In my
opinion, culture can be loosely defined as the language, customs, practices,
and traditions of a given country, region, community, etc., that distinguishes
it from another location. It attempts to denote the often indescribable idiosyncrasies
that pertain to a given group of people. Although geographical locations (i.e.
countries, states, regions, communities) may share a singular culture, it is
important to denote that, with the rise of modern technologies and globalizing
networks, individuals who do not necessarily live in close proximity to one
another may share the same culture.
I
think that culture is an essential part of L2 learning, and should be
emphasized as much as possible, although in many cases this is difficult with
very fast-moving language programs. As we have learned so far in this course,
being able to communicate effectively obviously comes from understanding the
basic grammatical structures of the language, but it can be equally important
to understand the sociolinguistic nuances of that target culture. Communication
is not just speaking or creating comprehensible output; it also entails the
task of interaction and exchange. The ability to work within cultural norms is essential
when communicating in the “real world,” and immersing oneself in the target
culture. One who speaks the language incredibly well but has a poor grasp of
the target culture may find him or herself in much more communication trouble
than someone who has a moderate understanding of the language but a very strong
grasp on cultural norms and sociolinguistic nuances.
As a
Spanish instructor, I think that teaching culture is essential for my students,
especially given the very broad, and often quite stereotypical, generalizations
that people tend to make when discussing Hispanic cultures. Some of my
students, at the beginning of the academic year, referred to all
Spanish-speakers, no matter their country of origin, as “Spanish,” assumed that
all Latin American cultures mirror Spanish culture, and thought that the entire
Hispanic world eats tacos. Having studied both Spanish and Latin American
studies as an undergraduate, and now obviously as a graduate student, I am
passionate about Hispanic/Latin American cultures, and have worked hard to
stress that there is no singular “Spanish” culture. I do not expect my students
to remember the specifics of each culture or country discussed, but I do hope
that they, at the very least, understand how problematic it would be to lump
all such cultures into one singular cultural entity.
Given
the diversity of Latin American and Spanish cultures, it is obviously difficult
to prepare students to interact with one singular “target culture.” Some
sociolinguistic norms are rather universal across the board, but others are
not. If my entire class intended to eventually study in Mexico, for example, it
would be easy to tailor the course so that students adequately reviewed the
sociolinguistic nuances of that culture. Unfortunately, this is hardly ever the
case, and so Spanish instructors must attempt to give the class a little taste
of everything. In upper-level Spanish classes, students often elect to take
courses that relate to the country or cultures that they wish to have contact
with, but in the case of the 401-402 sequence, discussions of culture are much
broader. My textbook, “Mosaicos,” for example, discusses a different Spanish-speaking
country (or region in some cases) each chapter, thereby allowing students a
brief glimpse of each unique culture. I like this set-up, as it offers students
a rather broad survey of Latin American and Spanish cultures, while at the same
time stressing the individuality of each.
I agree that it's good to give beginning students some lessons about the target culture. However, I dislike the way most textbooks present C2 because they do not allow students to reflect on their own culture. I suggest that you take a look at the textbook "Vivencias" which is used for 403. John and I have different ways to address and present C2 :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like when Spanish is taught many cultures are left out. We learn a lot about Spain, Mexico, and Argentina since they are the biggest countries. But really there are is so much to learn. That is why I like the idea of students doing presentations on various countries and cultures so that the smaller countries are represented too. I also love when indigenous cultures are included because they are left out too often despite their importance.
ReplyDeleteYou are good to point out that sociolinguistic competence is makes up 1/4 of the skill set for communication competence. Perhaps that means that it should assume a similar ratio of instruction? I would agree that it is difficult to incorporate give the time constraints, but even little anecdotes can go a long way.
ReplyDeleteThis made me reflect a little on how we incorporate culture in 401. I do like that we talk about culture at the beginning of every chapter. However, we never EVER test them on that information, or any cultural information at all (so far). We floated the idea of putting a cultural section on the last exam, but I remember saying I hadn't emphasized that in class nearly enough to warrant the students being tested on it. Is that good or bad in a beginner class such as ours? We move way too fast to leave much time for culture. Especially for students who are typically don't advance past 402 in the language, is it more worthwhile to teach them culture, which may apply sometime in their real life, or grammar, when they may never really try to speak Spanish again?
ReplyDeleteAudrey - I too am frustrated by the fact that students in 401 are not held responsible for knowing or retaining the cultural information covered in class. Although cultural lessons seem to be rather interesting for our students, there is really no point for them to actually absorb or reflect upon such instruction. Most of our students are overwhelmed as it is with grammar and vocab, and so the thought of also testing them on culture seems rather daunting. I wish that we could assign a short essay or research project that asks students to do a brief investigation and reflect further on the target culture. Perhaps this would add a cultural component to the class without stressing students out too much.
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