H. D. Brown Principles of Language Learning Chapter 7 PDF

SOCI OCULTURAL FACTORS SOCIOCULTURAL FACTOR CHAPTER 6, with its focus on the affective domain o looked at how the personal variables within oneself to other people affect our communicative interact another affective aspect of the conununicative proc and affect. How do...

SOCI OCULTURAL FACTORS SOCIOCULTURAL FACTOR CHAPTER 6, with its focus on the affective domain o looked at how the personal variables within oneself to other people affect our communicative interact another affective aspect of the conununicative proc and affect. How do learners overcome the personal sented by two cultures in contact? What is the rela second language learning? CULTURE: DEFINITIONS AND THEORIES Culture is a way of life. It is the context within which to others. It is the "glue" that binds a group of peop ago, John Donne (1624) had this to say about cultur of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part o diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Culture is our continent, our collective identit p. 39) described culture as a "blueprint" that "guide community and is incubated in family life. It governs us sensitive to matters of status, and helps us know what will happen if we do not live up to their exp know how far we can go as individuals and what our Culture might also be defmed as the ideas, cus characterize a given group of people in a given perio than the sum of its parts. According to Matsumoto ( Culture is a dynamic system of rules, explic by groups in order to ensure their survival, beliefs, norms, and behaviors, shared by a g ently by each specific unit within the group, erations, relatively stable but with the potent 188  Harbored differently by each specific unit Communicated across generations, relatively stable Potential to change across time The fact that no society exists without a culture reflects the need for culture to fulfill certain biological and psychological needs in people. Consider the bewil­ dering host of confusing and contradictory facts and propositions and ideas that present themselves every day to anyone; some organization of these facts is neces­ sary to provide some order to potential chaos, and therefore conceptual networks of reality evolve within a group of people for such organization. The mental con­ structs that enable us thus to survive are a way of life that we call "culture." Culture establishes for each person a context of cognitive and affective behavior, a template for personal and social existence. But we tend to perceive reality within the context of our own culture, a reality that we have "created," and therefore not necessarily a reality that is empirically defmed. "The meaningful uni­ verse in which each hwnan being exists is not a universal reality, but 'a category of reality' consisting of selectively organized features considered significant by the society in which he lives" (Condon, 1973, p. 17). Although the opportunities for world travel in the last several decades have increased markedly, there is still a ten­ dency for us to believe that our own reality is the "correct" perception. Perception, though, is always subjective. Perception involves the filtering of information even before it is stored in memory, reSUlting in a selective form of consciousness. What appears to you to be an accurate and objective perception of an individual, a custom, an idea, might be "jaded" or "stilted" in the view of someone from another culture. Misunderstandings are therefore likely to occur between members of different cultures. People from other cultures may appear, in your eyes, to be "loud" or "quiet," "conservative" or "liberal" in reference to your own point of view. It is apparent that culture, as an ingrained set of behaviors and modes of per­ ception, becomes highly important in the learning of a second language. A lan­ guage is a part of a culture, and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without lOSing the sig­ nificance of either language or culture. The acquisition of a second language, except for specialized, instrumental acquisition (as may be the case, say, in acquiring a reading knowledge of a language for examining scientific texts) , is also the 190 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors acquisition of a second culture. Both linguists and an timony to this observation (Uber-Grosse, 2004; Schec 2001; Dlaska, 2000; Hinenoya & Gatbonton, 2000; Ma Robinson-Stuart & Nocon, 1996; Scollon & Scollon, 19 Some of those same researchers disagree on theore construct of culture (see Atkinson, 1999; Siegal, 2000; S for an interesting debate). One of the hot spots in the d (1999) would like to call an "ecumenical" approach to tures not as oppositional or mutually exclusive, but rath covering a wide spectrum. At first blush, ecumenism metaphor to serve as a foundation for a theory of cultu (Siegal, 2000; Sparrow, 2000) prefer to see culture frame which would place greater emphasis on learners' social learning communities and native cultural milieu. "The pr 'ecumenical'is a contradiction in terms;' according to goes on to say, "We should neither teach received view fession in the quicksands of moral relativity." Atkinso arguments into balance by noting, among other things outlined in the original article (Atkinson, 1999) were h identity, community, and social interaction, with a hear ethnographic approaches to cultural research for their complex uniqueness characterizing every cultural scen This chapter attempts to highlight some of the tionship between learning a second language and le the second language. Among topics to be covered stereotypes, attitudes, learning a second culture, soci the relationship among language, thought, and culture STEREOTYPES OR GENERALIZATIONS? Mark Twain gave us some delightful politically incorre and other languages in The Innocents Abroad. In refe Twain commented that the French "always tangle up when you start into a sentence you never know whet alive or not." In A Tramp Abroad, Twain noted that G guage: "A gifted person ought to learn English (barri in 30 hours, French in 30 days, and German in 30 year the German language, for "if it is to remain as it is, it ently set aside among the dead languages, for only the Twain, like all of us at times, expressed caricatu stereotypes. In the bias of our own culture-bound w ture other cultures in an overSimplified manner, lum exaggerated categories, and then view every perso acquainted with them." And he offered some do 's and don 't's. Among the do's:Greet them, but after you have been introduced once, don't shake hands, merely emit a brief cluck of joy-"Hi." Speak without emotion and with self-assurance, giving the impres­ sion you have a command of the subject even if you haven't. Check the collar of your jacket-nothing is uglier in the eyes of an American than dandruff. Radiate conge­ niality and show a good disposition-a big smile and a warm expression are essential. Learn how to play golf. Among the don 't's: Don't tamper with your accent­ Americans fmd French accents very romantic. And don 't allow the slightest smell of perspiration to reach the offended nostrils of your American friends. How do stereotypes form? Our cultural milieu shapes our worldview-our Weltanschauung-in such a way that reality is thought to be objectively perceived through our own cultural pattern, and a differing perception is seen as either false or "strange" and is thus oversimplified. If people recognize and understand dif­ fering worldviews, they will usually adopt a positive and open-minded attitude toward cross-cultural differences. A closed-minded view of such differences often results in the maintenance of a stereotype-an oversimplification and blanket assumption. A stereotype assigns group characteristics to individuals purely on the basis of their cultural membership. The stereotype may be accurate in depicting the "typical" member of a culture, but it is inaccurate for describing a particular individual, simply because every person is unique and all of a person's behavioral characteristics cannot be accu­ rately predicted on the basis of an overgeneralized median point along a continuum of cultural norms. To judge a single member of a culture by overall traits of the cul­ ture is both to prejudge and to misjudge that person. Worse,stereotypes have a way of potentially devaluing people from other cultures. Mark Twain's comments about the French and German languages, while written in a humorous vein and without malice, could be interpreted by some to be insulting. Sometimes our oversimplified concepts of members of another culture are downright false. Americans sometimes think of Japanese as being unfriendly because of their cultural norms of respect and politeness. Asian students in the perception ofAmerican students in the United States are too often lumped together under the misguided notion that many countries and cultures in Asia share much in common. Even in theTESOLliterature,according to Kumaravadivelu (2003),common stereotypes of Asian students are depicted: They (1) are obedient to authority, (2) lack critical thinking skills, and (3) do not participate in classroom interaction 192 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors (pp. 710-713). Such attitudes need to be replaced complex nature of cultural understanding" (Kumara While stereotyping or overgeneralizing people avoided, cross-cultural research has shown that there ture that make one culture different from another (A 2000). For example, Condon (1973) concluded fr American, French, and Hispanic worldviews are quit time and space. Americans tend to be dominated b and space that is dynamic, diffuse, and nomin more "cognitive" with a static, centralized, and un orientation is more "affectively" centered with a p worldview. We will see later in this chapter that cu to degrees of collectivism, power distance, uncertai prescriptions. Both learners and teachers of a second language ferences, to recognize openly that people are not Language classrooms can celebrate cultural differenc analysis of the use and origin of stereotypes (Ab researchers we must strive to understand the ident their sociocultural background (Atkinson, 1999). Wh perceiving cultural identity, we can then perhaps tur ATTITIJDES Stereotyping usually implies some type of attitude to question. The following passage, an excerpt from an the New Standard Encyclopedia published in 1940, ative attitude stemming from a stereotype: The Chinese Language is monosyllabic and language so incapable of variation, a liter which possesses the qualities we look for a Elegance, variety, beauty of imagery-the monotonous and wearisome language mu formal literature lacking in originality and matter only. Moreover, a conservative peo encing all that is old and formal, and hating impress of its own character upon its liter Fortunately such views would probably not today. Such biased attitudes are based on insuffi stereotyping, and extreme ethnocentric thinking. Attitudes, like all aspects of the development o beings, develop early in childhood and are the result  positive attitude toward French-Canadians-a desire to understand them and to empathize with them-will lead to an integrative orientation to learn French, which in the 1972 study was found to be a significant correlate of success. John Oller and his colleagues (see Oller, Hudson, & Uu, 1977; Chihara & Oller, 1978; Oller, Baca, & Vigil, 1978) conducted several large-scale studies of the relationship between attitudes and language success. They looked at the relationship between Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican students' achievement in English and their attitudes toward self, the native language group, the target language group, their reasons for learning English, and their reasons for traveling to the United States. The researchers were able to identify a few meaningful clusters of attitudinal variables that correlated positively with attained proficiency. Each of the three studies yielded slightly different conclusions, but for the most part, positive attitudes toward self, the native language group, and the target language group enhanced proficiency. There were mixed results on the relative advantages and disadvantages of integrative and instrumental orientations. For example, in one study they found that better profiCiency was attained by students who did not want to stay in the United States permanently. It seems clear that second language learners benefit from positive attitudes and that negative attitudes may lead to decreased motivation and, in alllikeliliood, because of decreased input and interaction, to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency. Yet the teacher needs to be aware that everyone has both positive and negative attitudes. The negative attitudes can be changed, often by exposure to reality-for example, by encounters with actual persons from other cultures. Negative attitudes usually emerge from one's indirect exposure to a culture or group through television, movies, news media, books, and other sources that may be less than reliable. Teachers can aid in dispelling what are often myths about other cultures, and replace those myths with an accurate understanding of the other culture as one that is different from one's own, yet to be respected and valued. Learners can thus move through the hierarchy of affectivity as described by Bloom in Chapter 6, through awareness and responding, to valuing, and finally to an organized and systematic understanding and appreciation of the foreign culture. SECOND CULTURE ACQUISITION Because learning a second language implies some degree of learning a second cul­ ture, it is important to understand what we mean by the process of culture learning. 194 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors Robinson-Stuart and Nocon (1996) synthesized some learning that we have seen in recent decades. They culture learning is a "magic carpet ride to another cult by-product of language instruction, is a misconception guage classrooms learn the language with little or no norms and patterns of the people who speak the la was the notion that a foreign language curriculum c of facts to be cognitively consumed" (p. 434) by the stu interaction with the culture. Casting those perspectiv conceived, Robinson-Stuart and Nocon suggested that ture learning as a "process, that is, as a way of perceiv in the world,... and relating to where one is and who learning is a process of creating shared meaning betw is experiential, a process that continues over years of trates deeply into one's patterns of thinking, feeling , a Second language learning, as we saw in Chapter 6 ego, involves the acquisition of a second identity. Thi at the heart of culture learning, or what some might c person is primarily cognitive oriented and an Amer and a Spanish speaker is affective oriented, as claimed not difficult on this plane alone to understand the becoming oriented to a new culture. A reorientation mention communication, is necessary. Consider the i a South American, the overall impression created by frantic, perpetual round of actions which leave pra feeling and reflection. But, to an American, the reas French life conveys a sense of hopeless backwardne leisurely timelessness of Spanish activities represents human potential. And, to Spanish speakers, the me change in France may seem cold-blooded, just as m toward spur-of-the-moment decisions may strike thei lessly irresponsible (Condon 1973, p. 25). The process of acculturation can be more acu into the picture. To be sure, culture is a deeply ingr our being, but language-the means for communi culture-is the most visible and available expressi person's worldview, self-identity, and systems of thin municating can be disrupted by a contact with anoth Sometimes that disruption is severe, in which c culture shock. Culture shock refers to phenomena ra deep psychological paniC and crisis. Culture shock estrangement, anger, hostility, indecision, frustration, ness, homeSickness, and even physical illness. Perso view their new world out of resentment and alternat at others for not understanding them. Edward Ha  he may be rebuffed; when he tries to be friendly nothing happens. People tell him that they will do things and don't. The longer he stays, the more enigmatic the new country looks. This case of an American in Japan illustrates the point that persons in a second culture may initially be comfortable and delighted with the "exotic" surroundings. As long as they can perceptually ftlter their surroundings and internalize the envi­ ronment in their own worldview, they feel at ease. As soon as this newness wears off and the cognitive and affective contradictions of the foreign culture mount up, they become disoriented. It is common to describe culture shock as the second of four successive stages of culture acquisition: 1. Stage 1 is a period of excitement and euphoria over the newness of the su rroundings. 2. Stage 2-culture shock-emerges as individuals feel the intrusion of more and more cultural differences into their own images of self and security. In this stage individuals rely on and seek out the support of their fellow countrymen in the second culture, taking solace in complaining about local customs and conditions, seeking escape from their predicament. 3. Stage 3 is one of gradual, and at first tentative and vacillating, recovery. This stage is typified by what Larson and Smalley (1972) called "culture stress": some problems of acculturation are solved while other problems continue for some time. But general progress is made, slowly but surely, as individuals begin to accept the differences in thinking and feeling that surround them, slowly becoming more empathic with other persons in the second culture. 4. Stage 4 represents near or full recovery, either assimilation or adaptation, acceptance of the new culture and self-confidence in the "new" person that has developed in this culture. Wallace Lambert's (1967) work on attitudes in second language learning referred often to Durkheim's (1897) concept of anOmie-feelings of social uncer­ tainty or dissatisfaction-as a significant aspect of the relationship between lan­ guage learning and attitude toward the foreign culture. As individuals begin to lose some of the ties of their native culture and to adapt to the second culture, they expe­ rience feelings of chagrin or regret, mixed with the fearful anticipation of entering 196 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors a new group. Anomie might be described as the first acculturation, a feeling of homelessness, where one one's native culture nor fully adapted to the second c Lambert's research supported the view that th experienced when linguistically a person begins to In Lambert's (1967) study, for example, when English- skilled in French that they began to "think" in French ings of anomie were markedly high. For Lambert's sub and increased skill in the language sometimes led perso to English-to seek out situations in which they could s responds to the tentativeness of the third stage of acc to the escape mechanisms acquired in the earlier stag person is well into the third stage do feelings of anomi is "over the hump" in the transition to adaptation. The culture shock stage of acculturation need no learners are unwitting and helpless victims of circums noted that culture shock, while surely possessing man viewed more positively as a profound cross-cultural situations or circumstances involving intercultural individual, as a result of the experiences, become learning and change. As a result of the culture sho gained a new perspective on himself, and has come tity in terms significant to himself. The cross-cultu tionally, takes place when the individual encounter result (1) examines the degree to which he is influe (2) understands the culturally derived values, attitudes SOCIAL DISTANCE The concept of social distance emerged as an affect tory power to the place of culture learning in seco distance refers to the cognitive and affective proxim into contact within an individual. "Distance" is obvi sense to depict dissimilarity between two cultures. O might observe, for example, that people from the Uni to Canadians, while U.S. natives and Chinese are, by ilar. We could say that the social distance of the latte John Schumann (1976c, p. 136) described socia following parameters: 1. Dominance. In relation to the TL (target langua language learning) group politically, culturally, te dominant, nondominant, or subordinate?  Schumann used the above factors to describe hypothetically "good" and "bad" language learning situations, and illustrated each situation with two actual cross­ cultural contexts. His two hypothetical "bad" language learning situations: 1. TheTL group views the L2 group as dominant and the L2 group views itself in the same way. Both groups desire preservation and high enclosure for the L2 group, the L2 group is both cohesive and large, the two cultures are not congruent, the two groups hold negative attitudes toward each other, and the L2 group intends to remain in the TL area only for a short time. 2. The second bad situation has all the characteristics of the first except that in this case, the L2 group considers itself subordinate and is considered subordi­ nate by theTL group. The first situation, according to Schumann, is typical of Americans living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The second situation is descriptive of Navajo Indians living in the southwestern part of the United States. A "good" language learning situation, according to Schumann's model (p. 141), is one in which the L2 group is nondominant in relation to the TL group, both groups desire assimilation (or at least acculturation) for the L2 group, low enclosure is the goal of both groups, the two cultures are congruent, the L2 group is small and noncohesive, both groups have positive attitudes toward each other, and the L2 group intends to remain in the target language area for a long time. Under such conditions social distance would be minimal and acquisition of the target language would be enhanced. Schumann cites as a specific example of a "good" language learning situation the case of American Jewish immigrants living in Israel. Lybeck (2002), through research that measured acculturation by means of social exchange networks, recently obtained support for Schumann's hypothesis among second language learners of Norwegian in Norway. Schumann's hypothesis was that the greater the social distance between two cultures, the greater the difficulty the learner will have in learning the second lan­ guage, and conversely, the smaller the social distance (the greater the social soli­ darity between two cultures), the better will be the language learning situation. One of the difficulties in Schumann's hypothesis of social distance is the measurement of actual social distance. How can one determine degrees of social 198 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors distance? By what means? And how would those m parison of relative distances? To this day the constru jectively defined phenomenon that, like empathy, se psychological constructs, defies definition even thoug sense of what is meant. William Acton (1979) proposed a solution to the measure actual social distance, he devised a measu tance. His contention was that the actual distance b ularly relevant since it is what learners perceive tha have already noted that human beings perceive the the filters and screens of their own world view and t however biased it may be. According to Acton, when ture, their acculturation process is a factor of how th in relation to the culture of the target language, and v tively there may be a relatively large distance between but an American learning Arabic in Saudi Arabia migh ceive little distance and in turn act on that perceptio By asking learners to respond to three dimensio a measure of perceived social distance-the Prof Questionnaire (PDAQ)-which characterized the " learner (as measured by standard proficiency test Basically the PDAQ asked learners to quantify what ferences in attitude toward various concepts ("the auto "policemen;' for example) on three dimensions: (1) di themselves and their countrymen in general; (2) dist members of the target culture in general; and (3) distan and members of the target culture. By using a sem three distance scores were computed for each dime Acton found that in the case of learners of Englis States for four months, there is an optimal perceive the three scores) that typifies the "good" language learn selves as either too close to or too distant from either culture, they fell into the category of "bad" language le proficiency tests. The implication is that successfu selves as maintaining some distance between thems Acton'S PDAQ did not predict success in language is no adequate instrument to predict language success o But the PDAQ did describe empirically, in quantifiable social distance and second language acquisition. Acton's theory of optimal perceived social d (1967) contention that mastery of the foreign langu with feelings of anomie or homelessness, where lea their native culture but are still not completely assim target culture. More important, Acton's modelled us tive and affective tension to produce the necessary pressure to acquire the lan­ guage, pressure that is neither too overwhelming (such as the culture shock typical of Stage 2) nor too weak (which would be found in Stage 4, adaptation/assimilation). Language mastery at Stage 3, in turn, would appear to be an instrument for pro­ gressing psychologically through Stage 3 and finally into Stage 4. According to this optimal distance model (Brown, 1980) of second language acquisition, an adult who fails to master a second language in a second culture may for a host of reasons have failed to synchronize linguistic and cultural development. Adults who have achieved nonlinguistic means of coping in the foreign culture will pass through Stage 3 and into Stage 4 with an undue number ofjossilized forms of language (see Chapter 8 for a discussion of fossilization), never achieving mastery. They have no reason to achieve mastery since they have learned to cope without sophisticated knowledge of the language. They may have acquired a sufficient number of functions of a second language without acquiring the COrrect forms. What is suggested in this optimal distance model might well be seen as a culturally based critical-period hypoth­ esis, that is, a critical period that is independent of the age of the learner. While the optimal distance model applies more appropriately to adult learners, it could pertain to children, although less critically so. Because they have not built up years and years of a culture-bound worldview (or view of themselves), children have fewer perceptive ftl­ ters to readjust and therefore move through the stages of acculturation more quickly. They nevertheless move through the same stages, and it is plausible to hypothesize that their recovery stages are also crucial periods of acquisition. Some research evidence has been gathered in support of the optimal distance construct. In a study of returning Peace Corps volunteers who had remained in their assigned countries for two or more years, Day (1982) garnered some observa­ tional evidence of the coinciding of critical leaps in language fluency and cultural anomie. And Svanes (1987, 1988) found that university foreign students studying in Norway appeared to achieve higher language proficiency if they had "a balanced and critical attitude to the host people" (1988, p. 368) as opposed to uncritical admiration for all aspects of the target culture. The informal testimony of many teachers of ESL in the United States also confirms the plausibility of a motivational tension created by the need to "move along" in the sometimes long and frustrating process of adaptation to a new homeland. Teachers in similar contexts could ben­ efit from a careful assessment of the current cultural stages of learners with due attention to possible optimal periods for language mastery. 200 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE While most learners can indeed find positive ben learning experiences, a number of people experie other inhibiting effects of the second culture. S learners can feel alienation in the process of learnin from people in their home culture, the target cul teaching an "alien" language, we need to be sensitiv using teclmiques that promote cultural understandin A number of recent research studies have show porating cultural awareness in language classroom excellent set of practical activities, all grounded in r is provided in DeCapua and Wintergerst's (2004) Savignon and Sysoyev (2002) promoted socioc learners of English in Russia by introducing socioc ating contact, anticipating cultural misunderstandin cussions. Wright (2000) found that teaching lea language, using process-oriented tasks promote Abrams (2002) successfully used Internet-based cul tural awareness and to defuse cultural stereotypes. of the target language helped learners in Bateman's positive attitudes toward the target culture. Choi (200 intercultura1 awareness and understanding for her K second language. The above studies complement earlier work a who followed an experiential or process model (R of culture learning in the classroom were able t experience into one of increased cultural- and Parsons (1982) examined the use of role play in helping students to overcome cultural "fatigue"; r of cross-cultural dialog while providing opportW NUOlerous other materials and teclmiques-readings assimilators, "culture capsules:' and "culturgranls" -ar to assist them in the process of acculturation in Ramirez, 1995; Levine et al., 1987; McGroarty & Galv Perhaps the most productive model of the comb second culture learning is found among students wh country where that language is spoken natively. In foreign students are enrolled in institutions of highe language of the country in order to pursue their acad simply consider the multitude of immigrants who e their new country after having received their ear country. They bring with them the cultural mores a learned in their home culture, and tend to apply th But in his new U.S. language school, his youngish teachers are friendly and encourage a flrst-name basis; they ask students to participate in group work, they try to get students to come up with answers to problems, rather than just giving the answer, and so on. Kenji is confused. Why? Some means of conceptualizing such mismatches in expectations were out­ lined in a thought-provoking article by Geert Hofstede (1986), who used four dif­ ferent conceptual categories to study the cultural norms of fifty different countries. Each category was described as follows: 1. Individualism as a characteristic of a culture opposes collectivism (the word is used here in an anthropological, not a political, sense). Individualist cultures assume that any person looks primarily after his or her own interest and the interest of his or her immectiate family (husband, wife, and children). Collectivist cultures assume that any person through birth and possible later events belongs to one or more tight "in-groups," from which he or she cannot detach him or herself. The "in-group" (whether extended family, clan, or organization) protects the interest of its members, but in turn expects their permanent loyalty. A collectivist society is tightly integrated; an individualist society is loosely integrated. 2. Power distance as a characteristic of a culture deflnes the extent to which the less powerful persons in a society accept inequality in power and consider it as normal. Inequality exists within any culture, but the degree of it that is tolerated varies between one culture and another. "AU societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others" (Hofstede, 1986, p. 136). 3. Uncertainty avoidance as a characteristic of a culture deflnes the extent to which 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 and a belief in absolute truths. Cultures with a strong uncertainty avoidance are active, aggressive, emotional, compulsive, security seeking, and intolerant; cultures with a weak uncertainty avoidance are contemplative, less aggressive, unemotional, relaxed, accepting of personal risks, and relatively tolerant. 4. Masculinity as a characteristic of a culture opposes Jemininity. The two differ in the social roles associated with the biological fact of the existence of two sexes, and in particular in the social roles attributed to men. The cultures 202 CHAPTER 7 Sociocultural Factors which I labeled as "masculine" strive for maxima men are expected to do and what women are ex men to be assertive, ambitious, and competitive, t and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast. T and to care for the nonmaterial quality of life, for Feminine cultures, on the other hand, define relat for the sexes, in which men need not be ambitio for a different quality of life than material success is small, weak, and slow. So, in masculine culture tional values stress material success and assertive they stress other types of quality of life, interpers cern for the weak. Table 7.1 shows Hofstede's conception of the m above four categories, individualism/collectivism, wi room manifestations of these two factors in contrast. Teachers who are charged with educating stu grounds differ from their own must of course attend Hofstede has brought to our attention. The climate fo acquisition may be considerably clouded by what s expectations for their participation, and as a result, cer in the way of their success. ClASSROOM CoNNECTIONS Research Findings: The research cited by H widespread support for collectivism/indivi distance as important factors contributing to derstanding in classrooms. American teache only expect students to volunteer questions classroom but may also express smaller pow friendliness and openness to students. Teaching Implications: In current languag