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segunda-feira, 7 de junho de 2010

Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom: Going beyond Halloween and Apple Pies | por Dr. Teresa Machado Maher (UNICAMP)

People talk differently. Some people say “mesa” and some say “table” when referring to the exact same object. Some people omit (or add) pronouns where others would never dare to. Some simply employ a rising intonation to turn an order into a polite request whereas, maybe just a few miles off, no simple intonation pattern can do this task – one must make use of specific polite words if it’s one’s wish to avoid being considered rude. As these examples show, differences in the way people talk can be accounted for by the lexical repertoire, the grammatical rules and the pragmatic conventions that are unique to their linguistic codes. I would argue, however, that significant differences also reside elsewhere.

People talk differently because, among other things, they have different interactional styles. It is known that personal and social characteristics affect and determine such styles. But I would like to call attention to another quite influential domain: the cultural one. Cultural “scripts” (expectations about how a conversation should be carried out) largely orient the same way we expect others to talk and the way we expect to be talked to. The analysis of some conversational episodes might make this point clearer:

Scene 1………IN A KITCHEN

American housewife: I’ve just finished baking some cake. Would you like some?
Brazilian student: (smiling) No, thanks.
American housewife: Are you sure?
Brazilian student: Yeah, thanks.
American housewife: (gently placing the cake back on the counter) OK….

Quite an ordinary dialogue one would say, and not too different from those commonly found in English textbooks used in Brazilian schools. Yes, I believe the interaction above demonstrates one of those instances where cross – cultural misunderstandings frequently occur. Suppose the Brazilian student had wanted a piece of that cake after all. How would she have reacted to her friend’s speech? Unless she was very aware of the specific cultural differences in conversational behavior in situations like this one, our Brazilian student would probably have ended up thinking something like “ Poxa, se ela nao queria dar por que ofereceu? “ Why would she have thought this? As a Brazilian her expectations would, most likely, have been that the other speaker would continue to offer a little longer and not accept her “ refusal “ so promptly ( “ Não, experimenta um pouquinho ….- “Não, já jantei …….” - Ah! Come um pedacinho só S’o para experimentar...” - - Não, não, obrigada” – Ah, vai .....só um pouquinho ? ” - “ Tá bom ...mas só um pedacinho hein ? “ ) .

Scene 2 in a living room

bRAZILIAN GUEST: Gee, It’s getting late! (starting to get up from the couch) I’d better go….

AMERICAN HOST: (Getting up) It was really nice seeing you! (heading towards the front door) We must get together again soon (opening the door and allowing his guest to leave)

BRAZILIAN GUEST: (walking towards the front gate) Yes, we must do that….

AMERICAN HOST: (standing by the door) Good bye!

bRAZILIAN GUEST: Bye!

AMERICAN HOST: (waves just before going back into the house and closing the door behind him)

Again, unless the Brazilian speaker realized that this American host had done nothing but follow what American culture dictated as appropriate behavior in such circumstances, I suspect our guest would not be able to avoid feeling he had worn out his welcome. Saying good-bye to people is a much longer and a quite different ritual in Brazil. To begin with, it is doubtful that any native Brazilian host would interpret a guest’s first physical signs of leaving to be a clear indication that the visit was over and, therefore, would not stand up himself (interactional culture manifests itself verbally and non- verbally). Such a body movement, as well as the language that usually accompanies it ( “Nossa! Já tá tarde ….” ) does not necessarily mean, in our country, that the person is leaving right away. More often not, the speaker’s intentions are just to signal that the time for him to leave is approaching. The host, consequently, is expected to say things like “ Imagine, ‘e cedo ainda, fica mais um pouquinho..toma mais um cafezinho “ which is very frequently a good hint that the conversation will go on for a while longer (10, 15 minutes) before any of the speakers actually gets up. And then again, getting up does not necessarily mean that the ritual is about to end. Some small talk at the front gate, next to the elevator or by the car (3, 5 minutes ?) is still pretty much a guest’s expectation. It also goes without saying that most Brazilian I know would feel uncomfortable if their hosts turned around and walked in before the car drove off and the guests were out of sight….

SCENE 3 AT A RESTAURANT

Brazilian businessman: (picking up the bill from the table) This is on me!

American businessman: (holding his wallet) Are you sure?

Brazilian businessman: Yes, it’s on me!

American businessman: (smiles as he puts his wallet back into his pocket) Thanks…..


Had the communicative situation above happened between two native speakers of Portuguese would it have developed in the exact same way? Highly improbable, I would say. Although the difficult economical situation of Brazil has certainly contributed to shorten the number of turns required in situations such as this one, still, a certain amount of “ resistance “ is expected ( “Não, deixa que eu pago “ – “ Imagine, de jeito nenhum “ – “ Por favor” – “ Em absoluto “), otherwise one of the lunch partners runs the risk of being considered cheap, or at very best, insensitive.

Culture has been part of the curriculum of Foreign Language Teaching for quite some time now. However, cultural matters presented in the classroom have, to a large extent, been limited to the teaching of some of the typical material aspects of the target culture: gastronomic preferences, celebrations, etc. I have been trying to suggest that this is not enough because there is another very important, even if less tangible, aspect of culture which should not be left out of our syllabuses. Reflections upon contrastive interactional styles belong in the classroom since our students are often unaware that many of the sources of stereotyping and intercultural miscommunication involve complex differences at the discourse level. Hoping that the examples presented here have been sufficient to convince you of the truthfulness of this article let me now focus on more pragmatic issues. How can teachers actually bring “interactional culture “ into the classroom? In my personal experience, a quite efficient methodological procedure has been the role playing of interactions like the ones found in textbooks or films in the student’s native language. The acting out of such interactions in Portuguese enables them to see where significant differences lie and generates interesting and rich discussions on cultural relativism. Such discussions also contribute to enhance students ` cultural identity. Discussing how different others are makes us more and more aware of our own uniqueness. After all, we are Brazilians because, among other things, we talk the way we do.

Before ending, a few words of caution are needed. First of all, teachers have to realize that when trying to decide what specific aspects of intercultural interactional styles should be discussed in their courses, they will have to rely pretty much on their own insights upon the matter. Contrastive cross - cultural research is scarce and no significant amount of reliable information is available which, ultimately, might be for the better. Had the research scene been different, straight-jacketed interactional cultural syllabuses would be crowding existing textbooks, possibly leading teachers to form a series of misbelieves regarding such complex phenomena as Language and Culture. Language usage is highly unpredictable and Culture is not a monolithic entity. Therefore, no teaching syllabus, no matter how comprehensive, can possibly foresee, avoid or solve all problems in interactional communication. We cannot and should not forget that when we include the study of contrastive interactional styles in our school agenda, we are dealing only with the most ritualistic level of language as it is usually performed by members of one of the subcultures (usually the dominant one) that make up the total cultural texture of a given nation or groups of nations.

Finally, when I advocate that the classroom is the proper piece for discussing differences in interactional styles I do not mean that by doing so we should be aiming at drastically changing our students interactional behavior, turning them into perfect clones of native speakers of the foreign language. What I am advocating is that an awareness that people do talk differently all over the world will help promote in our students tolerance for differences, avoidance of stereotyping and enhancement of their cultural identity. Those, I believe, are worthwhile aims to pursue in any educational endeavor.

REFERENCES

DAMEN, L. Culture and Learning: The Fifth Dimension in the Language Classroom, Reading: Addison Wesley, 1991
GUMPERZ, J. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982
TANNEN, D. That’s Not What I Meant. New York; William Morrow and Company, 1986.
TYLER, A and DAVIES, C. Cross-Linguistic Communication Missteps in T.A. van DIJK (ed.) Text 10 (4); 385-411, 1990

Republished from the APLIESP Newsletter under permission

http://www.macmillan.com.br/artigos/detalhe.php?ID=MTA=

sábado, 5 de junho de 2010

MUSEUM OF PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE


Interactivity and technology resources presenting contents are the difference for this museum, the most visited in Brazil. This collection is under exhibition in an innovative and uncommon way. Visits start top down. At the auditorium, on the third floor, a 10-minute video explains the origin of Portuguese Language. Then, people crosses Praça da Língua (Language Square), where an audiovisual presentation shows the wealth variety of Portuguese projecting texts on the whole room.

On the second floor, a gallery exhibits a 106-meter screen with simultaneous projections about daily use of Portuguese. At “Palavras Cruzadas” (Crosswords) section, Totems explain several influences from other people and language in Portuguese formation. A timeline showing the history of Portuguese language and a room (Beco das Palavras - Word Alley) where educational electronic game about the origin and meaning of the words are fascinating due to its interactive resources. You will finish your visit at this floor with an exhibition of panels telling the history of this building, where Luz Station is also located.

And finally the first floor, with an area for temporary exhibitions. Opening exhibition was homage to “Grande Sertão: Veredas", (The Devil to Pay in the Backlands) by Guimarães Rosa. There were also exhibitions on Clarice Lispector and Gilberto Freyre.

Elevators are also used for exhibition, as it overlooks to Árvore da Palavra (Tree of Words), a 16-meter sculpture by artist Rafic Farah. An audio repeating a mantra by Arnaldo Antunes is available.

Service:
Museu da Língua Portuguesa
Praça da Luz - Centro (Luz Station subway and train)
Phone: (5511) 3326-0775
E-mail: museu@museudalinguaportuguesa.org.br
Website: http://www.museudalinguaportuguesa.org.br
Time: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am to 05:00 pm. Last Tuesday of the month, 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
Price: R$ 4. Free for children under 12 and elderly people. Saturday: free

Exposiciones


Entre actos 1964-1968

Autor: LIZANDRA PAVAN
Con el foco en el arte brasileño producido durante el régimen militar, esta es la primera de una serie de exposiciones que pretenden investigar la constitución del acervo de MAC USP. Durante períodos distintos, cada exposición va a cubrir diferentes momentos de ese período.

El acervo 1964/68 cuenta con variadas obras, que para marcar las cuestiones estéticas del período y orientar al visitante, se dividieron en tres categorías. Figura, gesto y plan.

La esposición tambiéns trae experimentaciones formales y lenguajes poéticas, que van desde la abstracción informal hasta la influencia del arte pop.

SERVICIO
Fecha: Hasta 1/8
Horarios: martes a viernes, de las 10h a las 18h; sábado y domingo, de las 10h a las 16h.
Local: MAC USP: Rua da Reitoria, 160 - Cidade Universitária
Informaciones: Tel.: (11) 3091-3039
Gratis.
www.mac.usp.br

quinta-feira, 3 de junho de 2010