The Myth (& Some Myths) of Teaching American Culture  

Oleh:

Dunkel, Patricia

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah nasional - tidak terakreditasi DIKTI - atma jaya
Dalam koleksi: Indonesian JELT (Full Text) vol. 9 no. 1 (May 2013), page 1-13.
Topik: myths; approaches to teaching culture; American cultures
Fulltext: 1 Patricia.pdf (266.5KB)

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Perpustakaan PKBB Nomor Panggil: 405 IJE 9 1 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 1) Tandon: 1

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In this paper, the author opens by noting how culture influences out attitudes, emotions, beliefs, and values in pervasive ways. She then asks how and why myths and generalizations emerge about the culture of various nation-states, regions, or even specific co-cultures within these nations and regions. The simple answer is we form generalizations and develop myths to create comprehensible frameworks of comparison regarding the systems of values and beliefs held, and the codes of conduct followed by the majority of the people whose language we teach or study. We seek to create these frameworks to interconnect the teaching of culture and language, for usually language is taught as a system in (and of) itself, with its rules, exceptions, right answers and wrong answers. If culture is taught, it is usually infused into the language class in one of four common approaches. The author cites these four common approaches to teaching culture: (1) the Frankenstein Approach, (2) the 4-F Approach, (3) the Tour-Guide Approach, and (4) the “By-The-Way” Approach); she warns of the inherent risk involved in adopting any or all of these facile approaches, that risk being the creation and promulgation of cultural generalizations (even “myths”) that need tempering, and eventually revising. Referencing myths can make the teaching of culture easier, but it can create problems when reality enters the scene. As an example, the author delves into a number of myths promulgated about Americans university culture; these myths constitute sweeping generalizations that demand more greater and greater refinement and “reality checks.” The author ends with noting that “American culture” is a moving target that needs to be viewed as an evolving entity that will continue to evolve and change as geopolitical, national, and regional events surface and cause continuous change in that moving target, American cultures.

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