my biography complete - centre for social studiesces.uc.pt/icopromo/documents/04 universidad de jaen...

MY BIOGRAPHY

María del Carmen Méndez García ([email protected])María Luisa Pérez Cañado ([email protected])María Olga Arcalá Campillo ([email protected])

Department of English PhilologyDepartamento de Filología Inglesa

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE FOR PROFESSIONAL MOBILITY

1. Biography2. Intercultural interaction3. Diversity management4. Ethnography skills5. Communicative interaction6. Emotional management7. Intercultural responsibility8. Working in multicultural teams

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Module A and Module BIndividuals from different communitiesNeed to understand each otherDifficulties due to lack of shared culturalpatterns


Implies clashes, uncertainty vs. good-willflexibility and re-structuring one’s standpointsInevitable / desirable ? Globalised worldICC necessary in multicultural teamsLack of preparation in schools

“Modern man … is educated to understand foreign languages and misunderstand foreigners”

G. K. Chesterton


WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

Personal reflection

Journey inward

Culture shapes people’s worldview

‘Yo soy yo y mis circunstancias’I am myself plus my circumstances

Ortega y Gasset

Personal experiences and circumstances

WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

“It has been said that without a culture we cannot see, but with a culture we are forever blind”

K. J. Irving

Human identity: is not fixedhas layers: Shrek and core featuresis determined by socialisation

WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

‘SocialisationSocialisation is the means by which an essentially biological being is converted into a social one, able to communicate with other members of the particular society to which it belongs. A child learns to perceive the world through language, spoken and unspoken, through ritual enacted, and through the total symbolic system which structures and constrains that world. Through socialisation a child learns to classify the world in which it lives, and to impose a system of values upon it’.

Hendry (1987: 38)

WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

PRIMARY• Significant others

• Unconscious• Everlasting SECONDARY

• Institutional• New worlds of society

TERTIARYByram (1990), Doyé (1992)

• Intercultural encounter• Foreign language class

SOCIALIZATION(Berger and Luckmann, 1966)

• Group inclusion• In-group / Out-group

WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

LANGUAGELANGUAGE

‘One learns a second language by building on the taken-for-granted reality of one’s ‘mother tongue’[…] Nevertheless, it is rare that a language learned in later life attains the inevitable, selfinevitable, self--evident reality of the first languageevident reality of the first language learned in childhood’

(Berger and Luckmann, 1966: 163)

Hoffman (1989): Lost in Translation

FUTHER BIOGRAPHICAL ASPECTS

STEREOTYPE AND PREJUDICESTEREOTYPE AND PREJUDICE

For myself, earth-bound and fettered to the scene of my activities, I confess that I do feel the differences of mankind, national and individual. … I am, in plainer words, a bundle of prejudices –made up of likings and dislikings– the veriest thrall to sympathies, apathies, antipathies.

(Charles Lamb, quoted by Allport, 1954: 3)


PERSONAL REFLECTIONPERSONAL REFLECTION

Critical cultural awarenessCritical cultural awareness, ‘an ability to evaluate, critically and on the basis of explicit criteria, perspectives, practices and products in one’s own and other cultures and countries’

(Byram, Gribkova and Starkey, 2002: 13)


MODEL OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCEGLASER, GUILLERME, MÉNDEZ, MUGHAN

ECML, COUNCIL OF EUROPE

MODEL OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCEMODEL OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCEGLASER, GUILLERME, MGLASER, GUILLERME, MÉÉNDEZ, MUGHANNDEZ, MUGHAN

ECML, COUNCIL OF EUROPEECML, COUNCIL OF EUROPE

RECOGNIZING SIMILARITIESAND DIFFERENCES

RECOGNIZING SIMILARITIESRECOGNIZING SIMILARITIESAND DIFFERENCESAND DIFFERENCES

DEALING WITH STEREOTYPES ANDGENERALISATIONS

DEALING WITH DEALING WITH STEREOTYPES ANDSTEREOTYPES ANDGENERALISATIONSGENERALISATIONS

ASSESSING (PERSONAL INVENTORY) AND

REFLECTINGON ONE’S OWN SOCIAL

CONSTRUCT

ASSESSING (PERSONAL ASSESSING (PERSONAL INVENTORY) AND INVENTORY) AND

REFLECTINGREFLECTINGON ONEON ONE’’S OWN SOCIAL S OWN SOCIAL

CONSTRUCTCONSTRUCT

AWARENESS OF THE SELF AND THE OTHER

AWARENESS OF THE SELF AWARENESS OF THE SELF AND THE OTHERAND THE OTHER

DEALING WITH CULTURESHOCK AND REVERSE

CULTURE SHOCK

DEALING WITH CULTUREDEALING WITH CULTURESHOCK AND REVERSESHOCK AND REVERSE

CULTURE SHOCKCULTURE SHOCK

FINDING OUT ABOUT THE OTHER

FINDING OUT ABOUT THE FINDING OUT ABOUT THE OTHEROTHER

WHY MY BIOGRAPHY?

1. INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS 1. INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE SELFON THE SELF

Profile, definition, identity

2.2. THE SOCIAL SELFTHE SOCIAL SELFPrimary & secondary

socialisation, social roles

3. THE PERSONAL & SOCIAL 3. THE PERSONAL & SOCIAL KALEIDOSCOPIC STANCEKALEIDOSCOPIC STANCE

Experiences, cultural lenses

1. IDENTITY1. IDENTITYGeneralisations, language, the self

in multicultural contexts

2. THE SOCIAL SELF2. THE SOCIAL SELFSocialisation, in-groups & out-groups

3. INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVES3. INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVESIntercultural Intercultural clashesclashes &&

experiencesexperiences, bifocal , bifocal lenseslenses

4. GENERALISATIONS, STEREOTYPES4. GENERALISATIONS, STEREOTYPESAuto/Auto/heterohetero--stereotypesstereotypes in in EuropeEurope

4.4. THE GLOBAL SELFTHE GLOBAL SELFTertiary socialisation, selfin professional contexts

5. THE GLOBAL SELF5. THE GLOBAL SELFIssues of citizenship, the self

in professional contexts

MY BIOGRAPHY: TABLE OF CONTENTS27 ACTIVITIES FOR

MODULE AMODULE A & MODULE BMODULE B

WARMING UP:EXTRACTED FROM ‘MY OBJECTIVE AND

METAPHORICAL PROFILE’

DEFINE YOURSELFBY MEANS OFMETAPHORS

CHARACTERSCHARACTERS(real (real oror

fictitiousfictitious))

COLOURSCOLOURSoror

NATURAL NATURAL PHENOMENAPHENOMENA

ANIMALSANIMALSoror

OBJECTSOBJECTS

Values

DEFINE THE FOLLOWINGTERMS:

Beliefs

Knowledge Behaviour

ACTIVITY 1: MY FOUNDATIONS

Skills

Practices


ValuesValues are the ideas we have about what is what is good and what is badgood and what is bad, and how things should be. (www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/glossary.htm)

[BeliefsBeliefs] The generalizations we have made about causality, meaning, self, others, behaviors, identity, etc. Our beliefs are what what we take as being "true"we take as being "true" at any moment. (www.neurosemantics.com/Articles/Glossary.htm)


KnowledgeKnowledge is defined as the remembering remembering of previously learned materialof previously learned material.

(www.edu.uleth.ca/courses/ed3604/conmc/glsry/glsry.html)

[BehaviourBehaviour] It’s an especially definitive expression of a capabilityexpression of a capability in that it is a set of actions that, presumably, can be observed, taught, learned, and observed, taught, learned, and measuredmeasured.

(www.chrpcanada.com/en/phaseIIreport/glossary.asp)


[SkillsSkills] GeneralGeneral capacities to perform a set of capacities to perform a set of taskstasks developed through the acquisition of experience and/or training which require more than just knowing about the subject.

(www.neiu.edu/~dbehrlic/hrd408/glossary.htm)

[PracticesPractices] Common actionsCommon actions or activities realized realized by those who constitute a societyby those who constitute a society and consequently make part of a culture.

(www.ac.aup.fr/ggilbert/theorypages/glossary.html)


My grandmotherI must not eat meat on Fridays during Lent

PRACTICES

My uncleTo play with my LegoSKILLS

My motherI must not shoutBEHAVIOUR

My parentsMy city is called GranadaKNOWLEDGE

My grandmotherReligious beliefsBELIEFS

My parents and familyBeing responsible for my own acts

VALUES

PEOPLE WHO TAUGHT IT TO MEASPECT PROMOTEDMAIN

MY PRIMARY SOCIALISATION


PRACTICES

SKILLS

BEHAVIOUR

KNOWLEDGE

BELIEFS

VALUES

PEOPLE WHO TAUGHT IT TO MEASPECT PROMOTEDMAIN

MY PRIMARY SOCIALISATION


The main values promoted during my primary ‘socialisation’ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The main beliefs I was taught during my primary ‘socialisation’ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The main knowledge I acquired during my primary ‘socialisation’ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The main behaviour I remember learning during my primary ‘socialisation’ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The main skills I gained during my primary ‘socialisation’ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The main practises I got familiar with during my primary ‘socialisation’ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Out of these elements, the ones I find more defining in the construction of my identity __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Individuality, Integrity, Industry, Knowledge, Compassion, Family, Optimism. The seven Learning Family Values are universal, built upon common principles found in nearly every culture in the world. Identifying our values clearly can help guide us to becoming the people we want to be. Our values tell others what kind of people we are, and can help them understand our behavior.

http://www.learningfamily.net/about/values.htm


Each of us has a unique value system actually –almost as unique as our fingerprints. Because a value system is not just something that is passed down from parents or learnt through behavior in schools etc. It is fine-tuned and developed through personal experiences, in combination with the values that our immediate society (the social circle in which we live and the people with whom we interact) lends to us. Yet, value systems can differ starkly even within the same family or group of friends.

http://www.indianchild.com/family_values.htm


Australian Customs: Australian Customs: Meeting people & Meeting people & communicatingcommunicating

When meeting someone for the first time, it is usual to shake the person's right hand with your right hand. People who do not know each other generally do not kiss or hug when meeting.

Many Australians look at the eyes of the people they are talking with, and consider this to be a sign of respect, and an indication that they are listening.

When meeting a new person, Australians are not comfortable asking, or being asked questions relating to their age, marital status or financial position.

http://www.immi.gov.au/settle/states/customs.htm


Australian Customs: Australian Customs: Polite behaviourPolite behaviour"Please" and "thank you" are words which are very

helpful when dealing with other people, and buying goods or services. When asked if you would like something, like a cup of tea, it is polite to say "yes, please", or just "please" if you would like it, or "no, thank you" if you do not. When you receive something or have been helped, it is polite to thank the person by saying "thank you".

Australians tend to think that people who do not say "please" or "thank you" are being rude. Using these words will help in building a good relationship.

http://www.immi.gov.au/settle/states/customs.htm


Spain. Losing a toothSpain. Losing a tooth"When a child begins to lose his milk teeth in his early years, there exists a tradition that tries to avoid the trauma that this may cause. The child is told to put his tooth under the pillow when he goes to bed. During the night the ratoncito pérez will come and take the tooth and leave a small token in its place.We do not know the significance of the mouse taking the childrens teeth, but it is easy to explain to a child that the mouse collects teeth. We do not know, either, why it is called Pérez (perhaps because this is a Spanish tradition and Pérez is like Smith in English). Children, however, do not ask these questions, especially when the mouse leaves nice things. The next time he or she loses a tooth it is not such a terrible experience, which is what it is all about !“ Mercedes López

http://www.european-schoolprojects.net/festivals/Spain/every/tooth.htm


According to national statistics, women in the United women in the United KingdomKingdom spend on average 3 hours a day on housework while men spend about 40 minutes doing the same. That's 4.5 times more. This is in a country termed as developed with almost as many women having paid work outside of the homes as men. Unfortunately, local national statistics were unavailable, but it isn't hard to come to a similar conclusion. Look around us, in our homes. How many male members of the household actually help out in a consistent and automatic manner. Even if they did, it would be perceived as "special" - that these particular men are different, and "Oh, aren't I lucky to be living with an Enlightened Man who would do the dishes and a bit of ironing".

http://www.wao.org.my/news/20040102talkp_menwork.htm


My dad taught me to not lean on anythingnot lean on anything. This is because he told me it had germs! But I did not listen. I leaned on anything I could find. But, he always caught me. I looked for one place I was safe. There wasn't any place. Then I gave up. After I gave up I just wanted to lean on something, but I never did lean on anything again. I guess my dad taught me that.

http://www.tooter4kids.com/classroom/I_Remember.htm


When I was four years old my dad started to teach me how to readhow to read in his reading book. He started out by showing me the sounds. Then afterwards I wrote the sounds that I had learned. Somewhere in the middle I started to read stories. He covered up the picture. Then my dad would ask me questions. Somewhere near to the end I asked himquestions. When I finished reading I had a reading party. I got to pick any toy I wanted to. After that reading book I felt really, really, proud.



My mom taught me how to count how to count MoneyMoney. When I was two she taught me that a quarter was 25 cents and a dime was 10 cents. By taking out a dime and a quarter she repeated twenty five cents as she held up the quarter and then she did the same with the dime. I learned that a quarter was a 25 cents and a dime was ten cents. I felt so proud!


ACTIVITY 1: MY FOUNDATIONSCONCLUSIONS

Assessment and reflection on one’s own social constructExploration of the process of primary socialisationExploration of one’s taken-for-grantedvalues, beliefs, knowledge, behaviour, skills and practices


Primary SocialisationPrimary SocialisationWe form the first primary relationship with our parents or guardiansThe family is the first agency that takes responsibility for primary socialisationThe family:

Teaches the physical or mechanical aspects of being human, the basic characteristics of being human in our particular society: how to walk, talk or use tools.Try to shape our psychological development: the difference between right and wrong behaviour and how to relate appropriately to others.


This socialisation process is lengthy and complicatedThe child is actively involved in the socialisation processAs we get a older we start to make decisions for ourselves, based upon our experience in the world: we consciously and actively try to manipulate our world and the people in it We start to learn how to deal with other people by understanding the type of behaviour that others expect of us.Many of the things we learn through our primary socialisation stay with us for life because we:

learn the basic principles involved with "being human". can apply these principles to new and differentsituations (we learn how to distinguish betweendifferent types of adult on the basis of their status and their relationship)


This activity demonstrates the personal personal and and socioculturalsociocultural aspectsaspects of every individual.

We may not remember these facts correctly and completely or it may be difficult to think about the people who taught them to us because some of them were learnt at a learnt at a very early age and unconsciouslyvery early age and unconsciously.


Is there a consensus consensus on the meaning of ‘values’, ‘beliefs’, ‘knowledge’, ‘behaviour’, ‘skills’ and ‘practices’?

Can similarities and differencessimilarities and differences (may be cross-cultural) be discovered?

Are these elements determining in determining in individualsindividuals’’ identityidentity?

ACTIVITY 2: EUROPEANS: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

Differences between:

STEREOTYPEand

CULTURAL GENERALIZATION


““Levine & Levine & AdelmanAdelman (1993(199322: xxviii: xxviii--xxix) state xxix) state that there is a that there is a semantic differencesemantic differencebetween the term between the term ““CULTURAL CULTURAL GENERALIZATIONGENERALIZATION”” and and ““STEREOTYPESTEREOTYPE””,,which lies in the which lies in the exaggeration, limitation of exaggeration, limitation of perspective and indiscriminate use of a series perspective and indiscriminate use of a series of labels to all members in a group,of labels to all members in a group, easy to easy to be stereotyped, against a be stereotyped, against a less partial and less partial and more objective vision of reality related to more objective vision of reality related to cultural generalization.cultural generalization.


““Contrary to STEREOTYPE, CULTURAL Contrary to STEREOTYPE, CULTURAL GENERALIZATION is necessary:GENERALIZATION is necessary:to be able to delimit the huge amount and to be able to delimit the huge amount and

variety of information about any variety of information about any communitycommunity and so,and so,to facilitate the awareness and to facilitate the awareness and

assimilation of cultural knowledge in its assimilation of cultural knowledge in its most distinctive aspects.most distinctive aspects.””

(M(Mééndez Garcndez Garcíía, a, M.CM.C.,2001:127.,2001:127--128)128)


Some extracts from an article titled Some extracts from an article titled ““SPAIN IS DIFFERENTSPAIN IS DIFFERENT”” and and published by a weekly magazine published by a weekly magazine called SUR IN ENGLISH in December called SUR IN ENGLISH in December 1999. 1999.

• GREECE: Heavy smokers• GERMANY: All go

• AUSTRIA: Average Europeans• HOLLAND: Tall and frugal

• LUXEMBURG: Fat, polyglots and motorised• BELGIUM: health freaks

• PORTUGAL: Accident-prone and social differences


Some extracts from an article titled Some extracts from an article titled ““SPAIN IS DIFFERENTSPAIN IS DIFFERENT”” and and published by a weekly magazine published by a weekly magazine called SUR IN ENGLISH in December called SUR IN ENGLISH in December 1999. 1999.

• FRANCE: Wine, old women and song• DENMARK: Work and free love• ITALY: Urban and hate working• FINLAND: Equally depressive

• SWEDEN: Sale car and independent• IRELAND: kids and houses

• UNITED KINGDOM: Long hours


Heavy smokersThe Greeks have the lowest suicide

rate in the European Union, although curiously,they are the worst household managers.

They are very traditional –Only 1% of couplesliving together are not married –

And only 3 per cent of babies are bornout of wedlock.

Each Greek smokes an average3.020 cigarettes each year,

almost double the European average, But their level of lung cancer

is below the EU average.


Health freaksThe Belgians are a healthy people. In aCountry that is average in most areas, Their hospitals are agreeably empty.

Hardly any of them believe their health is “bad”,And they have the lowest rates of Aids

And liver cancer.They also die least from drug overdoses:

Only 48 Belgians chose this form of exit in 1995 .


Accident-prone and social differencesThe Portuguese are the smallest

Women in Europe, which makes themDifficult to see on the roads,

Which probably explains why morePortuguese people die in road accidents.

There are large differences inPortuguese salaries, and save the least

Amount of money.As a result, they suffer the most domestic

Problems, caused by overcrowding, Damp and leaking roofs.


Work and free loveHealth, money and lots of love. That´s theAverage Dane, who has the lowest level of

Relative poverty in the EU at 11 per cent, and theHighest employment rate at 75.4 per cent.

And they love to work: 37 per cent declaredThemselves to be “absolutely satisfied” with

Their jobs, and more than half of them consider theirHealth to be “excellent”. Many of them live

Happily in sin, with 23 of couples not married,A figure that rises to 72 per cent

Among the young.


Equally depressiveTo judge by these statistics, the less

Sun one gets, the more depression one suffers.Finland has the highest suicide rate in the EU:

41.8 PER 100.000 men and 11.4 per 10.000Women. They hardly smoke at all –

817 cigarettes per person per year –And have the least differences in

Salaries and wealth.


Long hoursAfter so much Ken Loach, Full Monty andAll that, it comes as a surprise to discover

That people work the longest hours in the UK,Clocking in an average 44.9 hours per week.Could it be that they feel safer in the office?

They top the ranking of those who feelUnsafe in the streets, due to vandalism

And petty crime, with 29 per cent expressingThis view. Ten of every hundred families

Are single parent in the UK.


GENERALIZATIONS / OVERGENERALIZATIONS

STEREOTYPES

Vs.


• Have you learned something new about these countries?

• Do you consider that everything the article tells about the different countries is true?

• How do you know it? Have you visited all of them or have you carried out a complete study of every country?

• To what extent can these aspects be considered generalizations/overgeneralizations or stereotypes?

HOW CAN WE AVOID GENERALIZATIONS?


CONCLUSIONS

When it comes to dealing with people from other cultures, we tend to generalize, and this leads to stereotyped views of cultures/countries.Stereotypes exist in human communication, either with members of one’s own culture or, even more acutely, with people from other cultural backgrounds.To become aware of one´s perception of othercultures.It is important to become aware how STEREOTYPES and OVERGENERALIZATIONS affect communication and, in particular, intercultural communication.


CONCLUSIONS

STEREOTYPES are related to human cognition and they represent instances of overgeneralizations. Human beings need to cope with a wide variety of information and in order to make sense of a complex reality and to apprehend it easily, we need to generalise.

Overgeneralization leads to stereotyping.

MY BIOGRAPHY

María del Carmen Méndez García ([email protected])María Luisa Pérez Cañado ([email protected])María Olga Arcalá Campillo ([email protected])

Department of English PhilologyDepartamento de Filología Inglesa

my biography complete - centre for social studiesces.uc.pt/icopromo/documents/04 universidad de jaen...

Documents