One of the themes of the workshop is foreign cultural content in textbooks, experienced by two language students, Beata and Kira. In the workshop Adrian uses his grammar of culture to discuss and make sense of the different issues.
The textbook contains a dialogue in which two friends are sharing, or splitting the bill after eating in a restaurant. Beata feels uncomfortable because in her culture people always pay for each other, and it would be very unfriendly for anyone to suggest paying for themselves. The dialogue therefore seems to go completely against all her values and this seems to threaten her culture.
We need to evaluate Beata’s viewpoint – that English represents a separate, foreign culture. It is now believed that English takes on the cultural realities of the places where it is spoken. In my own experience of bilingual Syrians, the English they speak fully represents their own cultural realities. Furthermore, though paying for each other is considered a cultural norm, people often also split the bill.
Watch part 1: Beata’s anxiety
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Watch the other parts of this presentation.