Culture gap

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A culture gap is any systematic difference between two cultures which hinders mutual understanding or relations. Such differences include the values, behavior, education, and customs of the respective cultures. [1] As international communications, travel, and trade have expanded, some of the communication and cultural divisions have lessened. Books on how to handle and be aware of cultural differences seek to prepare business people and travelers. [2] Immigrants and migrant laborers need to learn the ways of a new culture. [3] Tourists can also be confronted with variants in protocols for tipping, body language, personal space, dress codes, and other cultural issues. Language instructors try to teach cultural differences as well. [4]

Contents

A legal culture is a system of laws and precedents peculiar to a nation, region, religion, or other organized group. A culture gap occurs when incompatible or opposing systems might be applied to the same situation or assumed by the parties. Legal constructs such as contracts and corporations are not uniform across cultures. In some cases, such a gap is intentionally sought by one party, as in forum shopping for a more favorable legal framework or in libel tourism, by which speech protected in one jurisdiction may be actionable in another.

Generational

A generation gap occurs when the experiences and attitudes of one generation differ significantly from those of another. The world wars contributed to generation gaps in several nations. The term first saw widespread use in contrasting the Baby Boomer generation with their parents. The "Youth culture" of adolescents and teenagers seeking to stake out their own identity and independence from their parents often results in a cultural divide. Younger generations have experienced different technologies, freedoms and standards of propriety. [5]

Gender and sexual identity

Urban

Professional

Communication between and collaboration among scientific disciplines is sometimes hindered by use of different paradigms or competition between the desires to describe a simple explanatory framework and elucidate fine details. The framework of the questions to which each field lends itself may differ, leading to frustration and wasted effort. [6]

Educational

The education culture is the different education people receive in their life. A culture gap occurs when people with different cultures sit together and take the same class. Different cultures behave differently towards the teacher both in class and after class. Differences can be noticed in assessment method and the direction method of the class.

Asian students focus on books and exercises more than European and American students, who are willing to raise questions in the classes. The cultural gap in education is due to the different education traditions in different places.

For example, Asian students receive exam-oriented education, but European and American students receive a very different, freer education and are both expected to challenge their teachers and strongly encouraged to challenge the teachers in class.

In both China and Japan, the education system normally usually uses exams to show a student's ability. In American and Britain, students grade instructors according to ability.

Both systems have advantages and disadvantages but form a cultural gap between people. Different ways of thinking and analyzing things makes students view things very differently. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Outcome-based education or outcomes-based education (OBE) is an educational theory that bases each part of an educational system around goals (outcomes). By the end of the educational experience, each student should have achieved the goal. There is no single specified style of teaching or assessment in OBE; instead, classes, opportunities, and assessments should all help students achieve the specified outcomes. The role of the faculty adapts into instructor, trainer, facilitator, and/or mentor based on the outcomes targeted.

A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another regarding beliefs, politics, or values. In today's usage, generation gap often refers to a perceived gap between younger people and their parents or grandparents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International student</span> Foreigner temporarily re-located for the purpose of tertiary study

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">English as a second or foreign language</span> Use of English by speakers with different native languages

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural identity</span> Identity or feeling of belonging to a group

Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. In this way, cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also of the culturally identical group of members sharing the same cultural identity or upbringing. Cultural identity is a fluid process that is changed by different social, cultural, and historical experiences. Some people undergo more cultural identity changes as opposed to others, those who change less often have a clear cultural identity. This means that they have a dynamic yet stable integration of their culture.

Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another's resources and skills. More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetric roles. Put differently, collaborative learning refers to methodologies and environments in which learners engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other. These include both face-to-face conversations and computer discussions. Methods for examining collaborative learning processes include conversation analysis and statistical discourse analysis.

A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, for example, communicative competence in a foreign language. Language learning in such schools typically supplements formal education or existing knowledge of a foreign language.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainstreaming (education)</span> Placing disabled students in regular classrooms

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exam</span> Educational assessment

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The term 30-million-word gap was originally coined by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley in their book Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, and subsequently reprinted in the article "The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3". In their study of 42 Midwestern families, Hart and Risley physically recorded an hour's worth of language in each home once a month over 2½ years. Families were classified by socioeconomic status (SES) into "high" (professional), "middle/low" and "welfare" SES. They found that the average child in a professional family hears 2,153 words per waking hour, the average child in a working-class family hears 1,251 words per hour, and an average child in a welfare family only 616 words per hour. Extrapolating, they stated that, "in four years, an average child in a professional family would accumulate experience with almost 45 million words, an average child in a working-class family 26 million words, and an average child in a welfare family 13 million words."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital media in education</span>

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References

  1. Oxford English Dictionary
  2. Penny Carte, Chris Fox Bridging the Culture Gap: A Practical Guide to International Business Communication Kogan Page Publishers, 2008 ISBN   978-0-7494-5274-2. 192 pages
  3. Carola Suárez-Orozco and Desirée Qin-Hilliard Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the New Immigration Taylor & Francis, 2001 ISBN   978-0-8153-3708-9. 2100 pages page 54
  4. Joyce Merrill Valdes Culture Bound: Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press, 1986 ISBN   978-0-521-31045-1. 222 pages
  5. Gerhard Falk and Ursula A. Falk Youth culture and the generation gap Algora Publishing, 2005 ISBN   0-87586-368-X, 9780875863689 254 pages
  6. Pasieka, A (2002), "Physics meets biology: Bridging the culture gap", Nature, 419 (6904): 244–246, Bibcode:2002Natur.419..244K, doi: 10.1038/419244a , PMID   12239534
  7. Zhao, Zhou, Huang, Y., X., L. (2008), "Chinese Students' Knowledge and Thinking about America and China", Social Studies, 99 (1): 13–22, doi:10.3200/TSSS.99.1.3-22, ISSN   0037-7996, S2CID   144389280 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)