Critical Incidents:- “der entscheidende Anstoß für das
Entstehen eines Lernprozeßes hin zur interkulturellen Kompetenz geht aus
von Erfahrungen in als kritisch erlebten interkulturellen Interaktions-
(Begegnungs) Situationen und den darauf folgenden Reaktionen“
(Thomas, 2003: 146)
(Translation)
The decisive trigger for the beginning of a learning process to
intercultural competence comes from experiences in critically
experienced intercultural interactions, situations and the subsequent
reactions.
Critical Incident technique:
- a set
of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in
such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving
practical problems and developing broad pyschological principles.
-
incident - any observable human activity that is sufficiently complete
in itself to permit inferences and predictions to be made about the
person performing the act
- critical - incident which occurs in a
situation where the purpose or intent of the act seems fairly clear to
the observer and where its consequences are sufficiently definite to
leave little doubt concerning its effects
- originally used in maths and science, then psychology, then cultural psychology
- first to use it in cultural perspectives - Alexander Thomas
Culture Standards:
- orientation on what behaviours to expect in a foreign culture
- distinguish what behaviours are considered normal, typical and acceptable within members of a certain group
- work like implicit theories and are internalised by socialisation (Thomas, 1990)
Definition:
- types of perception, thinking, values, actions found to be normal & acceptable by majority of particular culture
- behaviour of self and others judged and regulated by these standards
- have a regulation function
- the way individuals & groups interpret CS behavioural rules varies within a certain area of tolerance
- modes of behaviour that move outside the borders will opposed & sanctioned by society
Generating culture standards:
- critical incidents used to generate CS
-
CIT Interviews are used: Question: Typical incidents are related that
reveal a sense of strangeness, bewilderment and perhaps causing
irritation in communication
- incidents are gathered + transcribed
- Analysed for running themes + grouped into categories
- given to experts from that culture for analysis
- Reasons
and explanations provided by experts w/insights from the
literary, cultural, political, religious history of the area in question
- CS generated
Limitations of Cultural Standards:
- Never describe a culture entirely
- Always seen through eyes of one particular group - relative to eye of beholder
- not static but changing (cultures change, => standards change)
- a help towards cultural orientation & basis for learning more about a culture (not definitive guide to every part of a culture)
Culture Assimilator:
- outward expression of cultural standards
- describes a CI + gives several possible explanations
- learner picks most likely explanation + is given feedback on appropriateness of answer
- description of the central CS in this case
- anchoring the CS in the culture's history
Monday, 28 April 2014
Intercultural Learning - Stereotypes & Perceptions of others
Selbstbild - self-perception - generally positive
Fremdbild - perception of others - less sophisticated
Stereotype:
- coined Lippmann (1922) - a picture in our heads
- we first make up our minds before we get the facts, while the ideal would be to gather and analyse the facts before reaching conclusions.
- we pick out what our culture has already defined for us, and we tend to perceive that which we have picked out in the form stereotyped for us by our culture because the attempt to see all things freshly and in detail, rather than as types and generalities, is exhausting and among busy affairs practically out of the question
- Linguistic definition: Ein Stereotyp ist der verbale Ausdruck einer auf soziale Gruppen oder einzelne Personen als deren Mitglieder gerichten Überzeugung. Es hat die logische Form eines Urteils, das in ungerechtfertigt vereinfachender und generalisierender Weise, mit emotionalwertender Tendenz, einer Klasse von Personen bestimmte Eigenschaften oder Verhaltensweisen zu- oder abspricht (Uta Quasthoff, 1973: 28)
(translation) A stereotype is the verbal expression of a conviction based on social groups or individual people as members of such groups. It has the logical form of a judgement, that, in an unjustifiably simplified and generalised way, with emotionally judgmental tendencies, assigns or denies particular characteristics or modes of behaviour to a class of person.
Fremdbild - perception of others - less sophisticated
Stereotype:
- coined Lippmann (1922) - a picture in our heads
- we first make up our minds before we get the facts, while the ideal would be to gather and analyse the facts before reaching conclusions.
- we pick out what our culture has already defined for us, and we tend to perceive that which we have picked out in the form stereotyped for us by our culture because the attempt to see all things freshly and in detail, rather than as types and generalities, is exhausting and among busy affairs practically out of the question
- Linguistic definition: Ein Stereotyp ist der verbale Ausdruck einer auf soziale Gruppen oder einzelne Personen als deren Mitglieder gerichten Überzeugung. Es hat die logische Form eines Urteils, das in ungerechtfertigt vereinfachender und generalisierender Weise, mit emotionalwertender Tendenz, einer Klasse von Personen bestimmte Eigenschaften oder Verhaltensweisen zu- oder abspricht (Uta Quasthoff, 1973: 28)
(translation) A stereotype is the verbal expression of a conviction based on social groups or individual people as members of such groups. It has the logical form of a judgement, that, in an unjustifiably simplified and generalised way, with emotionally judgmental tendencies, assigns or denies particular characteristics or modes of behaviour to a class of person.
Intercultural Learning - Culture
Concept of culture:
- Weaver, Iceberg Model - visible/explicit culture above the surface and invisible/implicit culture below
- Samovar & Porter - advanced Iceberg Model - evident (visible) culture - socioeconomic situation, expression tool (language, art etc) vs deep culture - Human being & environment relations (legal, authority of state, company), Interpersonal relations (role of women, family, hierarchy), Basic convictions & values (Religion, Ideology, Traditions, Understanding of Time)
„Die Kultur einer Gesellschaft besteht in all dem, was man wissen oder glauben muß, um in einer für alle ihre Mitglieder akzeptablen Weise zu fungieren, und zwar in jeder beliebigen Rolle, die sie auch für jeden von ihnen selbst akzeptieren. Kultur...besteht nicht aus Gegenständen, Menschen, Verhaltensweisen oder Gefühlen, sondern sie ist vielmehr die Organisation dieser Dinge, vielmehr die Form dieser Dinge, die die Menschen in ihren Köpfen haben, ihre Modelle, wie sie sie wahrnehmen, in Beziehung zueinander setzen oder anderweitig interpretieren“ (Goodenough, 1964: 36).
- the culture of a society consists of everything that one must know or believe in order to act in a way that is acceptable to all its members and indeed in every arbitrary roll, that they also accept from themselves. Culture doesn't consist of artifacts, people, modes of behaviour or feelings, rather it is much more the organisation of these things, much more the form of these things that people have in their heads, their model, how they perceive themselves, how they place themselves in relation to other or otherwise interpret things.
Intercultural Communication:
- a transactional symbolic process involving the attribution of meaning between people from different cultures (Gudykunst, 1984)
Intercultural learning process:
Intercultural education + intercultural encounters = intercultural learning -> intercultural competence
Bennet model of intercultural sensitivity
For Bennett (1993) intercultural learning or intercultural competence was exemplified in his model which illustrates moving from an ethnocentric to a ethnorelative stage of development. Intercultural learning is about processing cultural differences. This means an increasing decentralisation from one’s own culture and with that the constructive integration of the foreign culture experience.
Ethnocentric: evaluating other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.
Ethnorelative: acknowledging that another's values and beliefs, and resulting assumptions and behaviour, are logically connected, and that there is no absolute position from which to judge morals, knowledge, truth.
Developmental model:
- 6 stages
- transition from an inward looking, ethnocentric position, to an outward ethnorelative view
- 1st 3 stages - ethnocentric
- reactions to cultural difference
- Denial - one’s own culture is experienced as the only real one. Other cultures are avoided by maintaining psychological & physical isolation from differences. Uninterested in cultural differences
- Defense - one’s own cultureis experienced as the only good one. The world is organised into "us and them," where "we" are superior and "they" are inferior. Threatened by cultural difference, highly critical of other cultures
- Minimisation - elements of one’s own cultural world view are experienced as universal. Because these absolutes obscure deep cultural differences, other cultures may be trivialised or romanticised. Expect similarities, insistently correct others’ behavior to match their expectations.
- 2nd 3 stages - ethnorelative
- Acceptance - one’s own culture is experienced as just one of a number of equally complex worldviews. Acceptance does not mean agreement but the judgment is not ethnocentric. Curious about and respectful toward cultural difference.
- Adaptation - experience of another culture yields perception and behavior appropriate to that culture. One’s repertoire of culture behavior is expanded. Able to look at the world "through different eyes", intentionally change their behavior to communicate more effectively in another culture.
- Integration - experience of self is expanded to include the movement in and out of different cultural worldviews. People at Integration often are dealing with issues related to their own "cultural marginality." This stage is not necessarily better than Adaptation in most situations demanding intercultural competence, but it is common among non-dominant minority groups, long-term expatriates, and global nomads.“
Levels of human interaction:
- cognitive (thought process)
- affective (emotions)
- behavioural (resulting actions)
- Weaver, Iceberg Model - visible/explicit culture above the surface and invisible/implicit culture below
- Samovar & Porter - advanced Iceberg Model - evident (visible) culture - socioeconomic situation, expression tool (language, art etc) vs deep culture - Human being & environment relations (legal, authority of state, company), Interpersonal relations (role of women, family, hierarchy), Basic convictions & values (Religion, Ideology, Traditions, Understanding of Time)
„Die Kultur einer Gesellschaft besteht in all dem, was man wissen oder glauben muß, um in einer für alle ihre Mitglieder akzeptablen Weise zu fungieren, und zwar in jeder beliebigen Rolle, die sie auch für jeden von ihnen selbst akzeptieren. Kultur...besteht nicht aus Gegenständen, Menschen, Verhaltensweisen oder Gefühlen, sondern sie ist vielmehr die Organisation dieser Dinge, vielmehr die Form dieser Dinge, die die Menschen in ihren Köpfen haben, ihre Modelle, wie sie sie wahrnehmen, in Beziehung zueinander setzen oder anderweitig interpretieren“ (Goodenough, 1964: 36).
- the culture of a society consists of everything that one must know or believe in order to act in a way that is acceptable to all its members and indeed in every arbitrary roll, that they also accept from themselves. Culture doesn't consist of artifacts, people, modes of behaviour or feelings, rather it is much more the organisation of these things, much more the form of these things that people have in their heads, their model, how they perceive themselves, how they place themselves in relation to other or otherwise interpret things.
Intercultural Communication:
- a transactional symbolic process involving the attribution of meaning between people from different cultures (Gudykunst, 1984)
Intercultural learning process:
Intercultural education + intercultural encounters = intercultural learning -> intercultural competence
Bennet model of intercultural sensitivity
For Bennett (1993) intercultural learning or intercultural competence was exemplified in his model which illustrates moving from an ethnocentric to a ethnorelative stage of development. Intercultural learning is about processing cultural differences. This means an increasing decentralisation from one’s own culture and with that the constructive integration of the foreign culture experience.
Ethnocentric: evaluating other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.
Ethnorelative: acknowledging that another's values and beliefs, and resulting assumptions and behaviour, are logically connected, and that there is no absolute position from which to judge morals, knowledge, truth.
Developmental model:
- 6 stages
- transition from an inward looking, ethnocentric position, to an outward ethnorelative view
- 1st 3 stages - ethnocentric
- reactions to cultural difference
- Denial - one’s own culture is experienced as the only real one. Other cultures are avoided by maintaining psychological & physical isolation from differences. Uninterested in cultural differences
- Defense - one’s own cultureis experienced as the only good one. The world is organised into "us and them," where "we" are superior and "they" are inferior. Threatened by cultural difference, highly critical of other cultures
- Minimisation - elements of one’s own cultural world view are experienced as universal. Because these absolutes obscure deep cultural differences, other cultures may be trivialised or romanticised. Expect similarities, insistently correct others’ behavior to match their expectations.
- 2nd 3 stages - ethnorelative
- Acceptance - one’s own culture is experienced as just one of a number of equally complex worldviews. Acceptance does not mean agreement but the judgment is not ethnocentric. Curious about and respectful toward cultural difference.
- Adaptation - experience of another culture yields perception and behavior appropriate to that culture. One’s repertoire of culture behavior is expanded. Able to look at the world "through different eyes", intentionally change their behavior to communicate more effectively in another culture.
- Integration - experience of self is expanded to include the movement in and out of different cultural worldviews. People at Integration often are dealing with issues related to their own "cultural marginality." This stage is not necessarily better than Adaptation in most situations demanding intercultural competence, but it is common among non-dominant minority groups, long-term expatriates, and global nomads.“
Levels of human interaction:
- cognitive (thought process)
- affective (emotions)
- behavioural (resulting actions)
Intercultural Learning
Year Abroad
Benefits: Linguistic, Academic, Personal, Professional, Intercultural, Cultural
Berry - Domains of adaption:
Adaptation to the physical environment (e.g. climate, clothes, food)
Socio-cultural adaptation to norms and values of the host country
Adaptation to academic life
Psychological adaptation
Stages of adjustment:
U-curve (Lysgaard) - adjustment is felt to be easy and successful to begin with; then follows a „crisis“ in which one feels less well-adjusted, somewhat lonely and unhappy; finally one begins to feel better adjusted again, becoming more integrated into the foreign community
Berry - Reactions to living abroad:
Assimilation (adjust to foreign culture, not maintaining own culture)
Integration (adjust to foreign culture and maintain own culture)
Separation (maintain own culture, not adjusting to foreign culture)
Marginalisation (not maintaining own culture or adapting to new one)
Culture Shock:
- Oberg 1960 - anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse i.e. words, gestures, facial expressions, customs or norms
- shock = misleading term - gradual phenomenon
- symptoms = extreme reactions to minor issues, especially anger, general fear and mistrust, retreat from other people, hostility towards the host culture and its people, increased desire for sleep, increased attention to hygiene, increased consumption of food and drinks
Coping Strategies:
- be prepared
- destressing methods - listening to music, taking short vacations, jogging or sports in general, talks with friend
Quote:
Der aufgeschlossene Reisende tritt in eine fremde Welt, die dann rückwirkend auch die Selbstverständlichkeit seiner eigenen fremden Welt in Frage stellt. Er beginnt das Leben der anderen zu betrachten. Seine soziale Existenz ist gebrochen, und der Bruch wird zum Ansatzpunkt der Erkenntnis (Dahrendorf, 1963: 15).
(Translation) The open minded traveller enters a foreign world that then retroactively puts the implicitness of his own foreign world in question. He begins to contemplate the lives of others. His social existence is broken and this break acts as a starting point for awareness.
Benefits: Linguistic, Academic, Personal, Professional, Intercultural, Cultural
Berry - Domains of adaption:
Adaptation to the physical environment (e.g. climate, clothes, food)
Socio-cultural adaptation to norms and values of the host country
Adaptation to academic life
Psychological adaptation
Stages of adjustment:
U-curve (Lysgaard) - adjustment is felt to be easy and successful to begin with; then follows a „crisis“ in which one feels less well-adjusted, somewhat lonely and unhappy; finally one begins to feel better adjusted again, becoming more integrated into the foreign community
Berry - Reactions to living abroad:
Assimilation (adjust to foreign culture, not maintaining own culture)
Integration (adjust to foreign culture and maintain own culture)
Separation (maintain own culture, not adjusting to foreign culture)
Marginalisation (not maintaining own culture or adapting to new one)
Culture Shock:
- Oberg 1960 - anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse i.e. words, gestures, facial expressions, customs or norms
- shock = misleading term - gradual phenomenon
- symptoms = extreme reactions to minor issues, especially anger, general fear and mistrust, retreat from other people, hostility towards the host culture and its people, increased desire for sleep, increased attention to hygiene, increased consumption of food and drinks
Coping Strategies:
- be prepared
- destressing methods - listening to music, taking short vacations, jogging or sports in general, talks with friend
Quote:
Der aufgeschlossene Reisende tritt in eine fremde Welt, die dann rückwirkend auch die Selbstverständlichkeit seiner eigenen fremden Welt in Frage stellt. Er beginnt das Leben der anderen zu betrachten. Seine soziale Existenz ist gebrochen, und der Bruch wird zum Ansatzpunkt der Erkenntnis (Dahrendorf, 1963: 15).
(Translation) The open minded traveller enters a foreign world that then retroactively puts the implicitness of his own foreign world in question. He begins to contemplate the lives of others. His social existence is broken and this break acts as a starting point for awareness.
Monday, 24 March 2014
List of German dative verbs
Common verbs which take the dative case:
antworten - to answer
danken - to thank
fehlen - to be missing
folgen - to follow
gehören - to belong to
gefallen - to please/make happy
glauben - to believe
helfen - to help
Leid tun - to be sorry
passieren - to happen
verzeihen - to forgive
weh tun - to hurt
befehlen - to order
begegnen - to encounter
bleiben - to stay
dienen - to serve
drohen - to threaten
einfallen - to occur to, think of
erlauben - to allow
gehorchen - to obey
gelingen - to succeed
misslingen - to fail
geraten - to turn out well
geschehen - to happen
gratulieren - to congratulate
nützen - to be of use
passen - to fit, suit
raten - to advise
schaden - to harm
schmecken - to taste
ver/trauen - to trust
widersprechen - to contradict/disagree with
+ separable verbs taking a 'zu' prefix, e.g. zuhören, zustimmen
antworten - to answer
danken - to thank
fehlen - to be missing
folgen - to follow
gehören - to belong to
gefallen - to please/make happy
glauben - to believe
helfen - to help
Leid tun - to be sorry
passieren - to happen
verzeihen - to forgive
weh tun - to hurt
befehlen - to order
begegnen - to encounter
bleiben - to stay
dienen - to serve
drohen - to threaten
einfallen - to occur to, think of
erlauben - to allow
gehorchen - to obey
gelingen - to succeed
misslingen - to fail
geraten - to turn out well
geschehen - to happen
gratulieren - to congratulate
nützen - to be of use
passen - to fit, suit
raten - to advise
schaden - to harm
schmecken - to taste
ver/trauen - to trust
widersprechen - to contradict/disagree with
+ separable verbs taking a 'zu' prefix, e.g. zuhören, zustimmen
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Intercultural Learning - Academic Role Play
Discussing a problem with a lecturer:
- Greet the lecturer: Guten Tag, Dr/Professor X - make sure to use their proper title and name
- Introduce yourself: Mein Name ist/Ich heiße Y und ich bin Erasmusstudent/in
- Tell them which Kurs you're in - Ich nehme an Ihrem Kurs "Z" teil (teilnehmen an + dat - to take part in, attend)
- Explain your problem - Ich möchte . . . mit Ihnen besprechen - I would like to discuss . . . with you (at this point the lecturer might say something like "Das können Sie natürlich machen" - of course you can)
- Possible problems - nicht auf die Liste setzen - to not be the list/schlechtes Resultat, Note in einer Hausarbeit bekommen (getting a poor result in an essay)/Thema einer Hausarbeit besprechen - discuss the topic of an essay
- Lecturer's answer to question - explaining the poor result, making suggestions to do with topic etc
- To lengthen it, create conflict - don't solve problem immediately - the course could be full - es gibt kein mehr Plätze frei/ the result won't be improved - explain why the essay was bad - nur eine Quelle benutzt - only one source used, zu kurz - too short - Argumente sollten weiter entwickelt sein - arguments should be further developed/ Sie sollten sein Thema verändern - you should change your topic, ein anderen Blickwinkel finden - find a different angle, POV, Sie sollten mehr Forschung machen - you should do more research
- Resolve problem - gibt es ein ähnlichen Kurs zu dem ich mich anmelden könnte - is there a similar course I could sign up for, gibt es eine Warteliste - is there a waiting list, könnten Sie meinem Name dazu hinzufügen - could you add my name to it?/Danke für Ihren Rat/Ihre Vorschläge - thank you for your advice/suggestions/ Ich werde mehr Forschung machen - I will do more research
- Thank them - Danke schön für Ihre Zeit - thank you for your time
- Say goodbye - Auf Wiedersehen (Don't use Tschüss, too informal)
Formal Email to German Lecturer Template
Greeting: Sehr geehrte Frau Professor X/Sehr geehrter Herr Professor X
Content - As formal as possible - Use Sie, Ihnen. Say bitte and Danke with questions. Also Subjunctive II - e.g. Könnten Sie mir bitte x erklären? - Could you please explain x to me?
Ich möchte wissen ob . . . - I would like to know whether
Sollte ich x machen - Should I do x?
Keep it short, lecturers might not read a long email.
Ending: Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Beste/Schöne Grüße (No punctuation after!)
Name
(Don't end with just Grüße or any acronyms like MfG, LG etc)
Content - As formal as possible - Use Sie, Ihnen. Say bitte and Danke with questions. Also Subjunctive II - e.g. Könnten Sie mir bitte x erklären? - Could you please explain x to me?
Ich möchte wissen ob . . . - I would like to know whether
Sollte ich x machen - Should I do x?
Keep it short, lecturers might not read a long email.
Ending: Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Beste/Schöne Grüße (No punctuation after!)
Name
(Don't end with just Grüße or any acronyms like MfG, LG etc)
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