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ALPnnclcEs euLTLIR
' One of the most cballengingailtural practicesI haue had to style of the French (and Iearn-and teacb-is the conuersational participate in casual how the1, other francopbones)-specificall.t, speaking,stands style, broadll' Their or discLtssiorts. conuersations almost in direct oppositiort to the ntainstreamAntericartcottuersltional participation I greu, up with. The first time I encountered at a faculty party in Bondoukou, C6te d'Iuoire. A tltisstyle Luas colleciion of teachershad gatbered at a teacher'shome for tbe. ap6ritif. The group inclwdeda cornbinationof French nationals, l)orians, a Ghanaian, and me, tbe sole American. We sat around and, of tbe courtyard, drinks in ltand, nibbling on hols d'oeuures, course,tilking. The conuersation ruas in full force, and it was like nothing I'd et,er experiencedbefore.

to jump from Tcould not follow what was being talked about. Topics seemed Iorr. theme to another, arising from everywherearound me. I didn't know lvhereto put my attention. Everyonewas talking at once,exceptfor me and perhapsKofi, the Ghanaian.As soon as I turned my head to follorv what I thought .tas tl-,ethread of the conversation,talk erupted behind me, or to one side or another.Peoplethere seemedto be able to listen and talk at the same time, a-tually speakingto more than one person at once. I sarv absolutely sometimes no molnentsof silence. I heard no hesitations, no \\rayto enterthe conversation. /ere never The direct questionsI awaited to bring me into the conversation\ and asked. Nursing my drink, I sat silenth', nodding, shorving attentiveness interest,feelingintenselyuncomfortable. At tfiat time, i concludedthat my French rvas simply not fiuent enough,and that I needed more work on vocabulary and listening comprehension' after beconringmore proficient in the languageand encountering L.ventuallt', lnally more such conversations,I realized that it was not reall,va matter of of knorving horv to speaklike the French. ,p."lirrg French,but rather a n-ratter u'as only one part of this cultural practice. Language cornpriseall the actions that membersof the culture carry Cultural practices r1q-o:lJife, including language.These can be silent, solitarl' eg!e:_p_art _of-qlrClq -aJiltlei, t,rih ,t preparing breakfast,doing householdchores,taking a siesta, rn'ithother people, or rvalkipg rhe dog, as rvell arshighly interactiveexchanges over a meal, participrice,making cottversation a purclrase suchas negotiating tasks,sucl-t In addition,thereare collective or gossiping. patilg in formal meetings, a cotlcert'or i-l and carrt ing oLlt i1 parade,a criminal investigation, trsorganizing gir'in comuruuication, Theseacrionsinvolvepeopleengagecl civic dernonstration.

P.l { A ( l ' l l ( t , s ' 5 7 Ct.rt.r-ttt{,\1

as u'ith transactingmeaning,achievingends.Practices, ing and receivingmessages, culturesemploy and kinds of practices producrs,are infus-ed.Wt4rpgrgpectives--The perspectives. cultural the way people enact them embody their basedon tireir In this chapter,I presenta framework for organizingthe practices languagefor if we emphasize teachers, As language inherent srructureand features. involved with cultural practices.Practicescall communication, we are necessarily' in culture-to do as those of the culture do. participation the for the languageof

Practices 6..|: Gultural tigure

Products

Acts /-Practices -.\ \ \

ovu'utions
Scenarios tiu",

Communities

Persons

Perspectives

customs,traditions. folkcultural concepts: The term practicesincludesrhese "c" tend to be ritualized and (small Practices culture). ways, or everydayculture not. Almost series of steps-sometimesexplicit, sometimes follorv an established and people. settings, products, specific social practices involve language. alrnays, In highly ritualized practicesu'here certain proceduresmust be rigorouslr-folin a rrial. r-'r lowed, such as playing the national anthem, swearingin witnesses as products. participaringin a folk dance,u-emight evenconsiderthesepractices form. as in art practices as an can be seen cerrain taken to an exrreme, Indeed, a plar. a dance. an athlericperformance,an intellectualdebate,a public speech, even ritualizedpracticessuch as theseare organizedu'irhrn or a song.Hor.vever, larger setsof practicesor contexrs.which are also part of the cultural picrure.

AcnoN

CHerNs is to examinetheir structure,h,.,'.rusefulapproachto mappingpractices Ar. \r--f thel' are consrructed. l:rand anthropoioeical interculturalists, Sociolinquists, Not surprisingir. :n guistshaveall examinedpractices :rom a structuralstandpoint. tend to empha;:zc their examination of practices.iinguists and sociolinguists language-speech,to be exact-as rhe central feature of thesepractices.Tl-revca:egorize speechpracticesas "sprech acts" (Chaika, 1994) set r.vithin "spet,h pp. 2)2-): . events,"rvhichare in rurn serrr-ith:n "speech 1,983, situations"(Stern, Looking beyondlanguage, called"action chains"E.T. Hall proposeda scheme "established sequence, one or more people partic$?i--a:d of .u.rlr, in vvhicl-r contribute-to achieve dist;r.:a goal" H:ll arrdHall, 1990).I{all did not drar,,'a

'

c-Stabl' sh ( * butsins ss, wrrpryl

t,, c e ll i n q t l o a r e s

ut")

tion among atsiotcf,ains,Yna his examplesrun the gamut from "greeting people" tq'floating a stock option" (ibid., p.24it. This concept is similar to the notions of scri@a,1.994\,scenarios(Palmer,1.996),frames(Agar,1994; Thnnerq 19861,or social episodes(Lustig and Koester,1,999). All thesevarious views hold that there is both an expected set and an expectto cultural practices.In other words, practicesare organized and ed sequence ways according to the expectations of members of implementea ilg:gd1rned the culture. TheyT;oFe a nnguistic dimension (written or spoken language), and nonverbal language),manipuan extralinguisticdimension (paralanguage and often occur in particlation of products, and specificsocial circumstances, places. physical or settings ular trenNrNc CuLruREi V/RIrING lNsrRUCrIoNs roR PRacrrces

ff,l

List tbe steps in inuiting and receiuingguests in your home (in yotr natiue culture) as if you were writing instructions for a uisitor from another country. Number each step and underline tbose tbat mttst be performed in the proper sequence(or at the same time). Once yow complete this, reuiew the steps and identify the kinds of dialogues or communicatiue excbanges that would take place for each step. Do this exerciseagain for another culture that you know, or interview someonefrom another culture about this practice.Compare the steps,the 'What connectionsdo you see and the communicativeexchanges. sequence, persons? communities,or to products, perspectives, .i . ;... ", ' *: .A structural approach to practicesallows us to dissectthem iito their component parts, but language teachersneed additional ways of approaching the 'We need to be able to distill practices into complexity of cultural practices. accessible cultural conrenr areas,a way to distinguish greetingsfrom floating stock options. We can begin by consideringdifferent kinds of action chains, different rvaysof organizing cultural practices. acts,scenarios, for practices: operations, I proposethe following framer.vork manipulation involve practices that nurshell, describe operations and lir.es.In a 'nvith both lincommunicative functions of cultural artifacts. A;ts:;relpaific guistic and exrralinguisric features.Scenoriosare practicesenacted in specific social situations,involving operationS,-Zctilandother setsofTpecifie plactices. _Liies are sefi of practicesorganized6y individualsthrough the rvay they live rheir livesin the culture. For example,a significantpart of the cultural life of an associated with the lvork of fixing cars: automobilemechanicinvoives scenarios coworkers, superiorsand subordinates, interactingwith customers,salespeople, parts distriburors, not to mention following certain proceduresfor diagnosis '$(ithin rhesescenarios,the mechanic needsto be able to carry out and repair. requesting payment, defendingthe mechanicalproblems, actssuchas e-xplaining rvork done, thanking customers,and so on. Participatingin the practice of auto mechanics also entails many operationsrvheremechanicsrnanipulatetools and other :rrtifacts.fronr socket wreuchesto invoices'

e ScR.er'io- cr d,r'S

tion of t
@t

ul vntsJ H

0r possrble I

eutli

sevefd,f

,4::.;^ocictft

C u r r t r R A t P n , . r < t: tf . t s . 5 9

cottrso of e)&r:-a'L
ce-t-uantiog

rvtc-Qpatt.

. _S r P;an-

Figure 6.2:0perations, Acts,$cenarios, Lives

\r ..j :.1 :.i

OppRetroNs Operations involve manipulation of culturalproducts by individual rnembersof the culture. For the most part, the interaction is betweena person and the product, and often does not require language. Operations can be conducted "o"r, from scenarios,as solitary practices,like tending a garden or cleaning , .ot*. Operations are negotiationsof the rnaterial world of the culrure, carried our in an appropriare manner. They include practices such as manipulating eating utensils,making a sandrvich,operating a vending machine, riding a horse,usi.r[ a video camera,decoraringa room, shopping ar the marker, changingal,laqqge, _ putting on makeup, preparing meals, playing the guirar, or filing tri r.luin. " gardening, operations also include avocations or pastimes: fishing, hunting, -c>tocro

photography, painting, aniThelitre.- S*y*V

"5,

Vleasure

. :

f .

.l ,. ri{

\ l t t'L"

. r l^-- ,1;-

,t

LeaRNllrc Cutn,ne: OreRerrol,ls @ Tbe word "operation" comes from a language teaching tecbnique originatecl b1, Ray Clark (L980), where the procedures for manipulating artifacts become th,e basis for language (and culture) lessotts. For one of the operatiorts listeclin the pardgrdph aboue, turite a set of procedures. Repeat this process with anotber operatiotr that is specificto the cultttre )'ou teacb, suclt as preparing lteals, doing folk dances,calligraphy, or the like. Hou' does this operutiott reflect tbe cultuie:

Acrs
These action chzrins consist of $trytlized-communic-ative practices involving other people. Language-verbal i.td-.ro.,rr.rbal-is eiseirtET.Fts are .,sualli brief utterances and responses that consistof esrablished languaqeexDressio's

ho,g ""1 ":.: verbal. LanguF-reTelrersknorv-TliEFas

functionsor as speech acts. Exarnples are greetings/leave-takings, expressing enjoynrenr, r.uaking/iecti11ing invitations, thanking, requesring clarification,asking for rhe price. co,r-rplimenting, rep.iteasing, and so on. Acrs, along with operarrions, ilg rhe_buirdttrg__ llanjinst blocks of scerrtrrios. Ultinrately;ail acts need to be situated *ithii scen,r.i,ot

0 l t T r . ' r r ' r J I N ( ;C r r t . t ' u r t r : p t . : n s t , t , r - . t . r v t p n , t c - r t c : t , s rN

Qp

CurruRr: Acrs te,tRNrNG

Anstuer the following questionsusing your natiue language.After you ue finished, do the same in ),our second language. What cultwral comparisonscan you make? A. List as many different statementsas you can to expressthe act of thanks. expressing B. List as many different gesturesor body movementsyou can also use to expressthis act. C. List combinations of languageand body movementsto expressthanking.

Scp,NeRros
Scenariosare extendedcommunicative practices that involve a series of interactions, including operations and acts. They are scenariosin that they Jollow an ar settings and socia expected sequence of practices wi as in buying a c-lea-?-Soundaries, with nces. @imple, job interview. Scenarios a conducting call, or a telephone making iFdTilftlat, pracexchanges and of sequenced can also be more complicated, rvith a number in wedding, tices,such as going through immigration and customs,participating a putting on a school play, or buying an automobile. Thev can also be even more complex, involving numerous practices, communities, and products over extendedperiods of time, such as teachinga course,running a business,caring for the aged, building a subwa,vsystem, conducting a military campaign, instituting educational reform, or governing a country. Scenarios,therefore, are not isolated or discrete sets of practices, but tend the,vare embeddedin social settings to be situatedrvithin broader nenvorks. Because is from the viewpoint of social scenarios way of categorizing one and circumsrances, I lvill propose five types of scebut possible vielvpoints, situations.There are many life-cycle-based. institution-based, group-based, event-based, narios: time-based, mutually exclusive,but are simply viervThesecategories are not necessarily points. While rlany scenariosmay be unique to a particular category (such as restift'ingin a rriirl-institlrtion-based, or naming ceremonies-life-cycle-based)' The scenarioof a birthmarly rrlorecalllappear in any or arllof thesecategories. viewpoints, each of multiple day celebration, for example, can be seen from r,vhich defines the scenario differently. These multiple viewpoints r.rltimately and the culture. of the scenario expand our nnderstanding Time-based Scenarios Pracricesare organized in time. By arranging practices irccording to timeu'eeks,months, yearsor days,rveekends, hours, mornings,afternoons,evenings, like seasons-scenarios are groLlped and other chronological measurentents, ofren take the form of rougiven meaning.As rvith irll practices,thesescenarios practices are consistentlyrepeated. that dnes-sets oi predictableand expected Eranrples include scenarios related ro agriculture-planting, rveeding, \\'ittering' r'rlcittiotts, orierrtatiotr,classes, 1'9111-lggistration, han'sring, storing; the acadenric eremirraripns: l'eeklv or d:rilv routines-mail cirrriers, hontetnrrkers,secrctilries.

C t r t ' t t r n . . r t P R A c . ' t - t c . t ..s 6 l

Figure 6.3: Types of Scenarios

The important distinction is that time is the conrrolling element in the scenario. That is to say, the procedures in the scenario depend on changes in time. Admittedll', this can be somewhat confusing, since all scenariosuniold in time; however,many scenariosdependon the passage of time in order to occur. Euent-based Scenarios Practicesare also organizedthrough evenrs.These eventsare usually restricted in time, with clear beginningsand ends. Countlessscenarios can be classifiedas events'ranging from holiday celebrationsto automobile accidents, political rallies,sporting events) dances, or burglaries.Event-based scenarios, ifihey involve severalparticipants and many cultural communities, necessarily involve different perceptionsof what occurs. The case of the celebrationof a national holiday in a small town, for example, rnight consist of a number of events,some sequential and others simultaneous, such as parades,pubiic speeches, musical performances,banquets,and fireworks displays. Group-based Scenarios Practices are organized through socialgroups or comrnunities. Menbers of narticular groups have identifiablesetsof prarctices thar rhey enact as parr oith. activities and purposesof their grollp. Gror-rps are many and variecl,ilclr-rding those related to occupation or profession, age, region, religion, ethnicity/racel gender,personal interests,or orher formtrl or informal associations. Consider: the scerrarios that uembers of a particulzrrfarnily carry our as they go abour their daily lives,such as earninga livelihood,mainraininga home, raililg children, preparing and sharing meals,socializing,participathg in leisure and enactingother tradirions or custons that are parr of their way of ".ririri.r, life. Insti tuti on - b ased Scenario s Practices are organizedthrough social institutions. Members peed ro enact certain scenariosto participate in these for:mal, organized systen-ls of rhe culture. Theseincltrde systerrs and institufions of education, politics,econ<)nrics, religion, as well as healtli :rncirvelfarre and conrrnunications. Consicler, for instrrnce, th. "il scetlilritls irssclci:rted r.t,ith enteringiruother counfry: going through custguts apcl immisrirtitttt, incltrding tl'rose sPeci:rl scenarios when s,r,nething goesrv11;ng, such lls ll()t hltvirt'g il t'isi't, l<tsing onetsprlssport,or not decIirrineinrp1;rtecl g,r.r,lr.

62 . Tt'ac:ttttrtc; Cut_-I.tJltt.: : l , . t t s t , t , c ; T . l v t -l_ l) t ts l ) R , t t ; . t I ( ; t

Life - cy cle - b as ed Scen ari o s Practices are organized through perceptions of the life span, from birth to death-and even beyond. There are scenarios associated with birth, infancg childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age,and death. Suchscenarios take their definition from the various life stages,as dgfined by the culture. Many cultures mark passages from one stage to another with certain scenarios.Take the infirmity that comes with old age as an example, and all the scenariosassociated with caring for elders, or involving rhem in the affairs of the community. or consider childhood and the games, chores, or other scenariosassociatedwith raising children or rvith being a child in a particular culture.

ffil

trenNrNc CuLruRE.' MApprNG ScENARros

Most scenarios can be examined from many points of uieu. Consider a marriage ceremony, whicb can be time-based, life-cycle-based,euent-based,or institutionbased,depending on how you choose to perceiueit. IJsing the semantic map beloa list the operations, acts, and dccompanying scenariosthat comprise a marriage ceremony in your cubure of origin. Repeatthis exercise with other scenarios.-What do you notice about the process of analyzing scenariosfrom mubiple uiewpoints?

Figure 6.4:Semantic Map of $cenarios

Operations

Scenarios

ff,l

rracHlNc Cur-ruREj wRirlNG ScENARros

Sc6r-rario ntecrns screenplay in French, and this is one useful way oi presenting cultural practices. First, ask students to brainstonn tbe possible practices, using a sentantic ntap. Tben haue thent write a screenplayfor a fiue-minute scenario of a marriage ceremony, wsing one of the options described aboue. Haue thent researchthe scenario and identify setting, props, characters,plot, dnd dialogue, comltlete with nonuerbal behauiors. After they baue written their scenario, haue tbem perform it.

Lrvns
If culture is a way of life, we can benefit frorn looking at lives,storiesof membersof the culture, through biography and drama. Thesestoriesprovide a means of bringing together practices as individuirls or groups of people have lived groundedin individuals'experieuces them. Operirtions, arre ircts,:rnd scenarios in specific comnrunities.Biographiescan offer important insights into the

C u t - - r u n . r tP - nnc-rrcls . 63

TaeKudo

historical dimensionof cultural practices.,.how they might have changedover a lifetime. These can be historicai lir;;, biographies of people in rhe pasr, or biographies of the riving-act,r"t p.opt.. or they can be fi.tion"t rivesportrayed through lirerature, drama, or fiil.-b;;ma has tt. of showing the interactions between characters based "auurrt"ge on specific social .ir..r-r,rrrces that mirror the way of life of a particular .lrlt*.. Tae Kudo, a Japanese reacherin a u.S. high school, uses , film as a means of cultural practices.andperspectives in her f,lo*ils Japanesecrasses. The life of the main characrerin one film and ti. in his ?icrionalsrory illustrate how practices can be organized through "u..rr, lives. I showed my novice Japanesecrassthe firm shatt we Dance (in Japanesewith Englisir subtitres),;'J ;;;;-; ;. .;pi.re Japanese values and compare them *ith'u.s. values.Itt about a Japanese man who decidesto rake dance ressons. He rives the life of a Japanesebusinessman,and he feels rt irr.* ir"r"-.iiri"g missing. on his wav home one-da.' he se"s-".d"r.; ", ;;;.;iirough his subway window; sheloo(s,o u,rr."l;;J;;.rri,il;hi a..id., ,o take a dance lesson.A, go.r a d".rce lessons,he gets involved lr: in dancing

itserf-nor with"this*o-"n. n-Jil;#r:i his wife or family aboutthis. His wife suspecrs rhar rr. i, r-rli"g"; affair and hires a privaredetective to fi"d'""t *rr", rr.r"rr;rffd doing. when shediscovers that he ir i"li"g d;; " i.;r;"J,]^ri.'do.r.,,r r", anythingto him. They event"aly hi-ue ,o r".. irr.liiuitiorr, a.rd they cometo an underrt"rrdirrt.' To me, this film highlighrs*gry behaviors Japanese thar are interesting pointsof comparison for my Americr; il;;;;.}n. hurb^nd rook dance lessons, *ticn is quire'unurrrf in-1"p";.';ir;, rhehus_ banddid not share.this with frir r"-try, which is nor unusual in Japan.The wife.did n9t directry rr3,h;;I;;'ril;;. was doi'g and insteadhireda private a.r..iiu.. "rt The wife did not te' her husbandor ask him direc_tly Jrn.ing ressons onceshefound "bo,rirtr" out. orher behaviors I focused on were ,d;;i;;;;r"r,ii'b"*"..r, ,t . danceteacher and the ,tud.,rrr,1.l"tio_.rrf,ip, among family mer,_ bers,relatioThiryamongcoworkers, attir-udes Japanese rowarda personrvho is differentot does,o-"ir,i,ij aiff;;";'r;; ho* th. peorte,s ti;;-i; l;:;A;;; Iike the 3::1.^,::^:IJapanese ralrroadcarson a train. These "k.-,dy behaviors show diff'erences in varues. studenrs had dif.icurty wirh the fact thar in Japanone doesn,r necessarily sharemany rhings*,ith o.relsJa"rity. fi,.1;;;r. artirude of not_u,anting to.itand6,r, o, b" Jift.r.n, from others and ro instead ry be the ,"*" orir".Ji* hard for rhem,roo. Also, lo ", ma'y theycouldnt understani,Jr",r men are more focused Japanese on their work than on their t o*. ilf"_a,ra rh"i Ir;;;; women seenl ro accepr rhis.Finally,,t-,.,i,.,a*ts didn,t understancl the ptaceorr 'or having.y. ."ni".i;;;" Japanese t.ey are i]:,.p:'j.:T: nevlng tn ilrgulnent.

64 . Te ncsrrric Cur.t.un S pRR<:t_rc;r._ E: pERSpE(;t-rvEr N

r.r Lrrzes Tracarruc Cutrunr: PRacrrcrs

that tbey haue attended (possibly Ask students to describe a marriage ceretTtotDt their own). Haue them describe what happened, using operatiorts, acts, and scenarios. When they finish, ask them to explain the significance of this ceremony to the liues of the participdnts they knou'. Haue tbem tell abottt the meaning of this ceremony in their own liues. practicescan be categorizedin the above ways, but there is more As described, to take into account-namely, doing.them. Vhat does it mean to participate in This brings up the task of participation in the manner that cultural practices? participate in members of the culture expect, in the s-ar-sthat they themselves cultural practices. FrRrunns oF PRACTTcES Man.v analyses of culture examine the form,. we use to communicate.Thesefeatures of practices appear in manl' texts on intercultural communication (Samovar and Porter, 1998; Lustig and Koester, 1999; Dodd, 1998; TingToomeS 1,9991. To enact practices,one mus: manipulate linguistic and extralinguistic features,which are summarizedin Table 6.1 below. Linguistic Linguistic featuresobviously include speechand script, but they also involve more than oral and written language.Socialinte:acions include all the vocalizationsthat pauses, and hesitations and sent.nces. Silence, accompanyspokenwords, phrases, sii:ce:hey are definedin relationto speech. are alsopart of the linguisticdimension, Language I-anguage teachers know well this direr 'ion of practices: syntax, Iexicon, phor-rologli and the many forms they'tak: ::. different social situations. Paralanguage is the term that describesall 'ounds that affect the speechutterParalanguage rate, and volume. It also includes such as pitch, tone of r-.-.,i:'. ancesthemselves, other vocalizationsthat parallel or punruz:; speech,such as coughs, laughter, sighs, gasps, groans, hemming and ::a,'ing, swallowing, throat-clearing, humming, sr-r::fr.-:. and rhe like. Other examplesof rvhistling, rongue-clicking, paralanguageinclude the use of onona: ooeia-words invented to mimic sounds such as bow-wow, moo, whoosh--l ,im, boing, rata-tat-tat, wham, and interjections or exclamationsincluding:)L-1. oops, oh, psst, he1. lvhew, etc. {Damen,1987, pp. 1,66-69). Extralinguistic and L'rehirviors of practic='. : aclditionto rrctior-rs The extrarlinguistic dirnensions :nvolve produ,ri mitny forurs of uonvcr:btrl of r.r'ithr-n:rnipulzrtion itssociated c<lmrnunicittion.

C u t . ' r t t t t r t t . P t t r \ t . ' i l r . t , s. 6 5

of Practices 6.1:features Table

written language oral language script phonology syntax vocabulary pronunciation, accent tone volume pitch rate of speech "oopsi' ("ouch," interjections vocalizations that accompany speecn (" bow-wow," onomatopoeia "whoosh") "bam," gasPing, laughing, coughing, groaning, humming' whistling, throatswallowing, sniffing, etc. tongueclicking, clearing,

Linguistic

paralanguage

voice

APPROPRIATENESS

kinesics

bodymovements

facialexpressions gestures posture gait

eye contact winking

oculesics

eye movements

haptics

touching

nanos lips arms

body odor use of perfume.fragrances distance between PeoPle positioning of PeoPle

Extralinguistic olfactics

smell

proxemrcs use of physical

chronemics hovr actions

occurin time

polychron ism-manY at once at a tim: monochronism-one inationof synchrony-coord in time actions

low context--directness in speech (more explicit) high context-indirectness i n speech (more tacit)

context

the role of social srtuatlon

A A .

Kinesics The use of the body in cultural practicesincludesmany dimensionsbeyond the movementsconnectedto spoken languageand social interactionr, ,u.i, as ges_ tures. and f:cial expressions. Kinesicsalso involves how people ."rry th.-r.irr.. and how they move. Demeanor,posture, gait, stance, i."t.d and recrining ' positions are also part of body move-.rrT# "nd + Oculesics Eye behaviorsinclude eye c.onract, gaze,.blinking,r.vinking,glancing, squinting, and other eye movementsthat are used in .ultrinl pra.tiJr. Haptics Touching behaviors involve certain parts of the body and include aspectssuch as duration, intensity, and frequencf Olfactics odors are also part of pracrices,whether they are narural body or environmen_ tal smellsor fragrances rhat are fabricated as cultu."t p.oa.,.rr. Cbronemics The use of time, chronemics,plays into actio_ns and speechin many ways. If practicesare sequences of eventsor actions,then the .r"r,rrJ of the sequence itself reflects conceptsof time. Do eventsor actions occur sequentially or siirr.rltaneously? Are they separareor overlapping? Are there crear begin.ring, ends, or ,rr"y blurred?F.T. Hall (i9s3) proposedthe notion of -Lrrochionism "r,d "* and polychronism to describethe relationship of practicesto time. He proposed rhat culrurescan be categorized along a continLlumberweenthesefwo poi"r. in u.ry simple terms, these poles run from doing one thing ar a time to doing ma"y thirg', simultaneously. For instance,rhe French style of conversarionr..,d, _ tow"ardthe porychronic. This is rvhat causedme difficultieswhen I first experienced it at the iac,rlry gathering in Bondoukou. My monochronic outlook and practices did not mesh with the. polychronic practicesof that conversation.leople were not doing rvhat I tacitly expectedfrom a conversarion:one person ralking ar a rime, ,ukilg rurns, allowing people to finish, creating p"ur.i, asking qu.r,io,-r, ro engagepeople. rvhat I rook for outright interrupiion of another'! ,pe..h in French was in fact a,form of overlapping,which foi a brief momenr rneanr that rwo o, -or" p"o_ ple were indeedtalking ar once. In addition to thesetwo polesof time, Halr-(19g3)also proposedthe concepr

q".X7hen

rnisunderstandings^o..urWh.-n I teachgreerings in Frenchro beginningllevel studentsI presentrhe lan_ guage forms alswell as the gesrures, hrndrhrk].g, a'd la bise,-kissingon the cheeks.once stude'ts have gai.ed control ou". ,t. t,..,rg,.,^g. :rnd the gestures, .I-he respectively, I ask rhem ro pur everytrring together. tisk i, .,r" of ,y|,.hr,r,-,1i sirrcc in Frertch greetings (ns in all langJages) yoLrtalk:rncl clo at the samerir.'e.

::::XIr, -ttr;Elices and out of sync, awkwardness

unfoldin co.r,cert, as-e"pe.-?T

members are in sync,or in iitclio-jking rh,vrhmswith

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and actions with those of the perThe challenge lies in coordinating your words fashion-the rvay that native French son you,re greeting ir, r."*l.s{ihythmic " ,p."i"r, or.h.ttt"t. speechand movements' Proxemics cultural practices is commonly known The use of spaceor spatial orientation in setting itself' -^ Spaceis most obvious in the cultural 4s proxemics (Hall igAel. by virtue of their design and conp"rti.,rlur where producrs _space "..;;; Piodrrctsalso occupy space-inrelationship struction, as in the ."i. of buildi'gs. and structures in a downtown area to one anorher, h th"-l"yort ofi.rildings rooms of a house' ", of f""-'it"te and otler artifacts in the or in the "rrurrg.,,'.,t, Intermsofpractices,horvever,proxemicsrelatestotlre.phy s ipracrices. c a l p o s i t i Do onsthat to one_anotheras rhey parricipare in ,"l"tio'ship ;;;l;';"k;'ir, them? they side by side?How much spaceseparates they face one anor;;;tA.; change? it does the practice,or Does this distance,.-ul,' the same throughout

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