No society exists

without a culture.

Second Language Acquisition

WHAT IS CULTURE?

• Ideas, customs, skills, art and tools shared by a

group of community in a certain period of time.
• Individual has his own culture. [ “a template for
personal and social existence” (Brown, 2000)]
• We “tend to perceive reality within the context of
our own culture” because we believe that our own
reality is the correct perception.
• As a result, misunderstandings always happen
between members of different cultures.
• A language is a part of culture, and a culture is a
part of language.
• The acquisition of a second language is also the
acquisition of a second culture.
Sociocultural Factors

Second Language Acquisition

FIRST WE STEREOTYPE,
THEN WE GENERALIZE

Second Language Acquisition

Twain’s Interesting Views

“The French always tangle up

everything to that degree that when you
start into a sentence, you never know
whether you are going to come out alive
or not.”
“A gifted person ought to learn English
in 30 hours, French in 30 days and
German in 30 years.”

Second Language Acquisition

Twain’s Interesting Views

“If it (German language) is to remain as

it is, it ought to be gently and reverently
set aside among the dead languages,
for only the dead have time to learn it.”

Second Language Acquisition

Stereotypes

Stereotype may be accurate in showing

the ‘typical’ member of a culture, but it
is inaccurate for describing a
particular individual, simply because
every person is unique.
Sometimes the oversimplified view of
members of another culture could be
wrong.

Second Language Acquisition

CULTURAL STEREOTYPE

• Stereotype is formed through our own cultural

pattern and different perception is seen as either
false or strange, and thus is oversimplified.
• Stereotype maybe accurate in depicting the
‘typical’ member of a culture but is inaccurate for
describing a particular individual.
• Both teacher and students need to understand
cultural differences and the fact that there are real
differences between groups and cultures.
ATTITUDES

Second Language Acquisition

Attitude

• Negative attitude stemming from a stereotype.

• Negative and biased attitudes are based on
insufficient knowledge, misinformed stereotyping
and extreme ethnocentric thinking.
• Attitudes develop early in childhood through
interaction -> will form their own culture.
Attitude

• Relationship between attitudes and language

success. (John Oller, et al. (Brown, 2000) )
– L2 language learners’ positive attitude toward
self, the native language group and the target language
group helps in enhancing L2 proficiency.
– Negative attitude may lead to decreased
motivation, decreased input of interaction which lead to
unsuccessful attainment of proficiency.
How to help students instill positive
attitude?
• Teacher needs to be aware that everyone is
raised in different cultures and have positive and
negative attitudes.
• Teacher can:
– Expose students to reality-meet the actual person from
other cultures.
– Dispel myths about other cultures and replace with facts.
• (books, article, internet websites etc)
Study by Oller et al. (1977) found a few
meaningful clusters of attitudinal
variables that correlated positively
with attained proficiency.
Positive attitudes toward self, native
language group and target language
group enhanced proficiency.

Second Language Acquisition

So how does this attitude relate to the
teaching of second language?

Second Language Acquisition

SECOND CULTURE ACQUISITION

Second Language Acquisition

Acculturation

SECOND CULTURE
ACQUISITION

CULTURE SECOND
SHOCK CULTURE
 Acculturation

Second language learning involves

the acquisition of a second identity,
or known as acculturation.

Second Language Acquisition

Cont.

• Involves the acquisition of a second identity

• Creation of a new identity is at the heart of culture
learning.
• The process of acculturation runs even deeper
when language is brought into the picture.
• A person’s world view, self-identity, and systems
of thinking, acting, feeling and communicating can
be disrupted by a contact with another culture.
• A reorientation of thinking and feeling, also
communication.
Culture Shock

Refers to phenomena ranging from

irritability to deep psychological panic
and crisis
Associated with feelings of
estrangement, anger, hostility,
indecision, frustration, unhappiness,
sadness, loneliness, homesickness and
even physical illness.

Second Language Acquisition

Cont.

• Persons undergoing culture shock view their new

world out of resentment and alternate between
self-pity and anger at others for not understanding
them.
• As long as they can perceptually filter their
surroundings and internalize the environment in
their own world view, they feel at ease.
4 SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF
CULTURE ACQUSITION
• 1st stage: excitement and euphoria of the new
culture
• 2nd stage: Intrusion of more and more cultural
differences
• 3rd stage: Acceptance of differences in thinking
and feeling surround them
• 4th stage: Assimilation, adaptation.
SOCIAL DISTANCE

• Refers to the cognitive and affective proximity of

two cultures that come into contact within an
individual.
• Example: People from the United States are
culturally similar to Canadians, while U.S natives
and Chinese are, by comparison, relatively
dissimilar.
• John Schumann (1976: 136) – social distance
JOHN SCHUMANN HYPOTHESIS
1. Dominance:
• is the L2 group politically, culturally,technically, or
economically dominant, non-dominant, or
subordinate in relation to the TL group?
2. Integration:
• Is the integration pattern of the L2 group
assimilation, acculturation, or reservation?
3. Cohesiveness:
• Is the L2 group cohesive?
4. Congruence:
• Are the cultures of the two groups congruent-
similar in their value and belief systems?
5. Permanence:
• What is the L2 group’s intended length of
residence in the target language area?
JOHN SCHUMANN 2 HYPOTHETICAL
“BAD” LANGUAGE LEARNING
SITUATIONS
• 1. TL group views the L2 group as dominant and
the L2 group vies itself the same way. Both
groups desire preservation and enclosure for
the L2 group, the L2 group is both cohesive and
large, the 2 cultures are not congruent, the two
groups hold (-ve) attitudes toward each other,
and the L2 group intends to remain in the TL
area only for a short time.

• 2. L2 group considers itself subordinate and is

considered subordinate by the TL group.
HOW TO MEASURE SOCIAL
DISTANCE?
• Schumann’s hypothesis: the greater the social
distance between two cultures, the greater the
difficulty in learning the second language.

• William Acton(1979): Instead of trying to

measure actual social distance, devised a
measure of perceived social distance.

• When learners encounter a new culture, their

acculturation process is a factor of how they
perceive their own culture in relation to the
culture of the target language.
 HOW TO MEASURE SOCIAL
DISTANCE?
• Perceived Social Distance through the Professed
Difference in Attitude Questionnaire (PDAQ).
• PDAQ asked learners to quantify what they perceived
to be the differences in attitude toward various concepts:
e.g “the automobile, divorce, socialism, policemen” on
• 3 dimensions:
a. Distance ( or difference) between themselves
and their countrymen in general
b. Distance between themselves and members of
TL in general
c. Distance between their countrymen and
members of TL in general
OPTIMAL DISTANCE MODEL

• At stage 3 of second culture acquisition.

• Typifies the “good” language learner.
• Maintaining some distance between
themselves and both cultures.
• Supported Lambert’s (1967) contention that
mastery of the foreign language takes place hand
in hand with feelings of anomie or homelessness,
where learners have moved away from their
native culture but are still not completely
assimilated into or adjusted to the target culture.
 THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADULT
AND CHILDREN

Adult

No reason for mastery since

Acquired a sufficient number of
they have learned to cope
functions of a L2 without
without sophisticated acquiring the correct forms
knowledge of the language
 CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM
1. What is culture in the classroom??

 unspoken and frequently unconscious assumptions

about how people (both the teacher and the
students) will behave during the lessons.

“Help students gain experience that contribute to

the increased cultural & self awareness”.
(Robinson-Stuart & Nocon 1996)
2. Example (page 189):
 Kenji, a Japanese student was taught specific
behaviors (respect teacher – never to contradict
the teacher, speak in class when necessary only &
etc.). However, in U.S. language school, he
realized that his youngish teachers are friendly &
encourage a first-name basis, group work &
interactive learning.
4 DIFFERENT CONCEPTUAL
CATEGORIES TO STUDY
THE CULTURAL NORMS

1. Individualism vs. Collectivism

2. Power Distance
3. Uncertainty Avoidance
4. Masculinity
 INDIVIDUAL VS. COLLECTIVISM

 Every one looks after his/her own interest

&
the interest of his/her immediate family.
 Assume that any person through birth &
possible later events belongs to one/more
tight “in-groups” from which he/she cannot
detach
A him/herself.
collectivist society is tightly
integrated; an individualist society is
loosely integrated.
POWER DISTANCE

 Definition: the less powerful persons in a

society accept inequality in power & consider
it as normal.

“All societies are unequal, but some are more

unequal than others”
(Hofstede 1980: 136).
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

 Definition: people within a culture are made

nervous by situations they perceive as
unstructured, unclear or unpredictable, situations
which they therefore try to avoid by maintaining
strict codes of behavior & a belief in absolute
truths.
MASCULINITY

 Opposes femininity.
 Men are expected to be assertive, ambitious &
competitive, to strive for material success,& to
respect whatever is big, strong & fast.
 Women are expected to serve & to care for
the non-material quality of life, for children &
for the weak.
LANGUAGE POLICY AND POLITICS

Second Language Acquisition

 LANGUAGE POLICY & POLITICS

World Englishes

ESL & EFL

Linguistic Imperialism & Language Rights

Language Policy and the ‘English Only’ Debate

LANGUAGE POLICY AND POLITICS

• English is the subject of international debate as

policy makers struggle over the legitimization of
varieties of English.
• Some research suggest that English teaching
worldwide threatens to form an elitist cultural
hegemony, widening the gap between ‘haves’ and
‘have nots’.
WORLD ENGLISHES

• The rapid growth of EIL (English as an

international language) of communication has
stimulated interesting (but often controversial)
discussion about the status of English in its
varieties – World Englishes.
• E.g: Learning English in India
• “Indianization” of English in India – English has
few if any British cultural attributes.
WORLD ENGLISHES

• “Nativization” or “indigenization” of English –

spread to an “outer circle” of countries, including
India, Singapore, Philippines, Nigeria, Ghana, and
others.
• English is commonly learned by children at school
age, and is the medium for most of their primary,
secondary, and tertiary education.
• We are advised to view English in terms of a
broad range of its functions and the degree of its
penetration into a country’s society.
 ESL and EFL
• ESL – English as a Second Language
• Learning ESL – English within a culture where
English is spoken natively – e.g. An Arabic speaker
learning English in the USA or the UK, but not as
easily identified where English is already an
accepted and widely used language for education,
government or business within the country.
(learning English in Phil. Or India)
• Another context is where English has no official
status but occupies such a high profile that virtually
every educated person can comm. Competently
with native speakers of English. (Scandinavia).
 ESL and EFL
• EFL – English as a Foreign Language
• Learning EFL – English in one’s own culture with few immedia
opportunities to use the language within the environment of th
culture.(Japanese learning English in Japan)
• Two global developments mitigate the clarity of identifying a
simple EFL context:
a) The current trend toward immigrant communities establishing
themselves within various countries (Spanish communities in
large city in the US) provides ready access to users of so-
called foreign languages;
b) The penetration of English based media (esp. TV, internet&
motion picture industry) provides further ready access to
English even in somewhat isolated settings.
ESL and EFL

• The problem with ESL/EFL terminology as Nayar

(1997: 22) pointed out, is that it “seems to have
created a world view that being a native speaker
of English will somehow bestow on people not
only unquestionable competence in the use and
teaching of the language but also expertise in
telling others how English ought to be taught.”
 LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM &
LANGUAGE RIGHTS
• A central issue in the linguistic imperialism is the
devaluing of native languages through the colonial
spread of English.
• For more than a century (Philipson 1992) there was
little or no recognition of the imperialistic effect of the
spread of English (& French) in colonial contexts. But
in recent years, there have been some signs of hope
for the preservation of indigenous languages.
• One of teacher’s primary tenets should be the highest
respect for the languages and culture of our students.
• We must beware of imposing a foreign value system
on our learners for the sake of bringing a common
language to all.
LANGUAGE POLICY AND THE
‘ENGLISH ONLY’ DEBATE

• Language Policy – Questions in this field range

from the language of the education of children to
the adoption of ‘official’ status for a language(s) in
a country.
• Language of education – involves the decision by
some political entity to offer education in a
designated language or languages.
• A tremendous clash of value systems is brought
to bear the ultimate decision: linguistic diversity,
cultural pluralism, ethnicity, race, power, status,
politics, economics, and the list goes on.
 LANGUAGE POLICY AND THE
‘ENGLISH ONLY’ DEBATE
• One of the most misunderstand issue in decade of twentiet
century was the widespread move to establish English as a
‘official’ language.
• Proponents of ‘English only’ ballots across many states
argued that an official English policy was needed to unify th
country and end decades-long debates over bilingual
education.
• Those campaigns did not reveal that the covert agenda of
ultimate devaluing of minority languages and cultures.
• Bilingual education was singled out as a waste of time and
money.
• Those who end up suffering from such moves toward ‘Eng
only’ are the already disenfranchised minority cultures.
 LANGUAGE, THOUGHT AND
CULTURE
1. The relationship between language, thought &
culture.
Cognitive development linguistic development

Example 1: “Weasel words”(to glorify very ordinary

products into those that are “unsurpassed”,
“ultimate”, “supercharged” & “the right
choice”.
A foreigner in the U.S. once remarked that in the U.S.
there are no “small” eggs, only “medium”, “large”,
“extra large” & “jumbo”.
Example 2: Euphemisms
1. Garbagemen → sanitary engineers.
2. Toilet → rest rooms/ladies/washrooms.
3. Deaths → collateral damage.
4. Retarded → mentally challenged/intellectually
disability/learning difficulties/special
needs.

Ph
Handicapp Disabled
Cripple ed
lame challe
2. Verbal labels can shape the way we store
events for later recall.
3. Words are not the only linguistic category
affecting thought.

The way a sentence is structured will affect

nuances of meaning.
4. Culture is an integral part of the interaction
between language & thought.
5. Lexical items may reflect sth about the
intersection of culture & cognition.
Example: Color categorization.
6. Popular misconception about language &
cognition came from Whorf (1956) claims
about the expression of time in Hopi.
Arguing that Hopi contains no grammatical
forms that refer to “time”, Whorf suggested that
Hopi had “no general notion /intuition of time”.
Later, Whorf’s claim became accepted as
fact.
However, Malotki showed that Hopi speech
does contain tense, metaphors for time, units of
time, & ways to quantify units of time.
“ Edward Sapir & Benjamin Whorf proposed a
hypothesis known as : the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis, the Whorfian hypothesis,
linguistic relativity or linguistic determinism”.
CONCLUSION

1. Teacher’s role is to expose students to

different cultures so that the learning
process of second language acquisition
becomes easy & flawless.
2. Teacher must not discriminates students
ability.
3. Students shouldn’t be stereotyped
according to different race or country

First class facilities but THIRD

WORLD MENTALITY