Are we just language teachers? Last throughts on Cultural Aspects learning

In this last entry, I would like to give my last personal thoughts on some questions that have been presented to us during the Cultural Aspects course.

1. Reflection on whether we are just language teachers and why or why not. (From Forum 1).

Whether teachers are only language teachers or more is something that has been debated quite often. I believe that most people can agree on the fact that teaching a language is not only about introducing that language to a group of students. As we have seen from the previous entries (mostly the last one) we can easily assure that teachers are not only language teachers. A good teacher is able to include and instruct about different cultures, beliefs (staying, obviously, as impartial as possible and only stating the different ideas that exist), and more. We, as teachers, need to be aware of how in our class there might be people from different backgrounds. We also should promote diversity and have an environment free of stereotypes and judging. Not only that, but we should embrace every culture that is part of our class and even let our students introduce them to their peers and us as well! No one can ever top the person from that specific culture to help us learn more about it.

Last but not least, it is not only about language, even other subjects can be influenced by cultures, as every culture has its learning style or strategy that we can even teach in our own classes.

2. Do we teach language using culture or do we teach culture using language?

I believe that it is a bit of both, though maybe the second one could be a better fit. As someone who is learning a language and through that learning more about culture, I would say the second option. Not to say I did not know anything about the Korean culture before learning the language, but it is through learning their language that I have learned much more about their world and costumes. However, we need to keep in mind that language is still a big part of the culture (e.g. studying Korean and formalities) so that is why we could not be wrong to believe that we teach a language through culture. I think this belief can depend on the individual, but we must remember that language and culture always go hand in hand.

3. Does internet communication unite or erase deep culture?

This question could be a bit controversial and tricky to answer. I heard a few classmates debate on this topic, and both made fantastic points. In my personal opinion and experience as a let’s say, young individual who spends quite a bit of time on social media, I believe it is, as the previous question, a bit of both. 

The media has made it very easy to access and connect with people from other parts of the world and with different cultural backgrounds. Likewise, there are many shows and movies easily to access that teach us all about deep culture. It is a useful resource to find information about anything you need to know at any given moment (information that might be more or less accurate), and as already mentioned, meet a lot of people that can help you learn all about their customs.

However, we also need to be very careful about what we learn from the Internet because of the over information, but most important, misinformation. Likewise, lately, there has been an increase in ‘cancel culture’ in which you can easily be targeted for different reasons and for mistakes you might make. Not only that, but you also need to be careful when talking about cultures. Culture is something that for some individuals might be more or less important, but is part of their identity and lately, on the internet, there have been a lot of cultural appropriation moments. We want to experience and share about cultures, but the Internet may also work against us and introduce to us information that might not be too correct.

Still, I believe that during these last few years, the Internet has helped unite cultures rather than erase deep cultures. Modern youth are not scared to speak their minds and embrace their backgrounds, and I think the Internet community has played an important role in it.