language and culture.pdf

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Culture and SLA 1

Running head: CULTURE AND SLA

Culture and Second Language Acquisition

Christopher L. Spackan

!hio Doinican Uni"ersit#



Culture and SLA $

Culture and Second Language Acquisition

Culture is to huans %hat %ater is to &ish'that %hich surrounds us and that %e are onl#

a%are o& %hen it is gone. This is not an especiall# good analog# (ut this is appropriate since

culture is so di&&icult to de&ine. )ro%n *$++,- p. /+0 de&ines culture succinctl# and o"erl#

generall# as the ideas- custos- skills- arts- and tools that characteri2e a gi"en group o& people

in a gi"en period o& tie.3 D4a25Rico and 6eed *$++70 looked at si8 de&initions and needed a

paragraph to de&ine culture as

the e8plicit and iplicit patterns &or li"ing- the d#naic s#ste o& coonl# agreed5

upon s#(ols and eanings- kno%ledge- (elie&- art- orals- la%- custos- (eha"iors-

traditions- and9or ha(its that are shared and ake up the total %a# o& li&e o& a people-

as negotiated (# indi"iduals in the process o& constructing a personal identit#.

*pp. $$5$0

An ad"antage o& D4a25Rico and 6eeds *$++70 de&inition is that it speci&icall# "ie%s

culture as a process- not a static list o& &acts to (e eori2ed nor a set o& situational skits

encoding (eha"ior. Ro(inson5Stuart and Nocon *1;;70 like%ise stress the iportance o& the &act

that culture is an acti"e- ongoing process- li"ed (# those %ho ake up the culture: culture is not

onl# located in cultural products and &ors- (ut in the acti"e li"es o& those %ho share those

&ors3 *Ro(inson5Stuart < Nocon- Author a(stract section- para =0.

Culture as a process underines the idea that culture can (e learned through super&icial

aspects like &ood- costue- and holida#s. >t is e8perienced though language- ho%e"er (ecause

language is insepara(le &ro culture. Learning a second language requires learning the linguistic

aspects o& the target culture. Second language acquisition is second culture acquisition.

This is true e"en i& the culture in %hich the learners are stud#ing is not the culture o& the

target language. E"en students learning English as a &oreign language in ?apan still requires soe



Culture and SLA

sort o& English cultural underpinning. !("iousl# this applies to ?apanese learners o& English as a

second language as %ell. There are se"eral linguistic %a#s that di&&erences (et%een )ritish

Coon%ealth9Aerican English culture and ?apanese culture di&&er. @or e8aple- ?apanese

culture is hierarchical and the language re&lects this. There is no %ord corresponding to the

English &or (rother.3 Rather- ?apanese has &our %ords &or (rother-3 used to distinguish (et%een

older and #ounger (rothers as %ell as in di&&erent situations: addressing the (rother requires one

&or- and talking a(out the (rother %ith soeone else requires a di&&erent &or.

The ?apanese language contains an# other e8aples o& language that does not translate

culturall# into English. Naes- &or e8aple- are o&ten not used in ?apanese i& there is soe %a#

to a"oid it. Relationships or occupations are &requentl# used to re&er to people instead. A

?apanese learner o& English in Aerica a# e8perience culture shock at the idea o& calling a

teacher (# his or her nae rather than ust calling that person teacher.3 These can (e seen as

cultural ani&estations o& the 6hor&ian B#pothesis *as descri(ed in )ro%n- $++,- pp. $115$10.

Culture and language are (ound together so tightl# that learning a ne% language requires

learning a ne% culture and thus a ne% %a# o& "ie%ing the %orld.

>nterestingl#- soe English teachers in ?apan do not use these English cultural nors in

class- (elie"ing that e8posing the students to a di&&erent culture %ill cause the culture shock.

Thus- (rother3 is taught as a %ord in co(ination %ith elder9older3 and #ounger-3 a&ter %hich

(rother3 (# itsel& a# (e encountered less &requentl# than phrases that atch the ?apanese

cultural nor *i.e. elder (rother30 e"en though in Aerican English (rother3 (# itsel& %ould (e

&ar ore coon.

Learning a ne% language %hile li"ing in the culture in"ol"es coing to ters %ith the

ne% ocean #ou are s%iing in. This is acculturation- %hich can ha"e t%o eanings. The

general eaning is ust the process or act o& adusting to a ne% culture. )ro%n *1;/+0 and



Culture and SLA

Schuann *1;/70 see to (e using the ter acculturation in this %a# %hen talking a(out the

!ptial Distance odel and the Acculturation odel- respecti"el#. D4a25Rico and 6eed *$++,0

gi"e another- ore speci&ic de&inition o& acculturation as a speci&ic %a# o& adusting to a ne%

culture: tFo acculturate is to adapt to a second culture %ithout necessaril# gi"ing up ones &irst

culture3 *p. $70. This is distinct &ro other %a#s such as assiilation'(eing totall# a(sor(ed

into the ne% culture- %ith the nati"e culture ultiatel# disappearing *pp. $=5$70 'or

accoodation'%here (oth cultures adapt to each other *pp. $75$,0.

oti"ation is o&ten descri(ed as instruental or integrati"e *Schuann- 1;/70. Learners

%ho %ant language a(ilit# &or their o( or other speci&ic task are instruentall# oti"ated. This

%ould include- &or e8aple- the legions o& E@L learners in ?apan &or %ho English is ust

another section on school entrance e8as. These learners need English &or a speci&ic purpose and

are not tr#ing to integrate into an English speaking culture or to (e like an English nati"e speaker

the# adire. >ntegrati"e oti"ation is- alost (e de&inition- associated %ith acculturation (ut

oti"ation is cople8 and in"ol"es an# other &actors as %ell. Schuann *1;/70 gi"es the

e8aple o& success&ul English learners in the Aerican South%est %ho ha"e anti5integrati"e

oti"ations. Thus- oti"ation- %hile o& course an iportant aspect o& learners language

acquisition- does not correlate %ith learners attitudes to%ard acculturation.

Brown's Optimal Distance Model

The critical period h#pothesis suggests that age- and accopan#ing changes in the (rain-

place a natural liit on second language acquisition *)ro%n- $++,0. )ro%n *1;/+0 re&orulated

the critical period h#pothesis to ake acculturation- rather than age- the aor &actor de&ining the

critical period. This is the !ptial Distance odel- and as the nae iplies- Schuanns social

distance is one o& the eleents o& the odel- in the &or o& Actons percei"ed social distance.

According to )ro%n *1;/+- $++,0- second language learners are optiall# suited to learn the



Culture and SLA =

second language %hen certain conditions o& acculturation are et. Speci&icall#- the optial

period is %hen learners are in the third stage o& acculturation and also see thesel"es as outside

o& (oth their nati"e culture and the second culture.

Acculturation takes place in &our stages *)ro%n- 1;/+0. The &irst is the hone#oon

period- %hen e"er#thing is ne% and interesting. Ne8t is the culture shock period. Third is a long

period o& slo% reco"er#. )# reco"ering- or ostl# reco"ering- &ro the culture shock and

adusting to the ne% culture- the learner enters the &ourth stage.

An iportant eleent o& the third period is a &eeling o& anoie- %hich )ro%n *1;/+0

descri(es as the &eeling o& (eing (et%een cultures (ut not a e(er o& either. The learner thus

has a percei"ed social distance (et%een hi5 or hersel& and (oth cultures. )ro%n clais that this

o&ten occurs earl# in the third stage o& acculturation *p. 1=;0- as the learner is starting to reco"er

&ro culture shock. This stage is also associated %ith the (eginnings o& aster# o& the learners

second language. Gerhaps the learner is capa(le enough %ith the ne% language that he or she

(egins to &eel distant- or di&&erent- &ro his or her nati"e culture (ut can see ho% &ar he or she is

&ro the nati"es o& the ne% culture.

Thus- the third period o& acculturation is "er# iportant &or second language acquisition'

it is the critical tie &or optial learning. As )ro%n *1;/+- p. 1710 phrases it- sFtage three a#

pro"ide not onl# the optial distance- (ut the optial cogniti"e and a&&ecti"e tension to produce

the necessar# pressure to acquire the language3. >& learners &ails to aster the second language

during the third period o& acculturation- the# a# ne"er acquire it to a high le"el success&ull#.

There are se"eral other conclusions that can (e dra%n &ro the !ptial Distance odel.

!ne that )ro%n *1;/+- p. 1710 discusses is that &ailure to s#nchroni2e acculturation and language

learning could (e a aor reason &or a learners &ailure to aster the second language. This



Culture and SLA 7

suggests that second language progras %ould ha"e (etter results i& the# include acculturation

support as part o& or in addition to language training.

>& acculturation'culture shock and reco"er#'is required &or second language aster#-

does that ean that &oreign language learners stud#ing in their nati"e cultures can ne"er aster

the language the# are stud#ingH )ro%n *1;/+- p. 17$0 speci&icall# e8cludes &oreign language

learning &ro the odel. Bo%e"er- he also h#pothesi2es *p. 1710 that people %ho aster a

language %ithout going through stage three *as could (e the case %ith ad"anced &oreign5

language learners0 could possi(l# &ind it di&&icult to progress through stage three into &ull

acculturation- should the# one da# li"e in the culture.

!Neal Cooper *$++0- ho%e"er- identi&ies ono5 and (i5cultural (ilinguals in Iorea %ho

sho% s#ptos o& anoie and a# need acculturation support. Be attri(utes this in part to the

h#(rid E@L9ESL learning situation in Iorea and thus it is not strictl# a &oreign language

situation. Considering that ?apan- China- and possi(l# other Asian countries ha"e siilar h#(rid

educational progras- %hich eplo# nati"e speakers &ro o"erseas to assist %ith teaching- it is

possi(le that this situation is not unique to Iorea. @urther- !Neal Cooper concludes that the

learners situation is e8actl# that e8pected under the !ptial Distance odel: the learners

language learning and their acculturation %ere not s#nchroni2ed. AF lack o& acculturation a#

(e a ore iportant &actor in the su(ects sicF &ailure to achie"e counicati"e copetence3

*!Neal Cooper- p. 11+0.

An interesting aspect o& !Neal Coopers *$++0 research is that the (ilinguals %ere

(ilingual in %riting and reading uch ore strongl# than the# %ere in speaking. This is partl# a

result o& the educational s#ste in Iorea and the s#ste in ?apan is siilar. As entioned

a(o"e- ?apanese teachers o& English o&ten do not address the English linguistic cultural eleents-

resulting in "er# little e8posure to the culture o& the target language and thus little opportunit# &or



Culture and SLA ,

an# acculturation. This is anecdotal (ut the siilarities suggest that &urther research on this

question %ould (e use&ul.

Schuann *1;/7- p. ,;0 de&ined acculturation as the social and ps#chological

integration o& the learner %ith the target language *TL0 group.3 Be argues that the learner %ill

acquire the language onl# to the e8tent that he sicF acculturates *p. ,;03 and that the degree to

%hich a learner acculturates to the TL group %ill control the degree to %hich he sicF acquires the

second language *p. /=0.3 This Acculturation odel is stronger than )ro%ns !ptial Distance

odel (ut the &ocus is siilarl# on the iportance o& the le"el o& learner acculturation.

>nsu&&icient acculturation results in less second language acquisition.

This (rings up another issue %ith )ro%ns odel: %hether it applies onl# in the case o&

acculturation. D4a25Rico and 6eed *$++7- pp. $=5$,0 discuss acculturation as onl# one

possi(le goal o& the learner. 6hat i& a second language learner does not %ish to acculturate to the

ne% culture (ut instead reain separate &ro it- adopting a pluralist goalH !r- %hat i& the learner

is- "oluntaril# or other%ise- partiall# culturall# isolated &ro the ainstrea culture *&or

e8aple- a student li"ing in an iigrant counit# (ut attending a ainstrea school0-

aking &ull acculturation pro(leaticH >n these cases- is it possi(le to o"e through stage threeH

!("iousl# the indi"idual learners still e8perience culture shock (ut %ill the# still e8perience the

optial learning periodH >s the !ptial Distance odel all or nothing- or could !Neal Coopers

Iorean (ilinguals (ene&it &ro soe aount o& acculturation support- e"en %ithout li"ing in the

second cultureH These are areas %here &urther research %ould (e (ene&icial.

Classroom Applications

The !ptial Distance odel does not e8plain ho% language is learned- it ust

h#pothesi2es the optial conditions &or learning to take place. The Acculturation odel also

descri(es a liiting &actor on learners acquisition. Bo%e"er- the &ocus in (oth odels on



Culture and SLA /

acculturation and thus e8perience in the second culture akes a constructi"ist approach a natural

&it. Language is acquired through realistic situations and interactions %ith nati"e speakers in the

target culture. 6ithout stretching too &ar- Ausu(els &ocus on eaning&ul learning and the

creation o& ne% ental constructs through the use o& pre"iousl# e8isting constructs *)ro%n-

1;/+- pp. ;15;0 can also (e applied to insights &ro acculturation research. >n this case

ho%e"er- it sees plausi(le that acculturation %ould in"ol"e the odi&ication or e"olution o&

pre"iousl# e8isting ental constructs *eleents o& culture0 into ne% &ors appropriate &or the

ne% culture.

Un&ortunatel#- introductor# inter5cultural ad"ice &or teachers- like that in )ro%n *$++,0

and D4a25Rico and 6eed *$++70 &ocuses alost entirel# on respecting the learners cultures and

a"oiding cultural (ias in class and in language acti"ities. The acculturation o& the student to the

ne% culture is not stressed and the relationship (et%een acculturation and language acquisition is

not addressed outside o& )ro%ns discussion o& his odel *)ro%n- $++,- pp. 1;/51;;0.

A%areness o& learners L1 culture is- o& course- iportant (ut it is ust one aspect o& the issue.

)ro%ns !ptial Distance odel *1;/+0 suggests that a &ailure to properl# s#nchroni2e

language stud# %ith acculturation can result in &ossili2ation o& graar &ors in the second

language. Siilarl#- Schuann *1;/70 sa#s in his discussion o& the Acculturation odel suggest

that learners can onl# (ecoe pro&icient to the e8tent that the# acculturate. Thus- acculturation

support at the classroo or at least at the school le"el %ould help a8ii2e learners aster# o&

the ne% language. Such instruction a# also help learners get through the ost di&&icult phase o&

acculturation- and &urther research in that area ight (e &ruit&ul.

!ne area %here there is acti"e research on target culture in the classroo is &oreign

language teaching. Tang *$++70 argues that culture5as5&acts- and culture5as5(eha"ior approaches

are insu&&icient and that to trul# understand a culture- students need to understand the coon



Culture and SLA ;

underl#ing thees in the culture. !ne %a# to practice this in the classroo- is to per&or3 the

culture. Second culture students are likel# alread# doing this as the# are li"ing in the culture- (ut

per&oring3 realistic scenarios in the classroo and thinking a(out the underl#ing eanings o&

the actions9reactions could (e "er# use&ul &or second culture acquisition as %ell as language

acquisition.

Ro(inson5Stuart and Nocon *1;;70 pro"ide a (rie& look at cultural acquisition theories

(e&ore e8plaining a research e8perient in"ol"ing the use o& ethnographic inter"ie%s. The goal

o& the e8perient %as to see i& &oreign5language learners attitudes to%ard the target culture

%ould (e a&&ected (# inter"ie%ing a e(er o& the target culture. Uni"ersit# students in

Cali&ornia stud#ing the Spanish language inter"ie%ed nati"e Spanish speakers. Conducting the

inter"ie%s and doing related assignents such as ournal keeping- %as sho%n to ha"e a positi"e

e&&ect on students attitudes to%ard Spanish speakers. oti"ation to stud# Spanish also increased

*Ro(inson5Stuart < Nocon- 1;;7- @indings section0.

!ne goal o& the inter"ie% e8perience is to get the students to see thesel"es as cultural

(eings. Learners are ade a%are o& their roles as cultural (eings in"ol"ed in cross5cultural

interaction. ore than ust a cogniti"e process- the use o& ethnographic inter"ie%ing techniques

to inter"ie% li"e target language speakers engages the learner a&&ecti"el# as %ell as cogniti"el#3

*Ro(inson5Stuart < Nocon- 1;;7- >ntegration into the classroo section- para $0.

Students in a stud# (# )#on *$++,0- &orulated their o%n h#potheses a(out Iorean

culture and then o"er the seester in"estigated those h#potheses. Students did so through

ethods such as li(rar# research and inter"ie%s %ith Ioreans *p. 70. This %as siilar to the

%ork done (# Ro(inson5Stuart and Nocon *1;;70. As %ith that %ork- )#ons results %ere

positi"e- (ecause



Culture and SLA 1+

students gained insights into a particular aspect o& L$ culture *e.g. Iorean0- (#

odi&#ing their o%n stereot#pical ipressions o& L$ culture and people through the

proect. Students ipro"ed cross5cultural a%areness and their understanding o& the

d#naic nature o& culture. The# recognised the ipacts their perspecti"es had on

interpreting and learning L$ culture- and there(# (ecae ore a%are o& their culture

*)#on- pp. 1510.

>t %ould not (e di&&icult to do siilar acti"ities %ith ESL students in Aerica- and it %ould (e

use&ul to see %hat e&&ect such acti"ities had on learner acculturation and their "ie%s o& the

second culture.

Altan *$++=0 gi"es a series o& (rie& lesson plans &or teachers to do in class to help

students acculturate to the second language classroo. Especiall# iportant here is that Altans

plans teach learning strategies and stud# strategies e8plicitl# *p. ;7- lesson &our0. This sort o&

orientation and direct instruction should (e easil# usa(le in an# second language classroos.

!)rien and Le"# *$++/0 use "irtual realit# *JR0 to gi"e Keran language students in

Canada a chance to sol"e a #ster# in a Keran setting. A coputer gae perhaps- (ut one %ith

%ell5de&ined learning goals. 6hen asked a(out the eleents o& the JR %orld the# e8perienced- it

is perhaps not surprising that ost o& the students coented on the cultural aspects such as

(uilding aterials- the siilarities and di&&erences (et%een Canadian and Keran cities. Soe

students picked up on linguistic culture nors- such as people stopping to ask directions %hen

unsure o& ho% to get soe%here *pp. 7,757,,0. 6hen asked the point o& the acti"it#- the largest

nu(er o& students ans%ered a(out the goal o& the gae itsel& *&inding the a#ors lost daughter0

and not a linguistic or cultural goal *pp. 7,57,=0. This ight (e good as it indicates that the

students %ere iersed in the gae su&&icientl# to perhaps teporaril# o"erlook the &act that

the# %ere practicing Keran. @urther research on coputer assisted culture learning %ould (e



Culture and SLA 11

(ene&icial (ecause o& the con"enience *i.e. tie shi&ting- repetition- progressing at the learners

speed0 coputer learning o&&ers &or learners and teachers.

Culture is an iportant part o& language and &or that reason alone should (e an iportant

part o& the language classroo. As the !ptial Distance odel and the Acculturation odel

sho%- acculturation can (e an iportant &actor in success&ul second language acquisition. This

akes it all the ore iportant that learners encounter culture and learn acculturation strategies

so that the# can a8ii2e their a(ilit# to acquire a second language and a second culture. The

saple o& classroo acti"ities outlined here sho%s that it is possi(le to do this is a %ide "ariet#

o& settings.



Culture and SLA 1$

Re&erences

Altan- ?. *$++=0. Acculturating learners to English classroos Electronic "ersionF. >n I.

)rad&ord56atts- C. >keguchi- < . S%anson *Eds.0- JALT2004 Conference Proceedings

*pp. ;+5;/0. Tok#o: ?ALT.

)ro%n- B. D. *1;/+0. The optial distance odel o& second language learning. T!OL

"#arterl$% &4% 1=,517.

)ro%n- B. D. *$++,0. Principles of lang#age learning and teacing *=th ed.0. 6hite Glains- N:

Longan.

)#on- A. S. *$++,0. The use o& culture port&olio proect in a Iorean culture classroo:

E"aluating stereot#pes and enhancing cross5cultural a%areness Electronic "ersionF.

Lang#age% C#lt#re ( C#rric#l#m% 200)% 20% 151;.

D4a25Rico- L. T.- < 6eed- I. M. *$++70. Te crossc#lt#ral% lang#age% and academic

de*elopment and+oo, *rd ed.0. )oston: All#n and )acon.

!)rien- . K.- < Le"#- R. . *$++/0. E8ploration through "irtual realit#: Encounters %ith the

target culture Electronic "ersionF. Canadian Modern Lang#age -e*iew% .4% 7757;1.

!Neal Cooper- ?.- ?r. *$++0. Acculturation and the E@L9ESL h#(rid: The optial distance

odel re"isited ' a stud# &ro South Iorea Electronic "ersionF. Te /orea T!OL

Jo#rnal% .% /,511/.

Ro(inson5Stuart- K.- < Nocon- B. *1;;70. Second culture acquisition: ethnograph# in the &oreign

language classroo Electronic "ersionF. Te Modern Lang#age Jo#rnal% 0% 15;

Schuann- ?. B. *1;/70. Research on the acculturation odel &or second language acquisition

Electronic "ersionF. Jo#rnal of M#ltiling#al and M#ltic#lt#ral De*elopment% )% ,/5;$

Tang- . *$++70. )e#ond (eha"ior: Koals o& cultural learning in the second language classroo

Electronic "ersionF. Te Modern Lang#age Jo#rnal% 10% /75;;.

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