Topic: Time, Place and Self: Cultural Factors in the Teaching and Learning of English in Korea
Date: Saturday November 2nd, 2013
Time: 3:00pm - 5:30pm
Venue: KNU, Woodang Building, Room 201
Map: click here
English language educators all know that culture is an integral aspect of the background of language, and many teachers of English include some component of culture in their classes. It should be understood, however, that culture is much more than a mere collection of customs and traditions. It pervades our perceptions of place, person and time in ways we seldom consciously realize. Consequently the language we speak (and think in) reflects these differences of perception, and functions to reinforce our distinctive worldviews. And, this has two sides: Not only are there unspoken cultural assumptions which underlie the instructor's approach to language teaching, but there are also contrasting cultural assumptions which underlie the language learner's perspective.
Among the core North American (and European) values, most people would recognize the prominence of individualism, personal independence, emphasis on individual rights and personal privacy, and egalitarianism. In contrast to these we can observe that Korean values place more emphasis on group belonging and "we-ness" (Uri-nara, Uri-mal), co-dependence, and the importance of hierarchical relationships. Likewise, even our concepts of time may differ significantly. To take one example, the issue of "Korean age" is something that all foreigners notice after being in Korea for a while. There are conventional explanations which generally satisfy people's curiosity, but those explanations commonly miss the point, and they overlook the significant linguistic dimensions involved. All of these things can be seen manifested in the contrasting usage of language by Korean and native English speakers.
This presentation will examine these and other issues in detail to illustrate contrasting conceptions of time, person, and place, and to show how English and Korean languages encode our perceptions and assumptions differently. The twofold aim of this presentation is to elucidate some of the linguistic and cultural puzzles found in Korea, and to show how common "errors" made by English-learners actually reflect the logic of the Korean language and cultural perceptions.
About the Presenter:
Steve Garrigues is a Professor in the English Department at Kyungpook National University in Daegu, where he has been teaching since 1986. Steve was born in the United States, but prefers to think of himself as a world citizen, having spent most of his life outside of the US, including 4 years in India, 6 years in Tonga, 10 years in Japan and 30 years in Korea. His MA and PhD are both in cultural anthropology. His primary research interests are in intercultural communication and cross-cultural semantics.
