Newsletter2020_EN

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We assumed that asking people with intercultural experi- ence (i.e. people who have lived or are currently living abroad), would result in some interesting responses. This turned out to be true, and though it’s still early days, the survey has given us some great insights and fascinating snippets of experience that we believe bring these topics to life.

*T UIFSF B QMBDF GPS JOUFSDVMUVSBM DPNNVOJDBUJPO JO TFDPOE MBOHVBHF DMBTTFT Most language teachers have a gut feeling that intercultural awareness should be at the heart of language learning. We all know that students should learn about communication styles, patterns, and habits at the same time they are learn- ing vocabulary and grammar. This should be happening at least from the intermediate level. Why is it so difficult to actually pull this off in the classroom? 8IBU`T TUPQQJOH VT A major problem is that talking about culture—in the sense of unconscious cultural habits, the kind that can lead to misunderstandings—is always tricky ground. As soon as you make a statement about a given cultural group, you run the danger of reinforcing stereotypes. Even without meaning to, pointing out cultural traits can make your students be- lieve that all members of that cultural group behave in a certain way, which we all know is untrue. You may also un- willingly reinforce the simplistic “us versus them” mentality. That may be why common practice is to lecture students on general concepts, like “individualism”, or “cultural sub- groups”, or “perception and culture”, and to sprinkle these with a few well-chosen examples. The problem is that this approach requires considerable skill and a good amount of time to do well. It’s also true that many of our students have a hard time expressing themselves in such abstract terms. So most of the time, the teaching of intercultural communi- cation ends up being restricted to specialized courses. There are valid reasons for this, but the reality remains that many more students will take language classes than con- tent-based classes on intercultural communication. How can we reach more students with this important content? 'PDVT PO UIF JOEJWJEVBM Maybe it's simply a question of approach. Our hunch is that it is possible to address specific cultural traits without creat- ing more stereotypes. To do this, we need to focus on indi- vidual stories, not monolithic cultural entities. It’s far simpler to talk about people, not “cultures”. That, in essence, is why we created the Ibunka Survey. The idea is to ask a large number of people from a range of backgrounds to share their opinions and stories on a number of specific daily life topics.

In some Western countries, giving a tour of one’s home and expecting guests to help themselves is quite normal. In others, such as France, it is not.

5IF TVSWFZ The topics covered in the survey are everyday issues that almost everyone has a view on, even if they don’t usually think much about them. For example, one of the themes of the survey is how peo- ple deal with sleep, tiredness, and managing their energy. In Japan, it is common for people to fall asleep almost anywhere because they have “given their all” in school, work, or another effort. Tiredness has a rather positive im- age, and sleep is tolerated in places where it might not be in other cultures. In most Western cultures, for example, more emphasis is placed on efficiency and on the need to be well-rested in order to be efficient. These tendencies influence many practical choices in daily life. They are in- teresting because they help explain misunderstandings that sometimes occur when people cross cultural bound- aries.

“Giving his a ll” or “Can’t manage himself”? How you interpret this photo depends on your culture.