Week 2: What is Culture?

What is Culture?

While reading this particular chapter I was able to get a better sense of how practicing and future language teachers should approach the teaching of culture. Because culture is arbitrary, persons who form a community form the practices, perspectives and products surrounding any given culture. Therefore, individuals within a culture make a culture what it is.   It is much more than simply introducing holidays, foods, and historical figures that inaccurately reinforce stereotypes.  Morgan writes about the five dimensions of culture: products, practices, perspectives, persons and communities, interrelate with one another.  Morgan also describes culture as an iceberg, with most of the dimensions of culture being at the tip- visible or explicit, and perspectives being below the water’s surface- invisible or intangible.  I think it easy for teachers to get caught up in the obvious components of culture that often they don’t deem it necessary to look beyond the apparent to the not so obvious aspects.  I liked the key questions that Morgan provides us to identify the context of the cultural experiences we present to learners.  In order for the learning experience to be meaningful the teacher needs to acquire more information about the culture than just “tip of the iceberg”.  I agree with Morgan on the subject that in order to really understand a culture as an outsider one would need an informant who is aware of the values of a culture and is able to articulate them.  It only seems logical that a person who belongs to a particular culture- practices, products, community, and perspectives would be a great source of information.  As a future teacher I strongly believe that students and their families serve as a great source of cultural insight for teachers.  We can utilize their cultural diversity and awareness as tools to foster learning in the classroom.  Not only can we learn from talking to and interacting with individuals from different cultures, but we can facilitate a sort of learning environment where we all learn from each other- including students learning from one another.  I think a great way to do this would be to incorporate students’ cultures in the classroom by using authentic teaching materials that students can make connections to.  For example, culture rich literature, bilingual texts, and opportunities to work in different social settings (according to what is considered most comfortable for the given cultures involved).  If students are given these materials and opportunities to utilize these materials, learning in the classroom will be maximized. 

While reading Morgan’s chapter on language and culture I was able to make several connections to elements of my own cultures.  I say cultures because I identify with the Mexican and American culture and I am able to make sense of the different dimensions and how they apply to both; I would consider myself an “insider.”  Although I was raised by Mexican parents I feel that I am more knowledgeable about the American culture because I was born and raised here in the United States practicing the American culture, acquiring perspectives related to the American culture, interacting with its persons, becoming a part of its community, and producing products of the American culture.  There is no doubt in my mind that in order for all of this to be possible I would have needed to know English- which is the language most commonly spoken in the United States.  Consequently, I agree with Morgan in that language embodies all 5 dimensions of culture. One particular connection I was able to make was when Morgan describes the “tu” and “vous” forms of speech in French because there is a similar contextual component in Spanish.  When speaking to a peer or close friend you would use the “tu” form, and to show respect you would user the “usted” form.  You might use this when speaking to an elder, a person of power, or a stranger.  Like Morgan explains, it takes more than just asking questions about when either form would apply, you actually have to be immersed in the language in order to fully understand the social context.  Morgan also describes culture as constantly changing- new practices are established and others are disregarded.  As future teachers we must realize we need to constantly keep learning and keeping up with these changes.