SOCIAL DISTANCE

Definition
Emerged as an affective
construct to give explanatory
power to the place of culture
learning in the second language
learning.
Refers cognitive and affective
proximity of 2 cultures that come
in contact within an individual

Distance
dissimilarity
between 2 cultures

John Shuman described social

distance as:

Dominance

Integration
Cohesiveness
Congruence
Permanence

2 bad language learning

situations
The target language group
views the second language
group as dominant.
The second language group
considers itself subordinate and
is considered subordinate by the
target language group.

Shuman said that a good

language learning situation:
Second language group is
non dominant in relation to
target language group.

 The greater the social

distance between 2 cultures
the greater the difficulty the
learner will have in learning
the second language.
The smaller the social
distance, the better will be the
language learning situation.

William Acton 1979

The actual social distance between
cultures is not particularly relevant
since it is what learners perceive that
terms their own reality.
Human beings perceive the cultural
environment through the filters and
screens of their own world view and
then act upon that perception.

When learners encounter a

new culture, their
acculturation process is a
factor on how they perceive
their own culture in relation
to the culture of the target
language and vice versa.

 If the learner perceived

themselves as either too
close to or too distant to form
either the target culture or
the native culture they fell
into the category of bad
language learners.

Anton theory of optimal

Mastery of foreign language takes
place hand in hand with the feelings
of anomic or homelessness- learners
have moved away from their native
culture but are still not completely
assimilated into or adjusted to the
target culture.

Brown Optimal Distance

Model
An adult who fails to master a
second language in a second
culture may for a host of reasons
have failed to synchronize
linguistic and cultural
development.