What is culture, and how can we develop a culturally competent attitude?

Culture is a way of life. It is the context within which we exist, think, feel, and relate to
others. We tend to perceive reality strictly within the context of our own culture, and there is still
a tendency to believe that our own reality is the correct perception. Using the norms of our own
culture as standards when we judge the behavior of people from other cultures is
called ethnocentrism.
In the bias of our own culture-bound world view, we tend to picture other cultures in an
oversimplified manner, and we view every person in these cultures as possessing corresponding
stereotypical traits. The thing is that stereotype may be accurate in depicting the typical member
of a culture, but it is inaccurate for describing a particular person, simply because every person
is a unique individual and all of person’s characteristics cannot be predicted on the basis of
cultural norms.
If we say, for example, that the Swiss are very punctual, this could be seen as a cultural
characteristic. This is because it is a pattern of behaviour which is very typical in Switzerland:
from their transport system to their business meetings.
In this way, generalisations can have some value and be useful as long as they are not
considered absolute. However, it is crucial to view all people as unique individuals and realize
that their experiences, beliefs, values and language affect their ways of interacting with others. If
people recognize and understand differing world views, they will usually adopt a positive and
open-minded attitude toward cross-cultural difference. A close-minded view of such differences
often results in the maintenance of a stereotype.
Milton J. Bennett coined the term “ethnorelativism” to mean the opposite of
“ethnocentrism” – the experience of one’s own beliefs and behaviors as just one organization of
reality among many viable possibilities. According to Bennett (2009), intercultural learning is
“acquiring increased awareness of subjective cultural context (worldview), including one’s own,
and developing greater ability to interact sensitively and competently across cultural contexts as
both an immediate and long-term effect of change.” Bennett describes six distinct kinds of
experience that spread across the continuum from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism.
“In general, the more ethnocentric orientations can be seen as ways of avoiding cultural
difference, either by denying its existence, by raising defenses against it, or by minimizing its
importance. The more ethnorelative worldviews are ways of seeking cultural difference, either
by accepting its importance, by adapting perspective to take it into account, or by integrating the
whole concept into a definition of identity.”
Ethnorelativism supposes that “cultures can only be understood relative to one another, and
that particular behavior can only be understood within a cultural context” (Bennett, 2009). By
recognising differences among cultures, and by constructing a kind of self-reflexive perspective,
people are able to experience others as different from themselves, but equally
human. Adaptation to cultural difference is not assimilation; adaptation is the state in which the
experience of another culture yields perception and behavior appropriate to that culture.
Bennett points out that “It is naive to think that intercultural sensitivity and competence is
always associated with liking other cultures or agreeing with their values or ways of life. Some
cultural differences may be judged negatively – but the judgment is not ethnocentric unless it is
associated with simplification, or withholding equal humanity.” (Bennett, 2009). For more
information please see “Becoming Interculturally Competent.”
What does it mean to develop intercultural awareness in the EFL classroom?
The role of English as an international language of communication in the modern
technological world in the 21st century poses special demands on EFL teachers. ELT researchers
have recognized the dialectical connection between language and culture since mid-1980s.
Krasner (1999) for instance, recognized the necessity for language learners to develop not only
linguistic competence but also an awareness of the culturally-appropriate features of the
language.
In recent years there have been more discussions and research focusing on the importance
of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communicative competence. EFL teachers should not
just draw learners’ attention to facts about other cultures, but they should teach in such a way as
to make it clear that communication is more than the exchange of information and opinions.
Effective intercultural communication requires empathy, respect, openness and sensitivity.
It is very important first to raise students’ awareness of their own culture, and in so doing
to interpret and understand the other cultures. Raising intercultural awareness implies the
development of skills for successful communication, i.e. competent and peaceful interaction with
people who are different from us. Such an approach assigns another important role to the foreign
language teacher/learner: that of “intercultural mediator”, i.e. someone who is capable of
critically reflecting on the relationship between two cultures.
 EFL teachers will be challenged to exploit this situation by creating opportunities for
communication based on the values, cultural norms, and needs of learners, rather than on the
syllabi and texts/textbooks developed in native-speakers communities. Most importantly, an
intercultural language learning programme should help the learners to develop an “intercultural
awareness” in order to “translate” culture in their own context (Guilherme, 2002).
How could culture be fully integrated in EFL learning?
Cultural activities should be carefully organized and incorporated into the EFL syllabus to
enrich and inform the teaching content. These are some useful ideas for presenting culture in the
classroom:
 Students read articles or extracts from books, newspapers, magazines or
websites written by travel writers or people who have visited the students’ town, country or
region. Discussion topics can include the norms and values of the culture, nonverbal behaviours
(e.g. the physical distance between speakers, eye contact, gestures, societal roles).
 Students discuss funny stories and experience they once had related to cultural issues,
or misunderstandings. They can role play a situation based on cultural differences (e.g. a
situation in which an inappropriate greeting is used).
 Using photos in class to explore various cultures and lifestyles and answering questions
together can be interesting for your students; these activities enable lessons to take the form of
collaborative discovery.
 Students are usually curious about the different foods, art and songs that have value in
different cultures, and you can teach that by incorporating important elements of cultural
celebrations into English language classroom.
 Using proverbs in class as a way to explore culture, its values, and analyze the
stereotypes of the culture. Discussions can focus on how the proverbs are different from or
similar to the proverbs in the students’ native language.
 Students create a brochure, guidebook, poster or webpage for visitors to their town,
country or region. This should not only describe famous sites and places to visit, stay or eat, but
also give visitors some useful tips about what they may find strange or unusual about their own
culture.