Section A   Mini  lecture

Classifications of cultures:

       Good morning everyone, today we’ll look at culture or rather classifications of cultures. Usually when we deal with different people, we deal with them as if we were all members of the same culture. However, it’s possible that people from different cultures have different assumptions about the world, regarding such important and basic ideas as time, personal space. And this is the view of Edward Hall. And Edward Hall is an anthropologist who spent a large part of his life studying American Indians, their culture, their language, but he was different from a lot of other anthropologists who just study one culture. He was interested in the relations between cultures, how cultures interact, what Hall believes is that cultures can be classified by placing them on a continuing, ranging from what he called high-context to low-context.

OK, what is a high-context culture? A high-context culture is a culture in which the context of the message or the action or an event carries a large part of its meaning and significance. What this means is that in a high-context culture more attention is paid to what’s happening in and around the message than to the message itself. Now let me give you examples. First in terms of personal space, generally speaking in a high-context culture, because there’s a greater dependency on group thinking, people lean towards heavier sensory involvement or closeness to people. And they have less respect for privacy, for personal space. If you go into that culture, people might stand closer when they’re talking to you. They might touch more and if they’re justled in a crowd, they won’t feel violated. And also people from a high-context culture pay attention to body language. Because remember what I said, the definition of a high-context culture is that more attention is paid to the context of the message than to the message itself. And part of the context is body language. Second in terms of time, people in high-context cultures are considered to have what is called a polychronic attitude toward time. Here “poly” means multiple and “chronic” means time. What this means is that they believe people, things, events have their own time and there can’t be a standard system of time for everything. What this leads them to believe is that you can’t emphasize punctuality. Things happen when they are supposed to happen. So there’s a different attitude toward time. There is no set standard of time. You can’t control time. Everything has its own sense of time. So it’s a culture that pays little attention to time, to clock time.

Now, let’s move on to low-context culture. A lower context culture is just the opposite. A low-context culture is one in which the message, the event or the action is a separate entity, having meaning onto itself, regardless of the surroundings or the context. That the message, the event, the action has meaning in itself. So what this means in a low-context culture is that people pay more attention to the event itself rather than to the context which surrounds the event or the message. For example, in terms of personal space again. There’s more emphasis on individuality, so the concept of privacy is very very important whereas before as I said in a high-context culture they might not even be concerned with privacy or personal space. But in a low-context culture, there’s a feeling that we each have our own personal space. If you get too close, if you don’t knock on doors before entering, that’s an invasion of privacy; people feel violated. There’s a respect and desire for privacy, and you also see that people might pay less attention to body language because as I said the message is, the message is everything. They are not going to worry about all the details around it. What you say is the important thing or what you do is the important thing. Another example of a low-context culture is people’s attitude towards time. In terms of time, I said before there was a polychronic sense of time in a high-context culture. What do you think there would be in a low-context culture? Monochronic! Right! A monochronic sense of time and by that we mean that there is one time. And that concept means that people in a low-context culture believe that there’s one standard of time and that should be for everything. And so I’m not willing to hear “Oh, the traffic was heavy. That’s why I am late. ” or “Oh, I slept late.” People in a low-context culture would be much more upset with lateness because they feel that everyone should follow the same time; there shouldn’t be all this flexibility with time and they expect punctuality. And they look at time as almost a commodity that they use expressions like “use time”, “to waste time”, “to spend time” or “time is money”. All of these expressions reinforce the concept that time is actually something you can hold onto. So what this is all about is that Hall expresses that people need to be aware of these different consumptions or concepts about reality. And he thinks that this has all kinds of relevance no matter what you’re doing, if you’re in business, negotiations, interpersonal relations. If you’re dealing with people from different cultures in any way, it’s going to affect every part of your life. In any multicultural situation, these assumptions need to be taken into account for successful interactions.

       Ok, today, we’ll take a brief look at Edward Hall’s view of culture, mainly his classification of high or low context culture with some examples. Next week, we’ll look at some more examples of cultures on the continuing between high-context and low-context cultures.

Section B Interview

I: Interviewer
H: Dr. Harley

I: Good morning, Dr. Harley. Thank you verymuch for coming on our radio talk. We know that you are an applied linguist specializing in second language acquisition.

H: Right.

I: So, today. Urmm…we’ll look at this issue.Now, first Dr. Harley. Could you please tell us what is second language acquisition?

H: Well, second language acquisition is “happenswhen a child or adult has already become competent at a language. Then, urmm…theyattempt to learn another.”

I: Ok, most people think, including me, itis difficult to learn another language. What are the reasons? Why is it so?

H: Well, there are a number of reasons forthis. Urmm…first, there have been research studies. They have shown that some aspectsof language learning especially syntax are more difficult beyond a certain age,say after around 12 years of age.

I: So, age plays an important role inlanguage learning?

H: Yes. But that’s not the only reason.

I: Oh, is that so?

H: Yes. For example, time and interest. Oldchildren and adults often have less time and motivation to learn a secondlanguage.

I: Mm…

H: Another reason related to thesimilarities and differences between one’s other tongue and a second language. Wefind that learners will experience difficulty when their mother tongue and thesecond language they are learning differ. In general, the more idiom syncretic feature is
(10分15秒) in a particular language relativeto other languages, the more difficult it will be to acquire.

I: Perhaps this is the key issue. Differencesbetween languages cause language learning problems.

H: Well, this may be one of the issues here,but this cannot be the whole story, as not all differences between languagescause difficulty. Let me give you an example.

I: OK.

H: Research has found that many heirs (10分42秒)by Czech speakers learning English were made on syntactic constructions inwhich the two languages do not differ.

I: Oh, really. The picture is morecomplicated than we’ve imaged.

H: Definitely yes. Each language learningsituation is different. So reasons vary a lot from case to case.

I: Now, Dr. Harley. Since learning a secondlanguage is a difficult process, you know, in one way or another. Are there anymethods so far if they give methods to teach a second language(11分12秒)?

H: There again. No method is absolutelyeffective in all situations. Some may prove effective, others may not. I mean,all depending on specific conditions. But generally speaking, there are a numberof methods that have been used to teach a second language.

I: Could you mention a few?

H: For instance, there is the traditionalmethod. This method is based on translation from one language to another andemphasizes grammar teaching.

I: Mm…

H: And then you have direct method, which focuseson conversational skills and all teaching must be carried out in the secondlanguage.

I: Oh, I see. Any other methods?

H: Yes. For example, the audiolingual method.This method emphasizes speaking and listening before reading and writing.

I: How interesting!

H: Then you have the immersion method. Thismethod teaches learners exclusively through the medium of the second language.

I: How?

H: Well, it simply means that you can notspeak mother tongue. Everything must be done in the language you are learning. Tome, the most natural method of learning a new language is what I call submersion.That is, to go to that country and be surrounded exclusively by speakers ofthat language.

I: Thank you very much, Dr. Harley, forintroducing some of the language teaching methods. Now let’s move on to somethinga bit theoretical. Since second language acquisition and teaching are fascinatingarea for researchers, are there any theories to explain second language acquisition.

H: Yes, many theories and models have beenput forward by researchers so far. Today, I’d like to mention the five hypothesesproposed by Stephen Krashen.

I: OK.

H: The five hypotheses, or what he calls, themonitor model of second language learning.

I: What does it mean?

H: OK. The first hypothesis is the acquisitionand learning distinction hypothesis. According to Krashen, children acquire theirfirst language largely unconsciously and automatical, but adults could only learna second language consciously and effortfully. And adults could indeed acquire thesecond language, at least in part.

I: Right. Then what’s his second hypothesis?

H: His second hypothesis is the natural orderin acquisition hypothesis. Basically, he means that the ordering which learnersacquire syntactic rules is the same in both languages.

I: Oh, that’s something really new to me.

H: The third hypothesis is the monitor hypothesis,which is central to his theory. Here again, we come across the distinctionbetween acquisition and learning. According to this hypothesis, the acquisitionprocesses create sentences in the second language, right? But learning enablesthe development of a monitoring process to check and edit this. The monitor uses knowledge ofthe rules. That’s why, as I said just now, learning is a conscious process.

I: This mean, in learning, you useknowledge of the language to make sure what you say or write is correct. Isthat so?

H: Yes. His fourth hypothesis is thecomprehensible input hypothesis. In order to move from one stage to the next, thelearner must understand the meaning and the form of the input. This emphasizesthe role comprehension. And finally, the active filter hypothesis. Thissuggests attitude and emotional factors are also important in second languageacquisition.

I: I guess Krashen’s model has provided auseful framework for second language learning.

H: Yes, it indeed has and it has also provedto be one of the most influential theoretical approaches to teaching a secondlanguage.

I: OK, Dr. Harley. Thank you once again fortalking to us about second language acquisition.

H: Pleasure.

Section C News Broadcast

News 1:

The 95-year-old iconic American brand Greyhound is taking to theBritish roads. FirstGroup, Britain's largest bus and train operator, and ownerof the Greyhound coach brand in the U.S., said the buses would start runningfrom London, Victoria, to Portsmouth and Southampton on September 14. Ticketswill cost as little as a ￡1, with the average journey costing ￡7. It plans toroll out more routes next year. The hourly bus service will take just under twohours non-stop and will offer free Wi-Fi, power sockets for each passenger, airconditioning, complimentary newspapers and leather seats.

News 2:

Greek firefighters planned to continue to work through the night tocontain dozens of wildfires, including a massive blaze outside Athens,authority said. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis called for calm onSaturday and said ground forces "will continue their superhumanefforts" until dawn, when air operations and water drops will resume. Authoritiesreported 75 fires across the country. The fires began late Friday inGrammatiko, 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the capital. Wind whipped asingle blaze into three fires, which joined again Saturday. No injuries werereported. Authorities mobilized units from the navy, air force and marines toassist the firefighters in Grammatiko, the state fire department said."The fire is particularly complex given the weather, the large quantity offuel, the terrain and the proximity of residential areas," a statementfrom the fire department said. The cause of the original fire, which belchedclouds of heavy dark smoke, was unknown, and officials were investigating.Forest and brush fires are common during Greece's hot, dry summers. Sixfirefighting aircraft were helping firefighters, according to the Athens NewsAgency.

News 3:

The Mexican economy went off a cliff in the second three months of2009, with the gross domestic product dropping 10.3 percent from the sameperiod last year, according to government figures. Analysts say the main causeof Mexico's nosedive is that the nation's economy is tied strongly to that ofthe United States, which is mired in the deepest economic downturn since the1930s. Other factors dragging the Mexican economy down include a tourismdecline caused by the H1N1 flu outbreak, declining oil and tax revenues, andfewer Mexicans abroad sending money back home. Oil revenues, long Mexico's mainsource of money, are being hurt by lower global prices and decliningproduction. Remittances from Mexicans working abroad, most of them in theUnited States, also have fallen victim to the economic downturn. Fewer jobs inthe United States means fewer opportunities for Mexicans to find work and sendmoney home. Remittances rank after oil in terms of revenue for the country. Thatrevenue fell from $26 billion in 2007 to $25 billion in 2008, Mexico's CentralBank said, and is expected to decrease even more this year. Tourism, Mexico's third-largestsource of revenue, has declined steadily since an outbreak of the H1N1 flu wasfirst discovered in Mexico in April.