Why a "facts only" approach to culture is destined to be ineffective?
A "facts only" approach to culture for which the only goal is to amass bits of information is destined to be ineffective for several reasons:
1. "Facts" are in a constant state of flux, especially when they relate to current life-style. Specific data may not hold true across time, location, and social strata.
2. An "information-only" approach to culture may actually establish stereotypes rather than diminish them, since such an approach provides no means of accounting for cultural variation.
3. Amassing facts leaves students unprepared when they face cultural situations not previously studied. If no problem-solving contextually based approach to culture has been used, the students have acquired no tools for processing new phenomena in a way that will facilitate understanding. Cognitive knowledge alone seems to have little effect on an individual's ability to cope with or adjust to different patterns of behavior.
1. "Facts" are in a constant state of flux, especially when they relate to current life-style. Specific data may not hold true across time, location, and social strata.
2. An "information-only" approach to culture may actually establish stereotypes rather than diminish them, since such an approach provides no means of accounting for cultural variation.
3. Amassing facts leaves students unprepared when they face cultural situations not previously studied. If no problem-solving contextually based approach to culture has been used, the students have acquired no tools for processing new phenomena in a way that will facilitate understanding. Cognitive knowledge alone seems to have little effect on an individual's ability to cope with or adjust to different patterns of behavior.
(Omaggio, A.(1993).Teaching Language in Context (2nd ed.). Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. )
