication goals in language teaching and the time the emphasis is on the â€Å"little c culture†. In 1970s, the communicative competence replaced the audio-lingual method. In this new paradigm a more natural integration of language and culture takes place through a communicative approach than a more grammatically base approach (Lessard-Clouston, 1997). Why teach culture In the previous section we saw that the relationship between language and culture is undeniable. Despite this certain fact we should think of the implication of this reality in a real situation. Therefore, we raise another question regarding the importance of teaching culture and why a teacher should teach culture in the classroom. In order to fully learn a foreign language, an individual needs to understand the culture that goes along with it. What follow are some of the reasons for teaching culture in the classroom. Giving the students a reason to study the target language. Help in teaching grammar: relating abstract sounds and forms of a language to real places and people. In achieving high motivation, culture classes does have a great role because learners like culturally based activities such as singing, dancing, role playing, doing research on countries and people, etc. It gives learners a liking for the native speakers of the target language. Culture studies have a humanizing and a motivating effect on the language learner and the learning process. They help learners observe similarities and differences among various cultural groups. Teaching culture (intercultural learning) Many people have shown their own contribution to the issue of relation between culture and L2/FL learning as well as the role of culture in learning/teaching a language in the classroom. Almost every book in the area of language learning has a chapter in teaching culture. Chastain (1987) maintains that language is used to convey meaning, but meaning is determined by culture. One of the major hurdles to the successful implementation of culture goals in language classes revolves around attitudes. Brown (2000) also has some points in this area: It is apparent that culture as an integrated set of behaviors and modes of perception, becomes highly important in the learning of an L2. The two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture. Dimitrios Thanasoulas (2001) says that the teaching of culture should become an integral part of foreign language instruction. Culture should be our message to students and language our medium. Teachers should present students with a true picture or representation of another culture and language. Baker (2003) believes that culture has become an increasingly integrated component of English language teaching in recent years. He argues that the root of integrating culture in language learning processes come from the theory of communicative competence delivered by Hymes (1972, as cited in Haddley, 2000, pp.3-5). In this theory communicative competence involves an understanding of the norms of social interaction of one socio-cultural community. This concept of communicative competence is called intercultural communicative competence. Central to the notion of intercultural communicative competence is cultural awareness. Culture and language teaching methods From the early stages of teaching language a lot of methods have been discovered by methodologists and researchers with different points of view towards second language teaching and learning. I’ll investigate several methodologies and their approach to culture and its relationship with language teaching and learning. Grammar-translation method: a fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read its literature. Direct method: culture consists of more than the fine arts (students study cultural values). Audio-lingual method: culture consists of the everyday behavior and lifestyle of the target language speakers. Language cannot be separated from culture. Silent Way method: they believe that culture, as reflected in students unique world view, is inseparable from their language. Suggestopedia: it says that the culture which students learn concerns the everyday life of people who speak the language. The use of fine arts (music, art and drama) enables suggestions to reach the subconscious. Community language learning: it believes in integrating the culture with language. Total Physical Response: says that culture is the life style of people who speak the target language natively. In Communicative Language Teaching: culture is the life style of people who use the language natively. The cultural-communicative learning paradigm: â€Å"learning a language is learning a culture. Intercultural competence Intercultural competence is an enormously popular concept nowadays, its content being discussed in a great variety of contexts. It is not possible to arrive at one particular definition of the concept it is always contextually determined, colored by the latest discourses on competence, culture, communication, language, etc (Risager, 2000). Looking for a comprehensive definition of this phrase, we encounter a lot of different ideas and various definitions. By Alvino E. Fantini (1997) a basic definition of intercultural competence includes: The fundamental acceptance of people who are different to oneself outside one’s own culture. The ability to interact with them in a genuinely constructive manner which is free of negative attitude (e.g. prejudice, defensiveness, apathy, aggression etc.) The ability to create a synthesis, something which is neither â€Å"mine† nor â€Å"yours†, but which is new and would not have been possible had we not combined our different background and approaches (www.kwintessential.co.uk, 2009). Penn State (2009) has also â€Å"A simple definition†: â€Å"the abilities to perform effectively and appropriately with members of another language-culture background on their terms. And finally, In essence intercultural competence can be summed up as the ability to work well across cultures. Culture in Foreign Language Curriculum A major goal of foreign language instruction is to increase students’ literacy in languages other than their own, thereby also increasing literacy in that culture. The concept of literacy encompasses the students ability to read with understanding, to write with clarity and accuracy, to understand what is heard, and to speak comprehensibly with accurate grammar and pronunciation. To communicate successfully in another language, students develop facility, with the language, familiarity with the culture that use the language, and awareness of the ways in which language and culture interact in society. Reaching this point is central to developing literacy in any language. Two aspects of culture appropriate to be included in the foreign language curriculum are: first, the society’s production of art, music, and literature, and second, the social conventions of that society’s members. Culture in the classroom Now it is the time to come to the classroom and investigate culture related to the requirements of the class: Foreign Language Teachers and Foreign Language Learners. Culture and language teachers Traditionally, language teachers have listed culture as one of the five principal objectives of second language study. Attaching the same value to culture as to each of the four language skills is no surprise because of its importance in the development of global awareness and international understanding, in being able to function in the second language society, and in stimulating and maintaining students’ interests and motivation. The primary goal and dominant focus of attention in most classes continues to be language, to the detriment of achieving desirable cultural objectives. As conclusion to this, the teacher ought to be able to describe and assess his or her own intercultural competence. A foreign language teacher should be able to: Understand the contributions and lifestyles of the various cultural groups Recognize and deal with dehumanizing biases, discrimination, and prejudices Create learning environments that contribute to the self-esteem of all persons and all positive interpersonal relations Respect human diversity and personal rights (Lafayette, 1979, p. 132). Some authors do recommend placing the greater emphasis on culture. What these authors are advocating is an organized, systematic presentation of the major characteristics of the second language culture that will lead students to an understanding and an appreciation of the culture. In many regards, culture is taught implicitly, imbedded in the linguistic forms that students are learning. To make students aware of the cultural features reflected in the language, teachers can make those cultural features an explicit topic of discussion in relation to the linguistic forms being studied. It is important for a language teacher as an influential figure in the class to be interculturally aware and responsive. Teachers should be aware of and sensitive to the cultural differences (Valdes, 1986), and its influences on students’ growth and learning. They should also be aware of their own cultural values and beliefs (Wang, 2006). Culture and language learners One of the principal reasons for stressing culture in language classes has to do with the students. They are extremely interested in the people who speak the language they are studying (Chastain, 1987). A program which seeks to develop systematic progress in cultural understanding side by side with growing mastery of the language will ensure that the language learners are able to communicate with the speakers of the language in the fullest sense of the word. Intercultural contact is both a means and an end in second language studies. It is impossible to identify the specific ethnic and cultural groups that represent native speakers of the language. As a result, in order to investigate the role of the intercultural contact in foreign language learning environments, we first need to explore what kind of contact students of foreign languages have with home and how frequently, what attitudes they display and how they see the role of contact in language learning. It appears that favorable contact leads to the discovery of cultural similarity and of our common humanity. Then, contact will improve attitudes (Piage R. M., et al., 1998).

Modern and Traditional Families

Have modern families changed over the past few generations, or have people remained the same in playing each of their own leading gender role responsibilities in modern families? Some statistics show that times have now changed in spite of the man’s perception of women being stay at home mothers to their children. In addition, women can also be the breadwinner in their families rather than the father going to work. In fact, traditional families in contrast with modern families have exponentially changed as time has passed.To better understand the context of this paper I will discuss the differences and similarities between modern and traditional mothers. In my opinion I believe there are three key important responsibilities in a traditional and modern family childcare, education, and healthcare. In addition, there are various things to consider when taking care of child. For example, in the article of â€Å"The Men We Carry in our Minds,† by Russell Sanders, realizes as a young lad that hard working men like his father would have to go to work leaving his mother to stay at home and take care of young Russell.Secondly, in the story Russell talks about men and realizes that men can sometimes be overbearing and view power, competency, efficiency and achievement more importantly (Sanders, R. 1984). To cite another example, in early human history women were frowned upon to tend to their kids because of the high death rate which consequently led mothers to take the task of nurturing their children at home. (Henslin, J. M. 2009). In contrast, there are some moderate differences between modern and traditional mothers in childcare and education.Even though, we live in a modern time there has been a 16% percent increase in traditional mothers still taking care of their children. In addition, studies done in a class group together found that younger parents, as opposed to older parents, were placed in the 73 percent and placing traditional mothers at 86 perc ent. On the other hand, educating a child is equally important so the parents must decide how they will educate their children; in traditional families it is usually the mother who tends to educate the children.For example, one of the parents  may feel more strongly about supervision, discipline, and education to the child, In particular, the same cannot be said about modern parents. In fact, the reason being is because there has been a 13% percent decrease in modern mother taking care of their children because of work related problems. (See Appendix, in Figure 1). Furthermore, healthcare is another major form of responsibility for the mothers. In most households it is usually the mothers that are left behind to fend for their child throughout the first forty days of the baby being born.Moreover, this may sometimes abrupt verbal disputes, misunderstandings, and communication problems about how they want to raise their child. In Addition, one of the parents may feel stronger about the habits and health of the child. (Neuman. F, 2013). In the same way, modern mothers are taking the leading role in taking care of the child’s health. In comparison, between modern and traditional mothers people are still see a declining percentage in modern parents in regards to caregiving and healthcare. So people can conclude that there are some negative changes in modern families even though women still tend to the children.There are two more additional factors in a household that must be decided when it comes to providing for the family. This leads to the second question in the matter of who will work, and who will be in charge of balancing the books as well as paying the bills. Modern and traditional mothers have always had the capability of working, paying bills, and balance check books, but because of the plain definition and meaning of the word â€Å"gender† has some biological adherence, and has resulted in mothers being socially deemed incapable. (Henslin, J. M. 2009) Whereas today, modern mothers are now less likely to be stay at home mothers.In contrast, modern mothers today, rather than traditional, have drastically changed and can now multitask just as well as fathers. For example, mothers today can now pay bills, work, and balance check books without the help of the father. In fact, people are now seeing mothers today playing the role of the breadwinner a lot more. Lastly, families are still seeing traditional and modern mother cleaning and doing most of the household duties around the house. Modern and traditional families are now noticing a slight differential change in mother helping outside of the home.Although, there has been a small change in modern and traditional mother helping their families outside of the home. For instance, cutting the grass, or fixing the fence, and repairing things around the house. As a result, mothers today are more open to the meaning of household duties. In conclusion, to the discussion presente d in this paper people can conclude that traditional mothers in comparison with modern mothers today have a higher percentage rate in childcare, wage earnings, and household duties rather than modern mother.All in all, I truly believe that it is very important for families to have equality in order to have functional family. In addition, I still believe men should strive to do more for their other half’s. In my opinion there has been a greater significant change over the past generations in mothers, Ultimately, it seems that modern families have relatively remained the same, and traditional families have continuously increased over the past generations.

Womens Right to Vote due to Their Contribution to the War...

Womens Right to Vote due to Their Contribution to the War Effort In 1918 a major milestone was reached in the fight for womens equality rights, this was women being granted suffrage by the government. During the physical endurance of the four years of the war, women proving themselves equal to men, they were rewarded the vote. The Electoral Reform bill was passed which granted voting rights to all female property owners over 30. Some historians say women were never given the vote; it was hard fought for and won. Many historians believe the war to be a turning point because not only did it seal womens victory over the government it secured their status in society as an equivalent to men. Womens†¦show more content†¦Most girls did not get an education. Married womens duty was to obey her husband. There was no occupations open to women other than menial work, such as maids and cleaners. Women wanted to escape the stereotyped image of women and create a new identity, where women have freedom socially, politically and economically and equal rights. Hence these were the beginning stages of womens suffrage when women realized their diminutive power legally and image in society where they were denied economic and social independence. Progressively women were forming groups that campaigned for womens rights. There were over 500 different branches campaigning solely for liberation. A woman called Millicent Fawcett brought together the chain of disparate groups, uniting them under one front. Therefore becoming politically stronger and gaining crucial recognition. In 1897 Millicent Fawcett formed the National Union of Womens Suffrage, and took on the role as leader and leading icon for women. Members of the NUWSS were mainly middle and working class women, men who believed in the franchise were encouraged and endorsed to join. The NUWSS aspired to expand the rights of women as well as improve society as a whole. Millicent believed gaining the vote will be a long, slow process, as it is impossible to change the hearts of men over night.Show MoreRelatedWomens Right to Vote Due to Their Contribution to the War Effort799 Words   |  4 PagesWomens Right to Vote Due to Their Contribution to the War Effort In August 1914 Britaindeclared war on Germany. Both the suffragettes and suffragists suspended their campaigns. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, the government ordered the unconditional release of all suffrage prisoners. On August 13, Emmeline Pankhurst called a temporary suspension to militancy and asked her followers to support her in the war effort. 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Whilst some historians argue that the women’s work during WWI in factories and other work programmes radically changed male ideas about their role in society other traditional historians suggest that the government passing the legislation to give women the vote in 1918 was almost a reward for their efforts I believe that this explanation tooRead MoreFactors Leading to Womens Suffrage Essay1089 Words   |  5 PagesLeading to Womens Suffrage I personally think that it was not only the war that got women the vote, but it was a large factor. An argument against this is that other issues post war and suffragette activity that gained women the vote. When war broke out it had a huge impact on Britain economically and politically. Industry Trade Unions became extremely powerful and a woman voting was at the bottom of the government’s list of priorities. During the war, women playedRead MoreHow Did The First World War Change The Role Of Women?1277 Words   |  6 PagesTo what extent did the First World War change the role of women in British society in the years during and immediately after the conflict? In the lead up to the First World War, the suffrage movement was making significant advances towards the enfranchisement of British women. This would give women a voice in the affairs of the government and greater control over their own lives. By 1914, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) had 52,000 members and attracted annual donationsRead MoreWorld War One: Canadas Efforts1606 Words   |  6 PagesWorld War One: Canada’s Efforts While The Great War may seem like a global effort it can largely still be considered as a forced war upon certain countries participation. A war that reinforces the idea of group efforts and strength in numbers highlights contribution of certain countries, focused on Canada’s encouraged aid. The Great War efforts of Canada may leave room for assumptions and questioning. A prominent theme through out the First World War chapter found in each of the readings, primaryRead MoreTake A Moment And Think:For How Long Did Women Have Suffrage,1577 Words   |  7 Pages Take a moment and think: For how long did women have suffrage, the right to vote, in America? At first, one would think it has been around for quite a long time, since voting is seen as a basic human right. In reality, women’s suffrage has only been officially around for less than a century, as the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920 (history.house.gov). In present day society, not many people think about how little time has passed since the amendmentRead MoreWomens Rights Movement1336 Words   |  6 PagesThe Women’s Rights Movement Women’s Suffrage is a subject that could easily be considered a black mark on the history of the United States. The entire history of the right for women to vote takes many twists and turns but eventually turned out alright. This paper will take a look at some of these twists and turns along with some of the major figures involved in the  suffrage  movement.   The first recorded instance in American history where a woman demanded the right to vote was in 1647. MargaretRead MoreWomen s Suffrage By Susan B. Anthony1724 Words   |  7 Pagesbaying the moon as petitioners without the right to vote!† These were the famous words of a key leader in the women’s Suffrage Movement, Susan B. Anthony. In the past, the rights guaranteed to men were not applied to women, and therefore caused great injustice. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that women started to take a stand and fight for their voting rights. As a result, these actions caused a positive impact in our country and now, women have equal rights as men, as it should. There are some that

Report on Economists Make That Statement That There is No Such Thing as Free Lunch

A well-known saying â€Å"There is no such thing as a free lunch† belongs to Milton Friedman, Nobel Peace Prize winner in Economic Sciences (Tucker, 2008, p. 27).   This phrase poses a key question whether or not something can be free.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Free lunch† appeared during a period in history when bars and saloons in America started attracting their customers by offering them free lunch (Riley, 2006). Obviously, they sacrificed money for lunch knowing about the trade-off on drinks their customers would order. It refers to such economic concepts like opportunity cost and scarcity of resources. In addition, it is important to understand that monetary payment is not the indicator, because if an individual does not have to pay for lunch from his own pocket, there is always a person, company, institution or government that has to pay for it (Mankiw, 2010, p. 45). Thus, the famous saying does not imply only the trade-off of those who offer free lunch. Therefore, there is truly no such thing as â€Å"free lunch† in the world of scarce resources and unlimited wants and needs people always make choices, and there is always an opportunity cost involved that is imposed on others. Opportunity Cost and Choice Limited resources and limited income of individuals clearly shows that people cannot buy all they want while their desires and needs are infinite. When people want to buy new clothes with a limited budget, they inevitably have to choose one piece of clothing over the other. Due to the time pressure individuals are unable to do everything they want at the same time. For this reason choice between different alternatives must be always made (Tucker, 2008, p. 34). If you decide to go hiking for a weekend, you will not have an opportunity to prepare for history exam, or take an additional shift at work to earn extra cash. In this way the opportunity cost of hiking consists of extra cash that could have been earned and study time needed to prepare for the history exam. Scarce resources, money, and time apply to the concept of opportunity cost. Choice always implies choosing one product over the other, one service or the alternative one. Therefore, the opportunity cost of any purchase or action is what an individual must give up when making the choice (Riley, 2006). If Peter decided to buy a new necklace for his girlfriend, he spent the money and lost the chance to buy her flowers or invite her for a dinner. Each decision is a sacrifice and a problem of choice. In this case the opportunity cost for Peter is the value of the next best opportunity. The price of the necklace represents the purchase price, but the true cost of his decision is the opportunity cost of a choice he has not made. The concept of opportunity cost also involves explicit and implicit costs. For example, â€Å"How much does it cost to travel to India for two weeks?† Explicit costs for the trip are direct costs like tickets, taxi, hotel, and restaurant. These costs require a money payment. However, explicit costs are only the surface of an iceberg, and are insignificant comparing to the value of time spent on the two-way flight, two weeks of leisure, and excursions in India. Instead of spending two weeks abroad the student could have worked and earned more money. It represents the implicit costs of vacation in India, because these costs do not require a money payment. While the opportunity costs is the sum of both explicit and implicit costs (Mankiw, 2010, p. 62). Furthermore according to Riley (2006), the concept of scarcity implies inability of producing another good after producing one. If government spends money, employs staff and spends time for producing free food for homeless or low-income people, the opportunity of producing another good is lost, since scarce resources and time already have been used. Homeless people acquire free lunch without any payment. From their standpoint it is free. However, economics is not the science studying separate individuals. Recourses and time spend on charity incurs the opportunity cost on government that could have used these resources on building of additional kindergartens, schools, providing better healthcare services, hiring more staff to clean the roads and lakes, or planting additional trees in the parks. In this case tax-payers are those who pay for a â€Å"free lunch†, and from their viewpoint it is not free. Possible Exceptions Despite the common understanding of â€Å"free lunch† idea, there are those who believe that free goods exist and do not impose any opportunity cost on anybody.   For example, many bars and cafes offer their customers second cup of coffee for free. It is a marketing technique to attract more people and make more profit. It also does not mean that the first cup of coffee increased in price to include the cost of the second one. Usually it implies the trade-off that bar and cafà © owners make on pastry and cakes that customers usually buy together with the coffee (Mankiw, 2010). It is a psychological trick. People think they save money one a cup of coffee and for this reason can spend money on something else. Those who do not believe in â€Å"free lunch† would claim that first of all, the additional cost is already included in the mark-up for pastry, and secondly, even if customers do not pay for one cup of coffee, they still spends time that could have been used to wo rk overtime or go to the zoo with their children. Conclusion When discussing the famous phrase of economists, it is important to realize that â€Å"There is no such thing as a free lunch† does not mean that society cannot get anything for free without paying for it. The concepts of scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost help understanding this idea clearly. In our world individuals choose between different alternatives and are forced to make sacrifices. The money spent on a plasma tv cannot buy a snowboard. Even if your friend pays for dinner and you get your meal for free, it does not make your food free. The cost of your dinner imposes additional opportunity cost on the friend, who could have spent this money on a toy for his child. References Mankiw, N. G. (2010). Macroeconomics(7th ed.). Worth Publishers. Riley, J. (2006). Scarcity and Choice in Resource Allocation. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/as-markets-scarcity-and-choice.html Tucker, I. B. (2008). Survey of Economics (6th ed.). South-Western College Pub.