FRE 105
FRENCH
Culture
Handout 2: Culture & values
I. Questions
1-What 3 symbols do you associate with
2 - Culture? Give a general definition of Culture.
3 -Find some proverbs in your own culture that point to cultural values. What
are these?
e.g
time is money=materialism
3- What is a stereotype?
4- Shared Values. Though the study of national characteristics or types can be dangerous, these can point to underlying shared values.
Shared values represent cultural traits that have been developed over time, due to many circumstances (geo, social, historical etc.)
a) Find a few stereotypes for The French/France as seen by Americans
b) Using the guidelines provided by socio-anthropologist Edward Hall (see below), can you explain the point of view of the French?c) What are the usual stereotypes about The Americans/The US as seen by other cultures?
d) Using the guidelines provided by socio-anthropologist Edward Hall (see below), can you identify the underlying values that are mis-represented ?
II.Cultural differences:
frameworks –(in
class)
These are the usual areas of
culture- clashes between Americans and French:
Video clip: Working for a bi-cultural company
(Bull-HDR)
Questions
1- Pay attention
to the comments made both French and American employees.
2- Select 2 comments (min.) made by each about working in a multi-cultural environment
3- Using the categories below, identify the root of the problems/ conflicts…
1> Language problems
2> Feelings of superiority-inferiority
3>Education systems
4>Cartesian
approach/pragmatic
5>Role
of hierarchy
6>Status of
women in the work place
7>Formalism in relationships
8>Attitudes at meetings
9>Leisure time and work
10>Schedules
11>Comments and criticism
III--CULTURE CONTEXTS.
The anthropologist Ed. T Hall
established the following distinctions between cultures:
Ed T &M. Hall,
Understanding Cultural Differences, The Intercultural Press,
General tendencies exhibited by different cultures
|
HIGH CONTEXT CULTURE |
LOW CONTEXT CULTURE |
|
polychronic |
monochronic |
|
|
Germanic, English speaking cultures |
|
Catholic culture |
Northern and Protestant cultures |
|
affiliation cultures - relationships with people more important than schedules & projects LIKE SOCCER: spontaneous, momentary factors, moving around, strategy, theoretical- from principle to real world illustration, play offense AND defense, abstract to concrete, deductive |
direct, clear, linear, verbal - clear channels of communication LIKE FOOTBALL: game plan, down the field w/pre-determined plays, specialists (offense OR defense), from concrete to abstract, inductive, "get the facts and then we’ll talk" |
|
individuals staying in touch with a large circle of connections |
working teams share information, cooperate, support |
|
get to know people before dealing with them - relationships are for long term |
who & why is not important, just GET IT DONE |
|
soak up details indirectly (private information networks); can find detailed explanations insulting |
like directly communicated detail |
|
sense of time based on personal issues; resists scheduled time blocks |
scheduled; dominated by the clock (talk of "wasting," "saving," "killing" time |
from Platt, Polly "Working On French Time"