CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE
IN INDONESIA AND AMERICAN CULTURE
Submitted to
Fulfill The Cross-Cultural Understanding Subject Assignment as The Requirement for Completing The Mid Term Test
Lecturer: Wawan Tarwana,
S. Pd., M. Hum.
Presented by:
Arni Sariningsih
2109110039
3G
English Education Program
Teacher Training and Education Science Faculty of
Galuh University
Jln. R.E. Martadinata No. 150 Tlf/Fax (0265) 776787
Ciamis 46521
2014
PREFACE
And Praise God we pray to Allah SWT, because thanks to His
grace and guidance we can finish this paper on time. The paper is titled
"CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE IN INDONESIA AND AMERICAN
CULTURE". The paper is structured to meet one task subjects Cross Cultural
Understanding.
We realize that in Indonesia has a lot of western culture in
and it was seen by our own eyes, one example is the dress code, many Indonesian
people, especially the youth who had imitated the western way of dressing,
without them knowing that they are influenced culture outsiders. Therefore how
can we understand first culture them and do not let us to simply accepted it.
We are fully aware that during the writing of this paper we
received a lot of support from various parties. Therefore we would like to
thanks:
1.
Mr.
Wawan Tarwana, S. Pd., M. Hum as a lecturer of Cross Cultural Understanding of
this paper;
2.
Parents
who have helped us both moral and material;
3.
All
those who have helped the preparation of this paper. This paper is not a paper
that is perfect because it has many shortcomings, both in terms of content as
well as systematic and technical writing.
Therefore, we welcome any suggestions and constructive
criticism for the perfection of this paper. Any shortcomings and errors are
coming from the author himself personally, and all the absolute truth comes
from God Almighty. Finally, I hope this paper can provide benefits to authors
and readers.
Author
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
Background
Culture is the power of
the mind in the form of copyright and flavor, while culture is the result of a
copyright sense, initiative, and a sense of the Koentjaraningrat (1976:28).
Culture is owned by every nation, and therefore the culture of every nation are mutually different. Although
sometimes there are similarities as well as family and race. As in discussion
is that how can we facilitate a positive impression of the people of different
cultures with us, of course we must first understand their culture so as not
occurred clash culture between our culture with their culture.
The Americans use eye
contact and handshaking in their introduction with all people. They assume that
eye contact is the polite side if talking to someone. Besides that when shaking
hands, they shake firmly and briefly. They do not like making the prolonged
handshaking.
Different from
Indonesians, in introductions, they have some styles of handshaking and eye
contact. It depends of the age and the gender. If someone meet another one who
same gendre and age, make handshaking and eye contact is common and polite.
Different way if a man wants to know a girl, he has to care full, because there
is a girl who doesn’t do handshaking. It based on the religion. Eye contact
doesn’t need if they are talking to elder people whom they have to kiss the
elders’ hands. It is impolite in Indonesia. Talking about using of titles in
introductions. In America using the title in the name is based on the status or
age. The people of lower status and age have to call Mr, Prof, Dr, or Mdm with
the second, last or the family name. In out of the office or classroom, they
prefer to call their professor with the nick name or the first name. It is
commonly in informal situations.
It is very different
from Indonesia. Either formal or informal situations the students must call
their teacher with the title. It is so impolite if they call their teacher’s
name without title Mr or Mdm. Small talk in Americans’ intoductions are about
the general informations. It is like asking “What do you do?”, “Are you a
student in here?”, and exactra. It is impolite and not customary if asking
about personal identity, such as “Are you single?” or “Have you have a
boyfriend?”.
The Indonesians do the
opposite of those. They always give personal questions after introduction. The
questions contain asking about statue, address, until number of mobile phone.
It is very common. In aditional, the Americans always greet each other
(although they do not know each other) at a glance even make us feel have a
fellow human being. Say hello, chat briefly about the weather or the child is
still the custom in the middle of the more individualistic American society.
The Indonesians never done something like that because of another reasons. The
first is because they do not now each other. The second is because of
arroganisme attitude. The last is because just that the Indonesian’s culture.
1.2.
Problems
questions
a. What
is the Culture and Language?
b. How culture and language in terms of Family Values?
c. What is Educational Attitudes play an important role in the
culture and language?
1.3.
Purpose
a.
To know definition about Culture and
Language.
b. Knowing
and Understanding how
important family influence in the culture and language.
c.
To
know the culture and language of education in terms of attitude.
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
2.1.
What is the Culture and Language?
A.
Definition
of Culture
Culture is
closely connected with the community. Melville J. Herskovits and
Bronislaw Malinowski argued that everything contained in the society is
determined by the culture of which is owned by the community itself. The
term for that opinion is Cultural-determinism. Herskovits view culture as
something handed down from one generation to another, who then called super organic.
According to
Andreas Eppink, contains the entire understanding of the culture of social
values, social norms, and overall knowledge of social structures, religious,
etc., in addition all intellectual and artistic expression that characterizes a
society. According to Edward Burnett Tylor, culture is a complex whole, that it
contains the knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and other
capabilities from any person as a member of society. According Selo Soemardjan and
Soelaiman Soemardi, culture is a means of work, taste, and the copyright
community.
Of the
various definitions, it can obtain an understanding of the culture is something
that will affect the level of knowledge and includes the system of ideas or the
ideas contained in the human mind, so that in everyday life, the culture is
abstract. While the embodiment of culture are objects created by human
beings as a cultured form and behavior of objects that are real, for example,
patterns of behavior, language, equipment life, social organization, religion,
art, etc., which all of which is intended to help establish a life in
human society.
B.
Definition
of Language
Language
(lăng′gwĭj)
A
system of objects or symbols, such as sounds or character sequences, that can
be combined in various ways following a set of rules, especially to communicate
thoughts, feelings, or instructions. See also machine languageprogramming language. The set of patterns
or structures produced by such a system.
2.2. How culture and language in terms of Family
Values?
A.
Family
Values
When the
Americans is still child, they are taught to independent either in their life
themselves or in money. They have accustumed to earn money in their young age.
The American children work to be babysitter in another’s home in adult age. The
babies also learn about independent life. They are accustumed to stand up and
take something by themselves. Indonesian’s babies always get special act from
their parents. The parents always give the things that their children want. In
additional, when the wife still in pregnancy, the husband have to do also his
wife asking. When the babies in child until adult, they still in responsibility
of their parents. There is no earn money by themselves.if they want to buy
something, just asking to their parents. In many families in America, the
children (18 until 21 years) is given freedom to make decision by themselves.
Usually they leave their home to life independently.
Indonesia
children in 18 until 21 years still depend on their parents. All goal of life
is based on parents’ decision. Sometimes there are some children who cannot
agree with they parents. It makes conflict, because the parents command to
follow their decission without hear what their children want.
B.
American Family Life
1.
Trends in American Family Life
Over the past
few decades, the traditional family-with the father as the sole breadwinner and
the mother as the homemaker-has become the exception rather than the rule in
the United States. Dual-earner families, one-parent families, childless
couples, and stepfamilies now are common features of American family life.
Sociologists are particularly interested in these and other developments, such
as delayed marriage, delayed childbearing, and remarriage.
2.
Delayed Marriage
In 1890 the median age at first marriage in the United States was
22.0 years for women and 26.1 years for men. By 1960 the median age at first
marriage had dropped to 20.3 years for women and 22.8 years for men. However,
in recent years this trend toward earlier marriages has reversed itself. In
2000 the median age at first marriage was 25.1 years for women and 26.8 years
for men. These ages are among the highest recorded since the Bureau of the
Census first began collecting this information in 1890.
Some
sociologists view this tendency toward later marriage as an indication that
being single has once again become an acceptable alternative to being married.
Being single was relatively common in the early part of the last century.
Marriage was popular in the marriage-minded years following World War 11. By
1970 only 6.2 percent of American women between the ages of 30 and 34 had never
been married. This number was down from 16.6 percent in 1900. Then in the 1970s
and 1980s, the marriage rate began to slow. By 2000 the proportion of women between
the ages of 30 and 34 who had never been married had increased to about 22
percent. If this trend continues, demographers estimate that more than 15
percent of today’s young adults ill never marry.
Sociologists
note that most young people today are delaying marriage in order to finish
their education and to launch their careers. This trend is particularly notable
among women. Sociologists also note that the increase in the number of
unmarried people may partially be the result of more couples living together
outside of marriage. Sociologists refer to this practice as cohabitation. In
2000 there were more than 3.8 million cohabiting couples in the United
States. This number is up from 523,000 couples in 1970. Cohabitation is
particularly common among the young. Estimates suggest that about 25 percent of
unmarried women between the ages of 25 and 39 are currently cohabiting and an
additional 25 percent have cohabited at some time in the past. Cohabitation
now precedes more than half of all first marriages. Although most individuals
who cohabit eventually marry someone-not necessarily their current partner the
practice usually delays marriage.
3.
Delayed Childbearing
Another trend
in family life in the United States that sociologists have noted in
recent years is delayed childbearing. In the 1960s the average length
of time between marriage and the birth of the first child was 15 months. By
the 1970s that interval had increased to 27 months. Today it is not
at all uncommon for women to have their first child after the age of 30. Women
between the ages of 30 and 34 accounted for 23 percent of all births in 1998.
An additional 12 percent of the births in 1998 were to women between the ages
of 35 and 39. The reasons for delaying childbearing are similar to the reasons
for delaying marriage-to allow time to complete education and to establish a
career.
Some couples
who delayed having children until their thirties are now facing a particularly
challenging situation. They have young children to raise at the same time that
they have aging parents who need care and assistance. These couples have been
labeled the sandwich generation because they are caught
between the needs of their children and those of their parents. Worn down by
family duties and the demands of work, members of the sandwich generation often
feel overwhelmed.
4.
Childlessness
There has also been an increase in the number of
married couples who never have children. Some couples who at first plan to
delay parenting find later that they have waited too long. Other
married couples discover that they cannot have children because of
infertility. Still others consciously choose never to have children.
Sociologists call the conscious choice to remain childless voluntary
childlessness. The number of voluntarily; childless couples has
increased markedly in recent years. In 2000, 22 percent of married women
between the ages of 30 and 44 had no children. Among childless married women in
their early thirties, a little more than 40 percent had no plans to
have children in the future.
Studies have
found that married couples who choose to remain childless often have high
levels of education and income. Career success is a priority for many
voluntarily childless women. Many voluntarily childless couples place great value
on women achieving success. These couples also value the freedom, financial
security, and the opportunity to spend time together that childlessness
allows.
Dual-Earner Marriages Another trend in American family life is an
increase in the number of dual-earner marriages because of the increased
numbers of married women entering the labor force. The percentage of married
women who work outside the home increased steadily for more than 50 years until
the mid 1990s. In 1940 about 17 percent of married women
were employed outside the home. This figure rose to 22 percent after World War
II in 1948. By 1960 the number of married women in the labor force
had grown to 31 percent. Today, about 61 percent of all married women work
outside the home at least, part-time.
Married women
work for the same basic reason that married men work-economic necessity. Few
families today can survive or live as comfortably as they want on a single
salary. Also, in the past few years, more and more women have been entering
colleges and universities. Education enables women to pursue more-attractive
better-paying positions in the labor market. In nearly one third of all
dual-earner couples, the wife earns more than the husband does. The growing
number of married working women in the labor force has helped to lessen the
stigma once attached to working wives and mothers. This favorable climate has
encouraged more women to seek work outside of the home. The labor market itself
has been a factor in the increase of dual-earner families. Since World War II,
there has been a tremendous rise in the number of available jobs in service and
other industries that traditionally employ large numbers of women. Many women
are also entering nontraditional occupations at a rate never before seen in
the United States. Women today make up nearly 25 percent of the doctors,
31 percent of the computer scientists, and 43 percent of the college and
university teachers in this country. Women’s participation in the labor force
is influenced by the ages of their children. In 1998 about 62 percent of
married women with children under the age of 6 were employed outside the home,
compared to about 77 percent of married women with children between the ages
of 6 and 17. Many women with newborn children in the home leave the labor force
for a period of time. However, in 1993 Congress passed the Family and Medical
Leave Act to help parents care for their newborn children without having to
drop out of the labor force. The law requires companies with more than 50
workers to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to parents of newborns.
The law also
covers workers who need to take time to arrange for the adoption of a child or
to care for a sick spouse, child, or parent. Federal government officials
estimate that about 20 million people have taken advantage of the Family and
Medical Leave Act since 1993. Some people have expressed concern that the
increased participation of married women in the labor force may have negative
consequences for their children. However, research has failed to establish any
meaningful negative effect. On the other hand, studies suggest that daughters
of working women may benefit. Daughters of working mothers often have a better
self-image, are more independent, and are higher achievers than daughters of
nonworking mothers.
5.
One-Parent Families
Another trend
in American family life that has gained the attention of social scientists in
recent years is the increase in one-parent families. One-parent families are
formed through separation, divorce, death of a spouse, births to unwed mothers,
or adoption by unmarried individuals. However, in the United
States most one-parent families are the result of divorce, or of births to
unwed mothers. One-parent families account for about 25 percent of the families
in the United States with children under the age of 18. Women head
about 8 out of every 10 of these one-parent families. One-parent family
statistics vary by race. Although all families experience problems, single parents
are subject to a special set of stresses and strains. Sociologist Robert S.
Weiss identified three problems common to the single-parent experience. Weiss
labeled one source of stress found among single parents as responsibility
overload. In two-parent households, husbands and wives share the responsibility
of making plans and decisions. Single parents, on the other hand, often make
their plans and decisions alone. They are also generally alone in providing
the care needed by their families.
Weiss called
a second source of stress among single parents task overload. Single parents
must handle all of the tasks usually divided between two people-such as
maintaining the home, caring for children, and earning a living. They spend so
much time handling those tasks that they often have little or no time for
themselves.Single parents also experience emotional overload, Weiss noted.
Single parents must often cope with the emotional needs of their children by
themselves. Handling this task, along with everything else they must do, generally
means that their own emotional needs go unmet.
The major
source of stress for most single parents, particularly single mothers, is the
lack of money In 2000, families led by women accounted for more than half of
all poor families. Many of the women who lead poor families are young unwed
mothers or divorced mothers who did not work when they were married. For the
most part, the only positions open to these women are low-skilled low-paying
jobs. As a result, they find it very difficult to climb out of poverty.
Single
parenthood affects not only adults but also children. In 1998 about 19.8
million children under the age of 18 lived in single-parent families. Studies
suggest that these children are two to three times more likely than children
who live in two-parent families to experience negative life outcomes. School
drop-out rates, teen-pregnancy rates, and arrest rates all are higher for
children of single-parent families. In addition, children of single-parent
families are more likely to suffer emotional problems.
6.
Remarriage
Another trend in American family life that is of interest to sociologists
is the increase in the rate of remarriage. In some 43 percent of the marriages
occurring today one or both of the partners have previously been married. The
majority of the people who get divorced-about 75 percent eventually remarry.
The high
rates of divorce and remarriage in the United States have led to a
large increase in the number of stepfamilies. Stepfamilies, also called blended
families, arise when one or both of the marriage partners bring children from
their previous marriages into their new family Some 65 percent of families
created by remarriage involve children from prior marriages. About 30 percent
of children under the age of 18 now live in stepfamilies. Estimates suggest
that more than 50 percent of Americans have been, are now, or will be members
of stepfamilies.
Becoming part
of a stepfamily may involve a period of adjustment. The marital partners take
on the parenting roles formerly held by biological parents. This process is
sometimes a source of conflict in the family Children may resent stepparents
who appear to be trying to take the place of a biological mother or father.
Similarly stepparents may resent not being treated with the love and respect
usually given to parents. Studies have shown that it takes approximately four
years for children to accept a stepparent in the same way that they accept a
biological mother or father. Learning to accept new stepparents is not the only
adjustment that children in a stepfamily have to make. They may also have to
adjust to having new stepbrothers or stepsisters living in the home with them.
This adjustment often involves learning how to share a parent’s affections with
their new siblings. Adjusting to life in a stepfamily takes patience,
understanding, and a willingness to work together. The reward can be a strong
family unit. However, the pressures of family life sometimes prove too much for
these marriages as well. About 60 percent of all remarriages eventually end in
divorce.
7.
Gender Inequality in the United States
Less than 150
years ago, women in the United States were very much second-class
citizens. They had few rights. They could not vote, sign contracts, or sit on
juries. Their opportunities in life were much more limited than were those of
men. Very few women had the opportunity to get anything more than the most
basic education. Many jobs were closed to them. Women who did work received
lower wages than men. When women married, their wages and their possessions
became their husbands’ property. Many Americans accepted this situation as the
natural relationship between men and women. However, some American women took
steps to end gender discrimination. These women were the founders of the
American women’s movement,which held that the sexes were socially,
politically, and economically equal.
8.
The Women’s Movement
In July 1848,
delegates at a women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York,
issued a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. Based on the Declaration of
Independence, this document called for reforms to strengthen women’s standing
in society. These reforms included allowing married women to control their own
property and earnings independently of their husbands. However, the most
important reform was suffrage-the right to vote. Although some states
did pass laws giving women greater rights, suffrage was not so easily won.
Women leaders undertook a program of civil disobedience to bring their cause
to the public’s attention. They chained themselves to public buildings,
harassed public officials, and when imprisoned, went on hunger strikes. At one
point, they picketed the White House for six months. Eventually, their efforts
proved successful. The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted
in 1920, gave women the vote. For the most part, the women’s movement was
inactive for the next 40 years. However, the publication of Betty Friedan’s
book The Feminine Mystique sparked the movement into action once more. Friedan
rejected the popular notion that women were content with the roles of wife and
mother. She argued that the’-feminine mystique”-the glorification of these
roles was simply a ploy to keep women in a secondary position in
society. Friedan’s ideas struck a chord with many women.
They soon
began to demand greater educational opportunities and fairer treatment at
work. Many feminists argued that the only way to ensure such changes was a
constitutional amendment ending discrimination based on sex. Congress approved
the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1972. To become part of the Constitution,
the ERA had to be ratified by 38 states. However, it fell three states short in
the ratification process. Despite this failure, women made important gains in other
areas during the last few decades of the 1900s. For example, Congress passed
several acts outlawing gender discrimination in education and in the
workplace. Progress toward gender equality has been made in almost every area
of American social life. However, equality has not yet been achieved. A review
of women’s standing relative to men in education, work, and politics will
illustrate this point.
9.
Education
Prior to 1979, women were underrepresented among the ranks of college
students. Since that time, women have outnumbered men on college campuses.
Today women make up about 57 percent of the total college population. They earn
56 percent of all the bachelor’s degrees awarded. However, there are strong
gender distinctions in degree majors. Men tend to pursue degrees in
engineering, physical science, and architecture.
Women tend to
concentrate on education, the humanities, and library science. How marked are
these gender distinctions? Women earn only about 17 percent of the engineering
bachelor’s degrees awarded. However, 88 percent of library-science bachelor’s
degrees go to women. More and more women are attending graduate school. Women
make up more than 57 percent of those enrolled in graduate courses. They earn
58 percent of the master’s degrees awarded each year. However, women are less
likely than men to pursue doctoral or professional degrees. Only about 41
percent of the doctorates awarded go to women. Women earn slightly more-about
43 percent-of the professional degrees awarded. These percentages are a marked
improvement over the past.
A similar
situation exists in college and high-school athletics. In the early 1970s
funding for women’s athletics was practically nonexistent at most coeducational
colleges and universities. Only 16 percent of college athletes were women. In
high school, girls accounted for just 8 percent of students participating in
athletic programs. This situation began to change after the passage of the
Education Amendment Act of 1972. Title IX of the act bars discrimination on
the basis of gender in any program-including athletics-at any educational
institution receiving federal funds. Over the years, Title IX has been loosely
enforced at best. It has faced considerable opposition, particularly from those
involved in men’s college sports. They expressed the fear that it would limit
athletic opportunities for men. Despite such problems, female participation in
collegiate sports has increased markedly Today, roughly 40 percent of all
college athletes are women. Female participation in high-school sports has
made similar gains. Yet even with this progress, disparities still exist. Less
than one quarter of the funding for college sports goes to women’s
athletics. Female athletes receive less than one third of available scholarship
money.
10.
The World of Work
The world of
work has changed considerably since the 1960s. Most notably, more women have
entered the workforce. One thing that has changed little is the wage gap-the
level of women’s income relative to that of men. During the 1960s, female
workers earned between 58 and 61 cents for every dollar earned by male workers.
Today the wage gap stands at 73 cents to the dollar. The difference in the
yearly median earnings of female and male full-time workers is nearly $10,000.
Even when the incomes of men and women working in the same occupations are
examined, women consistently earn less money. A wage gap exists in all age
groups and at every level of education. The number of women in full-time
executive, administrative, and managerial positions is increasing. These
increases indicate to some that the “glass ceiling” is beginning to crack.
The glass ceiling is the invisible harrier that prevents women
from gaining upper level positions in business. Yearly studies conducted by
Catalyst, an organization that works to advance women in business, suggests
that small cracks are beginning to appear in the ceiling. In 2001 Catalyst found that women
accounted for nearly 12 percent of corporate officers in Americas 500
largest companies. This number represents a nearly 37 percent increase since
1995. However, the study also showed that women occupy few “line officer’
positions-the jobs that have the most responsibility interestingly, men in
traditionally female occupations such as nursing., social work, and library
administration-do not face a glass ceiling. Rather, they often quickly rise to
high level positions with top salaries.
Married women
who work face a particular kind of gender inequality. Sociologist Arlie
Hochschild noted that working wives work a second shift. After
their day at work, they also have household duties to complete such as cooking,
cleaning, and child care. Most wives feel that their husbands should share in
these tasks. However, Hochschild observed that most husbands adopt “strategies
of resistance” to avoid them. For example, they do not volunteer, hoping that
their wives will not ask them to help. According to Hochschild’s observations,
if husbands do undertake a task, some may make a mess of it in the hope that
they will not be asked again. Where husbands do share in the second shift,
wives still do the most work. Women in the United States have on
average at least 10 hours per week less leisure time than men. Wives face not
only a wage gap at work, hut also a “leisure gap” at home.
The Political Arena There is also a political gender gap in
the United States. Women make up 52 percent of the voting-age population,
outnumbering men by some 7 million. They are more likely than men to vote in
elections. Yet men dominate the political arena. For example, in 2000, women
made up nearly 14 percent of the Congress-13 percent of senators and close to
14 percent of representatives. Women held 29 percent of statewide elective
offices and 23 percent of state legislative seats. These figures represent
large increases over previous years. In 1981 women made up 4 percent of the
U.S. Congress, 11 percent of statewide elected officials, and 12 percent of
state legislators.
One
development on the political scene is that many Americans seem open to women
occupying public office even the presidency. In a 1999 Gallup poll,
92 percent of the respondents said that they would be willing to vote for a
woman as president. In a Roper poll taken in the same year, some 60 percent of
respondents said that they expected a woman to be elected president in their
lifetime. A more perceptible change is that women are being appointed to high
office in growing numbers. In recent years, several women have held leadership
roles in Congress. On taking office as president, George W. Bush
appointed a number of women to positions of great responsibility.
3.1. What is Educational Attitudes play an important role in the culture and
language?
A.
Educational Attitudes
The students
in America almost dominate all of time in the class. The teacher or professor
just being a fasilitator who control the discussion. Another tutors make an
isue and the students respon it with different idea. Usually, before entering
the class, the students prepare their materials first. In preparing, they make
a group discussion, look for the books which is to be the topic, and make a lot
of argument and questions by themselves. Indonesia students always be a
passive. They just listening and taking notes while the teacher explain about
the material. It is almost hapenned in all of part Indonesia.The teachers in
America are very fair. Although they have relationship with the students, it
doesn’t mean that the students will have special behaviour. If there is a task,
all of the students have to submit it on time.
Different way
in Indonesia. The students who have family relationship with their teachers,
sometimes get special attitude. The teachers prefer to give more attention to
them. There is no punishment if that students do a mistake. The Americans
students is addressed to be a grad whose intellectual cannot be changed by
machine. While in Indonesia the people still do daily work, both by hand and
production machines, because the education make them to be the
consumers.Cheating on the test, plagiarizing in written work, and presenting
others’ idea as original are all prohibited in America. They are taught to be
honest in each aspects. They have to make an argument or article by their own
word. They have been usual to be creative people.
As we know,
indonesia is the second plagiator in the world. The Indonesian copy-paste
anothers’ pruduct either in national examination, making poster, film, shirt,
or in making homework. It is so embrassed. Young generation have made cheating
attitudes as a habit. Furthermore, when they become an elder people, they
cannot make a new program with their own inovation.The students will be
cooperative and competitive in America class. They will compete to be the best
grade with possitive way, such as to be active in class. If one of their friend
be the best, they will give congratulation to him/her. Then they are going to
study hard to get the best one next semester. In Indonesia class, the students
seldom act like that. If their friends get the best score, they will not give
congratulation. Sometimes there is congratulation, but there is no from in the
deep heart.
The issues I
wish to raise are, I believe, of universal importance. We live in a world that is racially,
culturally and linguistically diverse and in which the very societies in which
the vast majority of the world’s people live are also multiracial,
multicultural and linguistically diverse.
When I was a young child growing up in outback Australia, it was rare to
encounter a person of a different culture or race or to hear a language other
than English and such persons were curiosities: you could not conceive what it
was like to be different. Yet today, my
wife is of a different race, my five children are mixed-race, two languages
routinely occur in our home, my children have learned some four others at
school, and our extended family and closest friends are of numerous cultural
and racial origins: Afghan, Australian
Aboriginal, Cambodian, Chinese, Chilean, English, French, Indian, Indonesian,
Iranian, Irish, Japanese, Kenyan, Korean, Papuan, Puerto Rican, New Zealand,
Welsh, and many more. Every day in my
work, I routinely communicate with people in a dozen different countries, I get
responses from Japan, Iran or the United States as quickly as I do from my
staff down the corridor, and events such as this international videoconference
are routine in academia, business and entertainment. Our business is increasingly globalised,
owned by multinational companies larger than the economies of many the world’s
nations and operating indiscriminately of national or geographic divides, and
our very currencies are determined as much by what happens in New York, Tokyo,
London or Frankfurt as in any nation’s own economic centres or seats of
government. In the education policy
papers I was able to obtain about Chile, I saw reference to “the increasing
insertion of Chile in the world economy” and, because of this, the notion that
“English opens doors”, giving more opportunities of employment in today’s
globalised world.
Yet, despite
this increasing diversification driven by globalised economies, rapid transport
and fast communications, the world continues to be torn asunder by terrorism
and the no less pernicious actions of great and small world powers. Underlying all this anger and distress is the
failure on a global as well as individual scale of one culture and its people
to accept the rights and equality of another culture and its people. If the world is to survive
and prosper, if all peoples are to live out their lives in peace and harmony,
it is imperative that the critically important issues of inter-cultural and
inter-racial relationships and attitudes be understood and that the principal
tool that a society has available to effect positive inter-cultural attitude
development, viz., education, address these issues seriously and systematically.
Yet, there
is an enigma: on the one hand, most
language policy makers and language teachers agree that one of the central
goals of language education is to develop cultural understanding and foster
more positive cross-cultural attitudes; on the other hand, the research
literature is equivocal with some studies demonstrating no favourable effect by
language learning on cross-cultural attitudes, there are relatively few
empirical studies that demonstrate a positive effect, and few that have
identified the language teaching variables that can most effectively be
manipulated to foster more positive attitudes.
There are
some studies that show a positive relationship between language learning and
cross-cultural attitudes. Riestra and
Johnson [1964], for example, found that students studying Spanish had more
favourable attitudes towards Spanish speakers than did those not studying
Spanish though their attitudes to non-Spanish-speaking groups were no more
favourable. Gardner and Smythe [1975]
found that the more years were spent in studying a foreign language, the more
favourable were the attitudes to the speakers of that language. Similarly,
Bartley [1969, 1970] found that language dropouts had less positive attitudes
than those who elected to study a foreign language in the following year though
what was the cause and what was the effect is unclear.
In some
studies where there was a positive effect, the critical variable seems to have
been interaction. Thus, Clement, Gardner
and Smythe [1977] looked at the attitudes of Year 8 English speaking students
before and after a visit to a French environment and found that the attitudes
of the “high contact group” were more positive.
Wilkins reviews a number of studies and concludes that, if language
learning is to effect positive attitude change, it must include the opportunity
for significant interaction. He quotes
Genesee’s conclusion that
There may be limits to the extent of
attitude change that can be achieved in second language programs which do not
provide real meaningful contact between the learner and members of the target
language group. [cited in Wilkins 1987: 23]
Other
studies again have shown that the opportunity to consider issues of
cross-cultural relations and attitudes was a necessary part of effecting
positive attitude change. Mantle-Bromley
and Miller showed that language classes that included “multicultural sensitivity
lessons” were more effective in generating favourable attitudes than classes
without such lessons [Mantle-Bromley and Miller 1991: 422 423].
On the other hand, other researchers
have found that language learning had either no effect or a negative effect on
cross-cultural attitudes and, in some, interaction seemed to have no
effect. Mantle-Bromley and Miller [1991]
cite a variety of studies, some of which claim to show that contact with the
target language group improves cross-cultural attitudes with the frequency of
contact being significant while others claimed to show that “bicultural
exchanges” did not achieve significant attitudinal change [Mantle-Bromley and
Miller 1991: 418 - 419]. Other studies
have shown that visiting other countries was less significant in determining
attitudes than “background variables” [e.g., Byram and Estate-Sarries 1991].
One of the most comprehensive
reviews of the relationship between foreign language learning and attitude
change is that by Morgan [1993]. She reviewed many studies going as far back as 1932 and
concludes that there were a number of factors that were important if positive
attitude change was to occur:
“externalising” issues for discussion and reflection [cf. Ingram 1978,
1980b], opportunities to create “some affective bond” (i.e., friendship with
the speakers of the target language) [Morgan 1993: 68], and classes that make the students aware
of the schemata and beliefs of their own culture and the relativity of this
particular pattern amongst alternatives (including the target culture). She also quotes research that draws attention
to the desirability of learners’ having the opportunity to re-conceptualise
their previous experience through the new language [cf. Ingram 1978 and 1979].
CHAPTER
III
CLOSING
1.1. Conclusion
and Suggestion
There are many theoretical and
empirical studies that have found a favourable relationship between language
learning and positive cross-cultural attitudes [e.g., Ingram 1978, 1980b;
Riestra and Johnson 1964, Gardner and Smythe 1975, Bartley 1969, 1970].
However,
there is no automatic relationship between language learning or teaching and
positive cross-cultural attitudes, there may be no effect, the effect may be
negative, or other, especially background variables such as socioeconomic class
and social and parental attitudes seem to be more significant [e.g.,
Mantle-Bromley and Miller 1991, Byram and Estate-Sarries 1991, Jaspers and
Hewstone 1983].
Interaction
with speakers of the other language seems to be one of the key factors that can
strongly influence cross-cultural attitudes provided that it is managed
appropriately [e.g., Ingram 1980a, 1980b, 1978, 1977, 1977a; Clement, Gardner and Smythe 1977].
Cerebration,
giving learners the opportunity to externalise their own intuitive responses
and attitudes for examination and rational modification, seems to be a vital
factor if attitudes are to change in a positive direction [Ingram 1978, 1980b,
1980c; Morgan 1993; Kramsch 1993; Mantle-Bromley 1995].
Knowledge
alone about another culture does not automatically have a favourable effect and
can lead to a worsening of attitudes unless there is intervention that leads to
“cerebration” about attitudes [cf., Ingram 1978, 1980b, Jones 1996, Mantle-Bromley
and Miller 1991]. Nevertheless, profound
cultural knowledge and understanding (not just knowledge of the superficial or
trivial aspects of a culture) are essential.
Through learning about the target and other cultures and through interacting with
speakers of the other language, learners need to become aware of, and sensitive
to, two important contrasts: the
individuality which exists within the universality of a culture and the
universal, fundamental human features that underlie and permeate the diversity
of cultures.
“Culture
shock” seems to play an important part in the learning experience since it
makes learners aware of their intuitive reactions and pre-conceptions and
provides teachers with opportunities to stimulate discussion about cultures and
inter-cultural relations, to try to
explain and rationally change any of the students’ adverse reactions and
prejudices, and so to effect positive attitudinal change [see Ingram 2001a,
1999, 1999a, 1996, 1995, 1980a, 1980b, 1978, 1977, 1977a; Ingram et al 1999,].
3.2. Suggestion
Of paper that we made
will hopefully make benefits for us all. However, the
authors aware of the preparation of this paper a lot of mistakes both in his writings and words. Authors expect criticism and suggestions that are built.
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