INTRODUCTION

The culture of peoples refers to all aspects of shared life in a community.

Children who grow up 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 avoid, what is expected from them and what they may expect from
others.
Yet culturally determined features may be seen in their actions, social
relationships, moral convictions, attractions and revulsions. These features also can
be seen through the institutions their social group establishes and conserves. They
can also be seen in the arts and literature which the members of the group produce
and appreciate.
When teaching about culture, keep in mind that culture is just one of
numerous inuences on behavior. !eople can di"er from each other in many other
aspects# e.g., personality, age, gender, level of education, abilities, and any other
personal features that make each individual a uni$ue human being. We need to be
careful of over%generali&ing or making statements like' ()he*s an +merican, so that
explains why,-# or (.e*s from /ew York, so that explains why,-# or (.e*s a
Canadian, so that ,.- Cultural groups do have certain characteristics in common.
0ut within each group, there is always a broad range of individual di"erences.
)tudents might ask why people from the 1nited )tates would need to have their
culture revealed to them2isn*t their own culture pretty obvious3 0ut people within a
culture are in many ways the least able to see it. Cultural beliefs, values, and
behaviors are so ingrained that we are often unaware of our own.
0efore you look at any culture in particular, you should understand what
culture in general is and how it works. Therefore, it begins by de4ning a few terms
and inviting you to consider some of the key processes and concepts embodied in
this word 5culture.5
The central focus here is on the relationship between culture in the abstract%%
the underlying values and assumptions of a society%%and culture in the esh%%the
speci4c behaviors that derive from those values. 6t is important for you to
understand that what people do and say in a particular culture, whether it be yours
or that of your host country, are not arbitrary and spontaneous, but are consistent
with what people in that culture value and believe in. 0y knowing people7s values
and beliefs, you can come to expect and predict their behavior. 8nce you can do
that, once host country people are no longer catching you o" guard with their
actions, you are well on your way to successful cultural adjustment.
9any countries are now classi4ed as multicultural because they no longer
comprise only one cultural, linguistic or religious group. +s this trend continues
teachers must be prepared to address the issues of multiculturalism and diversity in
their classrooms. You will be able to learn about and get a better understanding of
multicultural education from working de4nitions, essays and articles. 8ther
Cross%Culture 1nderstanding: Concept of Culture 1.1
Cross-Culture Understanding:
Concept of Culture .
resources include' tools, fact sheets, book and 4lm reviews, an international photo
gallery, links to online children*s literature, other sites and classroom resources.
What is culture3 Culture is the every day life style of ordinary citi&ens and the
value belief and prejudices they share with their fellow within their linguistic and
social groups with due attention to the intra%group di"erences ;of social class, for
example<.
To avoid confusion we must start with explaining some matters of
terminology.
The word (culture- is taken in the sense in which it is used by cultural
anthropologists, according to whom culture is something that everybody has, in
contrast with the (culture- found only in (cultured- circles like in opera houses,
universities and the like. The term is used di"erently by di"erent anthropologists but
always refers to some (property- of community, especially those who might
distinguish it from other communities.
)ome anthropologists are interested in what is called (material culture- = the
arti4cial of the community e.g., its pottery, its vehicle, or its clothing. .owever, we
should take good enough in taking culture as socially ac$uired knowledge' (+ society
culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a
manner acceptable to its members. Culture, being what people have to lead as
distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of the end = product of learning'
knowledge in a most general sense of the term. We must take knowledge here in a
broad sense, to include both (know how- and (know that- for instance to cover both
the ability to tie knots and the knowledge that two times two is four. .ere culture
may be described as socially ac$uired knowledge that is the knowledge that
someone has by virtue of his being a member of a particular society. The word
(culture- has several related senses, two of which are important to mention and to
distinguish. >irst of all, the sense in which (culture- is more or less synonymous with
(civili&ation-. 6t rests on the classical conception of what constitutes excellence in
art, literature, manners, and social institutions. ?dward )apir de4ned (culture- as
(patterned behavior-. ?ach culture has a uni$ue pattern. These culture patterns
may be'
@. )tatic units' man, woman, horse, dog, teacher, banker, etc.
A. !rocesses' to rest, to study, to run, to think, etc.
B. Cualities' good, bad, hot, cold, slow, moral, immoral
These categories may be identi4ed as the same in a given culture at a given
time. This means that culture embraces all aspects of shared life in a community.
Culture is way of life. Culture in is the context within which we exist, think, feel, and
relate to others.
Culture as described by Darson and 6malley is a -blue print-. 6t guides the
behavior of people in a community and is developed in family life. This blue print
controls our behavior in groups and makes us sensitive to matters of status. 6t also
helps us to know others expect from us and what will happen if we do not live up to
Cross%Culture 1nderstanding: Concept of Culture 1.2
their expectation. Culture helps us to know what we can do as individuals and what
our responsibilities are as members of a group.
Culture might also be de4ned as ideas, customs, skills, arts, and tools which
characteri&e a given group of people in a given period of time. 0ut according to
Condon, culture is more than the sum of its parts. 6t is a system of integrated
patterns, most of which unconsciously govern human behavior like strings of puppet
control its emotion.
Cultural patterns of behavior
Eeorge !eter 9urdock mentions seven cultural patterns of behavior'
@. they originate from human mind
A. they facilitate human and environmental interactions
B. they satisfy basic human needs
F. they are cumulative and adjust to changes in external and internal conditions
G. they tend to form a consistent structure
H. they are learned and shared by all the members of the society
I. they are transmitted to a new generation
The explicit and the implicit culture of peoples
The explicit culture consists directly of observable regularities in the verbal
and non%verbal behavior of the members of a society. 6t consists of the typical
behavior of a people. The implicit culture can be de4ned as the modal cognitions,
wants, interpersonal response traits and attitudes in a society. 6t is discussed in'
a< Cultural 0eliefs b< Cultural Jalues, c< Cultural /orms.
Culture has been aptly compared to an iceberg. Kust as an iceberg has a
visible section above the waterline, and a larger, invisible section below the water
line, so culture has some aspects that are observable and others that can only be
suspected, imagined, or intuited. +lso like an iceberg, that part of culture that is
visible ;observable behavior< is only a small part of a much bigger whole. The items
that appear below are all features of culture. Leeping in mind that observable
behaviors belong above the surface of the water, while the invisible aspects of
culture belong below the surface, decide for each feature whether it should be
5above5 or 5below5.
@ >acial ?xpressions @B Meligious 0eliefs
A Meligious Mituals @F 6mportance of Time
B !aintings @G Concept of )elf
F Jalues @H Concept of Deadership
G .oliday Customs @I Diterature
H Eestures @N /ature of >riendship
I >oods @O Eeneral World Jiew
N Concept of 0eauty AP Work ?thic
O ?ating .abits A@ Mules of )ocial ?ti$uette
@P 9usic AA Concept of !ersonal )pace
@@ Concept of >airness AB )tyles of Qress
@A Child%raising 0eliefs AF /otions of 9odesty
Cross%Culture 1nderstanding: Concept of Culture 1.3
Universal, Cultural or Personal?
Culture is but one category or dimension of human behavior, and it is therefore
important to see it in relation to the other two dimensions' the universal and the
personal. The three can be distinguished as follows'
nuniversal refers to ways in which all people in all groups are the same#
cultural refers to what a particular group of people have in common with
each other and how they are di"erent from every other group#
personal describes the ways in which each one of us is di"erent from
everyone else, including those in our group.
These are two important points for you to remember'
0ecause of universal behavior, not everything about people in a new culture
is going to be di"erent# some of what you already know about human behavior is
going to apply in your host country.
0ecause of personal behavior, not everything you learn about your host
culture is going to apply in e$ual measure, or at all, to every individual in that
culture.
This next exercise contains a list of behaviors. 6n the underlined space preceding
each of them, put a 5U5 if you think the behavior is universal, 5C5 if it is cultural, or
5P5 if it is personal.
@. )leeping with a bedroom window open.
A. Munning from a dangerous animal.
B. Considering snakes to be 5evil.5
F. 9en opening doors for women.
G. Mespecting older people.
H. Diking spicy food.
I. !referring playing soccer to reading a book.
N. ?ating regularly.
O. ?ating with knife, fork, and spoon.
@P. 0eing wary of strangers
@@. Calling a waiter with a hissing sound.
@A. Megretting being the cause of an accident.
@B. >eeling sad at the death of your mother.
@F. Wearing white mourning robes for BP days after the death of your mother.
@G.
/ot liking to wear mourning clothes for BP days after the death of your
mother.
Cross%Culture 1nderstanding: Concept of Culture 1.4