INTEGRATING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS INTO THE EXPLORATION OF CULTURE IN AN EFL SETTING

March 3, 2022

Abstract: One of the important requirements of the advanced technical age is language learning in addition to specific sciences, and gaining an understanding of cultures during language learning is one of the constant important issues. In addition to teaching international and local cultures in language classes, students and teachers share their life experiences during the lesson, which expands the worldview of students; the lesson is both meaningful and effective for future life activities of students. The study provided practical recommendations to English teachers to enhance students‘ thinking skills in successfully applying cultural skills in their work on socio-cultural realities of life.

Keywords: perspectives, practices, product, high – context culture, monochromic, polychromic, collectivist, individualist, cultural wheel. The perspective of current intercultural communicative competence as a foreign language (EFL) context, the study of cultural values and cultural differences in the process of target language learning is an important factor in improving thoughtful thinking.

Since language learning is a purposeful process and involves the establishment of relationships such as travel, study, work, establishing a business, from the first-day students learn the alphabet; the teacher teaches students the language. Provide an understanding of the culture, history, customs and lifestyles, as well as values of the countries studied. The culture taught by the teacher on a daily basis as a cultural drop broadens students‟ worldview and benefits the increase in the vocabulary of the language being
studied.

When you start really thinking about culture, you realize that it includes or at least influences nearly everything in the human experience. Anthropologist John H. Bodley defined culture as, “what people think, make, and do” (1994, p. 22). This broad definition has been developed in further detail by what is called the 3P model of culture (Frank, 2014). The 3P’s are perspectives, practices, and products.
Let us look at each of these.

Perspectives describe, “What members of a culture think, feel, and value” (Frank, 2014, p. 3). This includes ideas about what is important in life and beliefs about how younger people should relate to older members of society.

Perspectives define what members of a particular culture consider appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

Perspectives shape practices. Practices include the traditions and typical behaviors in a culture. The way people communicate can differ greatly from one culture to another, not just in terms of language but also what people talk about; with whom; how direct they are when communicating; the gestures they use; their use of eye contact; etc. Practices include other behaviors as well, from the formal – for example wedding ceremony traditions – to the informal, such as how people dress and eat on a day-to-day basis.

Food is often the first cultural product that people think of when they think about another culture. The special foods associated with a particular culture are often the first thing someone unfamiliar with the culture learns about it. Other cultural products are include clothing, music, and literature. 1 A teacher who is committed to the study of culture and its application to life must first be aware of the concept of high-context culture when embarking on the study of culture. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall first introduced this concept to science in 1976 in his book Behind Culture.

Members of high-context culture usually have close relationships that last a long time. Because of interacting with each other over the years, members know what the rules are, how to think, and how to behave, so they do not have to be shown the rules clearly. Moreover, for people who do not know the unwritten rules of this context, there are many challenges.

Critical Thinking


Some common characteristics of high-context cultures include:

·Primarily use non-verbal methods to relay meaningful information in
conversations, such as facial expressions, eye movement, and tone of voice.
·The situation, people, and non-verbal elements are more important than the
actual words that are communicated.
·
·
People are comfortable standing close to each other.
The preferred way of solving problems and learning is in groups.


· Members of the culture place emphasis on interpersonal relationships.
· Trust must be developed before business transactions can begin.
Some places of the world are mentioned as high-context cultural places below:
• Japan and other countries located in Asia
• Brazil and other countries located in South America
• African tribal groups and most countries located in Africa
• A majority of the Middle East, including Iraq and Iran 2
While learning intercultural competence learners must be aware of monochromic and polychromic culture and pay more attention to their own culture as felling themselves as the pieces of culture and cultural being.

Below are some general characteristics that may help you understand more about these: 3

MonochromicPolychromic
Do only one thing at a timeDo multiple things at a time
Focus on taskEasy distracted and interrupted
Short-term relationshipsLong-term relationships
PatientImpatient
Commit to the jobCommit to relationship
Work fixed hoursWork at any time
Job-orientedPeople-oriented
IntrovertExtrovert
Fixed plansChange plans often and easily
View time commitment as criticalView time commitment as objectives

Cultures are typically divided into two categories: collectivist and individualist. Individualist cultures, such as those of the United States and Western Europe, emphasize personal achievement regardless of the expense of group goals, resulting in a strong sense of competition. Collectivist cultures, such as those of
China, Korea, and Japan, emphasize family and work group goals above individual needs or desires.

Both collectivist and individualistic cultures have their failings. People in individualist cultures are susceptible to loneliness, and people in collectivist cultures can have a strong fear of rejection. Elders who instill collectivist rejection rules in youngsters are often rejected by foreign direct investment from individualist capital. Individualistic Doers are self-assured and very independent people. They are quiet and realistic, very rational, extremely matter of fact people.

They strongly cultivate their individualism and enjoy applying their abilities to new tasks. Nevertheless, they are also very spontaneous and impulsive persons who like to follow their sudden inspirations.


REFERENCES
https://learn.canvas.net/courses/2850/pages/unit-1-introduction-toculture?module_item_id=246724
https://study.com/academy/lesson/high-context-culture-definition-exampleshttps://eprojectconsult.com/monochronic-vs-polychronic/
https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Collectivist_and_individualist_cultures

Nuriyaxonim MUKHAMMAD OLIM
BA 3rd year student, Linguistic provision of Intercultural Communication specialty,
Media and Communication Faculty
Uzbekistan State World Languages University

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