CROSS CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

MID TERM

oleh:
ZAHRAH NABILA
20019023

PRODI BAHASA DAN SASTRA INGGRIS

FAKULTAS BAHASA DAN SENI
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI PADANG
2021

1. Write a summary of the chapter (one page only)

Chapter 6 – More about ‘why’
Norms
Norms are unspoken rules controlling your behavior. These norms tell you how to use all the
things found in the outer circle of the cultural onion.

Values
Every culture has a different idea of what a person should and should not do, of what is
polite or rude. Every culture has different values. A value is something considered valuable, good,
appropriate or polite. One culture may value keeping social relationships harmonious.
In some cultures, status or wealth is measured by owning a certain kind of car, in others a
certain kind of house, a certain kind of cow or a certain number of wives. Values are not only about
valuable things. Some personal characteristics are considered more valuable in one culture than in
another. In some cultures the ideal woman is plump . In some cultures, it is desired that children do
not talk when older people are talking.

Cultural values
Each person considers some qualities or characteristics more desirable or valuable than
others. These are called cultural values. They are part of the 'why' of culture. Cultures of the world
can be graded along various scales.

Work
What do English-speaking people like to talk about? What is one of the first topics in a
conversation? 'What do you do?' 'How's work?' 'What's happening at work?'In cultures that value
individualism and independence people find their identity in their achievements, especially their
work. In cultures that value the group, a person's identity may be more closely linked to his or her
family or ethnicity.
In English-speaking countries generally work plays a very large role in people's lives. Every
country has people who are unemployed. They are often encouraged to volunteer in their
communities while they keep looking for paid work.

United kingdom history and values

We hope you are interested in history, because culture is closely related to history.
The oldest and most dominant British cultural values, such as individualism and the role of law, come
from Greek and Roman influence over the whole of Europe for many centuries. The United Kingdom
still receives many immigrants and refugees today.
In the 19th century the United Kingdom experienced some important social reforms
resulting in the Anti-Slavery act. Christians led these campaigns, basing their arguments on Biblical
teachings about the sanctity of all human life.
The scientific revolution meant huge interest in science and research. Examples of this are
‘cool’ meaning impressive, ‘groovy’, ‘hip’, ‘rock’, ‘wicked’, ‘hot’ and thousands more. Read more
about this in chapter eleven. Women’s roles have changed since the Second World War . Before that
women rarely attended university.

2.Answer "all the questions" in this chapter.

Norms
Question:
1. What are the norms in your culture for dating?
How do you know what these unspoken rules are? How do you know?
What are the spoken rules your family has about dating?
2. What are the norms for taking a stranger's photo in your culture and in English-speaking
culture?
3. Which of the following are normal in any of your cultures? Which are normal in Western
cultures?
a. Saying you like food someone has brought you, even though you hated it.
b. Cheating on an important exam.
c. Telling a guest, you can only talk to them for a few minutes because you want to
have a nap.
d. Putting elderly parents to be cared for in a nursing home.
e. Climbing stairs holding onto the handrail on the right side.
f. Commenting on a friend's weight gain.
g. Asking a new acquaintance about their divorce.
h. Copying most of your assignment from the internet.
i. Drowning (killing) a kitten you don't want to look after.
j. Throwing an unwanted kitten on a rubbish heap.31
k. Getting a permanent tattoo on your arm.
l. Taking a two-hour lunch break from work.
m. Laughing in a loud voice in public transport.
n. Driving through a red traffic light.
o. Being late for a party.
p. Leaving a friend's house without saying goodbye to their parents.
q. Not returning borrowed money on the day you promised to do so.
r. Letting a little child climb a tree.
s. Not finishing the food on your plate.
t. Walking along the beach holding hands with a friend of the same sex.
u. Walking around the mall, holding hands with a friend of the opposite sex.
v. Talking during a speech or sermon.
w. Looking directly at a person when speaking to them.
x. Not returning a library book by the due date.
y. Breast-feeding a baby in a public place.
z. Opening your sister's bag to look for a pen.

Answere
1. In my culture dating is not a taboo thing because it has happened very often, it can be seen
from the reactions of people who know that someone is dating and their reactions will be
normal as long as they don't cross the line. And in my family the rules regarding dating are in
the form of being allowed to date when they have reached the specified age and of course
they do not cross distant boundaries, and must also be introduced to parents so that they
know who is close to their child.
2. I think both in my culture and in English-speaking cultures, taking photos of strangers if they
have asked permission beforehand and they agree is okay, but taking photos without
 permission is different. it would be a violation to take without the permission and
knowledge of the person concerned and also it violates someone's right to privacy.
3. My culture
a. Saying you like food someone has brought you, even though you hated it.
b. Cheating on an important exam.
c. Climbing stairs holding onto the handrail on the right side.
d. Commenting on a friend's weight gain.
e. Asking a new acquaintance about their divorce.
f. Copying most of your assignment from the internet.
g. Throwing an unwanted kitten on a rubbish heap.
h. Taking a two-hour lunch break from work.
i. Laughing in a loud voice in public transport.
j. Driving through a red traffic light.
k. Being late for a party.
l. Not returning borrowed money on the day you promised to do so.
m. Letting a little child climb a tree.
n. Not finishing the food on your plate.
o. Walking around the mall, holding hands with a friend of the opposite sex.
p. Talking during a speech or sermon.
q. Breast-feeding a baby in a public place.
r. Opening your sister's bag to look for a pen.

The western culture

a. Telling a guest, you can only talk to them for a few minutes because you want to have a
nap.
b. Putting elderly parents to be cared for in a nursing home.
c. Drowning (killing) a kitten you don't want to look after.
d. Throwing an unwanted kitten on a rubbish heap.31
e. Getting a permanent tattoo on your arm.
f. Leaving a friend's house without saying goodbye to their parents.
g. Walking along the beach holding hands with a friend of the same sex.
h. Looking directly at a person when speaking to them.
i. Not returning a library book by the due date.

Values
Questions:
1. You are hoping to meet the person who will become your spouse. What qualities do you
want this person to have?32 What do you think are the 5 most important ones? Some
qualities are in the box below or use our own ideas. (Do you know all these words?) Give
your reasons!

Practical rural obedient Religious knowledgeable

Intelligent urban courageous Working patient
independent tall humorous Thrifty faithful
materialistic fat extroverted Popular a good cook
high status rich a foreigner Ambitious a specific age
Diligent quiet introverted Friendly good-looking
not corrupt wise responsible Punctual generous
non-smoker sexy respectful Serious healthy
of a respected civil servant good reputation takes initiative university-
family educated
businessperson modest Fair ??? ????

2. You can do also this exercise with different relationships. You may use your own ideas.
What 5 qualities do you look for in a friend?
In an employee? In an employer?

In a community leader? In a politician?

In a teacher? In a student?

What are the 5 most important qualities of the heroes and heroines of the myths
of your culture?

3. When watching a movie, reading a novel or meeting English- speaking people notice how
parents speak to their children. You will need to read or watch at least 10 different stories to
start to notice these. And how do children speak to their parents? How do teachers speak to
their students? How do students speak to their teachers, and so on? What qualities (for
example from the chart on page 55) do these behaviors represent?
4. Observe the people around you in your own culture. How do brothers and sisters speak to
each other, how do people speak to shopkeepers, how do children behave when with their
parents, grandparents, classmates, friends? What qualities do these behaviors represent?

Answere:

1. When I meet the person who will become my partner in the future, I hope that
this person has a good personality and is religiously obedient. and loves his family,
me, and my family with all my heart. and the 5 most important quality things in
my opinion are:

1. Religion
2. His nature/personality
3. Loving his family, me, and my family and also can accept the shortcomings and
strengths of me and my family
4. Loyal
5. Hard worker and responsible
 Because in my opinion these are very important things to have because they are
the foundation for the future.
2. In making friends the qualities I look for are:
1. His nature or personality
2. Can he match me
3. Can he be a positive influence
4. Is he a nice person
5. Is he willing to accept my weaknesses and strengths
The employee I'm looking for is whether he is honest and has a good character
and is responsible and reliable.
In employer can he be kind and fair and generous.
In community leaders, are they able to socialize well and live with tolerance and
harmony.
In politicians, is it possible to be honest, fair to the whole community.
And the 5 most important qualities of the heroes and heroines of the myths of
your culture:
1. Love the homeland
2. Willing to sacrifice
3. Gotong royong
4. Work hard
5. Responsible

3. People who speak English the way children talk to their parents is more free
because parenting has been taught independently since childhood. the way the
teacher talks to students is more like a friend because the relationship is quite
relaxed. and the way students talk to their teachers is also more relaxed because
so are teachers to students.
4. In my culture people communicate according to age. to be more respectful to the
older, relaxed to the same old, and respect to the smaller.
Cultural values

Questions:

1. How do you introduce yourself? Where is your culture on the first scale?
2. What about you and your culture? Is your culture more egalitarian or more
authoritarian?
3. In your culture are gender roles more different or more the same?
4. Which of these two values is the one you and your culture uses?
5. Irene comes from a culture that values individualism and independence. She likes to make
her own choices and take the initiative. She likes to do things on her own. She will decide if
and whom she will marry. Sari comes from a culture that values group/dependence. She
prefers someone else to make the decisions for her, to follow the crowd. She hates doing
anything on her own. Her family will decide who she marries. Both Irene and Sari's parents
are not happy that the girls are sharing an apartment. Why?
6. Hamlin comes from a homogeneous culture (see page 7). He is not comfortable with
anything that is unfamiliar. He finds it difficult to understand the feelings of people outside
his own culture. Kelly comes from a more heterogeneous culture. He regularly meets
different kinds of people and experiences different things. Kelly is now studying in Hamlin’s
country. Hamlin laughs when Kelly has misunderstandings. W h y does Hamlin laugh? Kent
becomes angry, and accuses Hamlin of being very rude and hurting his feelings. Why does
Kelly become angry?
7. Eddie comes from a culture that is egalitarian. He speaks to everyone in a similar way. In his
previous job everyone was called by their first name. Adeline Jones comes from a culture
that is both hierarchical and authoritarian. She speaks to people differently depending
on their social position. In her office, because she is a senior employee, she is called by title
and family name - Ms Jones. Junior employees are called by their first names. Eddie is
now a junior employee in Adeline Jones' office. She is his boss. Eddie calls her by her first
name. How might she feel about this?
8. Ellen comes from a culture that values equal gender roles. Her father is a kindergarten
teacher, and her mother is a bus-driver. Ellen is studying to be an electrician. She is happy
that the president of her country is a woman. Her neighbor Debi comes
from a culture that values different gender roles. Her mother works in her father's shop. She
believes all women should marry and have children. Debi is studying to be a nurse. She
doesn't think a woman should be the president of any country. What do you think they
might discuss?
9. Heidi comes from a culture that values high context. She prefers to speak indirectly, using
few words, but using some body language. She expects people to understand what she is
talking about from the situation. Brian comes from a culture that values low context. He
speaks directly and with many words. He uses a lot of logic when giving explanations. Heidi is
Brian's teacher. What problems might they have in the classroom?
Anwer:

1. The way I introduce myself is by introducing my name, my school, the environment around
me, and my hobbies. my first culture on the educational scale at school.
2. I think it's more egalitarian because I talk to everyone the same way.
3. In my culture gender roles are more equal because between women and men almost have
the same equality except in certain things.
4. In my culture it is more direct/low context because most people need logical explanations.
5. Because the cultural differences are very far between irene and sari. therefore their parents
do not agree because later there will often be conflicts between the two of them because of
very conflicting cultural differences.
6. Because of the cultural differences between them. Hamlin's culture is more homogeneous
and difficult to understand situations from foreign cultures, while Kelly's is from a
heterogeneous culture who meets many people from various cultures. Hamlin can't
understand Kelly's feelings, and it makes Kelly angry because he feels that Hamlin doesn't
respect him.
7. She will feel unappreciated because Eddie only calls him by his first name. it's also because
of the cultural differences between them, eddie's culture which is different from adeline's
culture.
8. They will discuss whether gender equality is necessary or there is no need for gender
boundaries. because for some people agree that women can do men's work and vice versa,
and there are also those who think that men must do work according to their nature, and
women must do work according to their nature.
9. Brian will have a hard time understanding Heidi's explanation, because Heidi's culture uses
more body language and less talk. while the brian culture more often uses a lot of logic and
talks a lot.
Work

Find examples of each behavior mentioned above in a book, short story or movie. In groups roleplay
these example behaviors. After each roleplay discuss how you feel acting in these ways.

United kingdom history and values

Questions:

1. What values from page 57 are related to the information in this section about United
Kingdom history. Which values have changed significantly in the last 100 years?
2. What other values can you find in the text above?
3. Find songs, short stories, books or films which show these cultural values. Discuss.

Answere:

1.