GUl'tural,Knowledge',?

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Sandra lvtctky
San FranciscoState'University
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the readingof a padsage.followed by comprehension questions, uo"abuluryexercises, and,at times,grammatical exercises. In sucha ilass thestu_ dentmayreada passage.in 5 to l0 minutes andthenspend 50 tOOminutesdoing languageexercises anA comecting l: them. However,if rbaling is,notjust a decoding iif symbols but an interaction between an individual'sbackliounO tnowtedg3,3nd1he texJq, then,it is certainly, time to ie.erqlugte the traditio.nal,aqtivitieS:of a^reading class,The pu{pose of this articleis ta,examine,an often,neglected elemint of*ne read_ ing process, namely,the role of cultural background knowll edge,andto suggestsome waysin,whichthereadingteacher cart'give Attention"to.thii : irnpo(ant,factof.,', . i rr,:r pjnteractive prricess Canell and Eisterhold(19g3:556), in theii discussion of One particularareaof language teachingin which new schema theoryt andESL reading,arguethat:.comprehend_ ions,4re beingasked abouttherelationship between laning a text is aninteractive process betweenthe readei,s back_ aridthgught,is in the te-ac.hing o.freadjng.Go..odman ground knowledgeand,the text. Efficient comprehension ,andothershaveposjtedf,,a psycholingqisticv,iewof requiresthe ability to relatethe textualmutoiut to on",, o*n ing in which readingis viewedasan interactiveprocess knowledgp, " Thereis,a growingamggnt evidel"cg _of $at one fel lTrgu4le' and thought. According,,tq:,C9adJ very impodantfactoraffecting,tfre reading comprehe6ion of !:t),,this interactiveprocess involvesthree.factors: consecond-language learners :is:a laok,oJ nece,ssaryrqultltn.l!6..l_ raLabilities qtrate: ground knowledge(Gatbonton ; backgrolnd*nowJedge;.and-pfoces-s and Tucker lgZU fploory t llothhwo-rdi,',.:fol sueqgqsfirl,leadlpg ti.ogcur,:anin1978;Johnson l98l). . posse;s Sasicintellectualab-ility;knowledge,of (1981),for.example,,examined.the Johnson effectof the )rld, 4gdreadi4gstrategies, suchasfamiliaritywith the cultural grigin of, nrosepasSage onthe.rcading,comprehen_ 3 rlogy,graphemes, andlexiconof a language. For a long sipn of Iranian,,intermediate/advanced, ;ESt sirdents, at tlre readingclasses havetendedto focus on the last factor, universitylevel.In the study,the subjects readbothanlran_ Kuhn in his seminall book'TheSwcture of Scien(1970)argues Revolution thatthroughout historyscienhpmanists under an established paradigm,t Wgrk ,apd .; fi agreed upon,set of conceptual catggodes. At various ananomalyfarises to these accepted assumptions anda igmshiftt occuni. (1983:546) Raimes maintains thatin ofEnglish-l.angg-aBe lgpchingwe arein rhemidstof a m,shifttowardanemphasis gg fanguage qpcommuniYet,,asshenotes, thereare"somesignsthat, in spite cgrrentemphasis on 'language ascommuniCation,; we no-tqgttlingfor an easyanda reductiveview of lapguage outSide andinsi{e our own fiqld, questions.are i_otlr be, ing-to address the rangeof complexityof language by language andthought."

pyess:ltratgies. Asc"qry{pZle; p tsout, a lu..i,ltl" tlpiC4 reading,c-lpq involves

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AND T'TIEORY 10 P.ERSPECTTYFS

The teacher's tasks therole of the examine To besin,I think it isheciSsary'to pointsout, (1983:3) in a readingclass.AS Eskey teacher "the point Thus, learnto readby reading. basically.students of reinforcement of the rlading classmust be reading-not the not and analysis, or discourse oral skills, not grammatical Essentially,the'reading acquisitionof new,vocab-ulary.' teacherneedsto provide.studentswith the opportunity to read. As Nuttall maintains (1982:22), the reading teacher has two main tasks: first, to provide 'sujpble texts, and delelop activiiiis that will focusthe students'atsecond,:to tentionon thetext' Irl us examineeachof thesetasks' First, whatis a puitabletext? Traditionally, the answerto hasrestedon whetherornol the text is interestthis question and'tthethef:or not'it is at the appropriate ing to the studen-ts' leiel of difficulty; Yet; tii theextentrhatreadingcomprehenit is knowledge, background the necess4ry sion ddpends'on stunot or whether essentialttrat teaihirs si to determind knowlbackground and.wirld cdltuPai dentshavetheneeded the thelte*t. Trike; for example; edgeto correetly.intiipret bvthe besurprised t";,h;t.id"nt, would ;#;;ii; States United the in on entertaining qoitow$g simptereadin-g ' employee' aii Sfactthata supervisorwCs of thehome to asked @efilippoaridSti{mqp !984:i l3), in tuneoue"teachers,howevef, have an advtintagb fu;; &xtis in the information cultural knowing*i"ti"t ot notthe Thus, American represeitative of the culture in questi<m' representative how disciiss to able would be better teachers society. theSmithsareof American to assess need Clearly, in selectinga text, rea{ihg teachers thcse textandtoevaluatehow inthe theculturalassumptio;s assumDtionsconflictwiththestudents'ownculturalassump. try to detertions. in addition, it is impoidantthat teachers somewtratrepreserifaa portrays text the minewhetlierciir:hot aredra'r' tive;view of the'societyin questionsothat students interpretations' cultural ing accurate
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ute; that both the husbandand the wife will participatein will anive quite theseactivities,andthat, finally, theguests arc all cultural background promptly. Theseassumptions iloo*i"dg" containedin the text. It is knowledgethat'i$i way, gatherfrom readihg dentsma!, evel in anunconscious thetext. two kindsof canpresent This tvpeof culturalinformation text may in the otoUf"-t. First, the cultural assumptions and values of set existing a conflictwith thestudents' oresent ^beliefs. culsome of students on theSmiths, With thereading for a manto helpin the turesmayfind it entirely inappropriate to to havesupervisors preparation of a mealor for employees pnis that ih"it horn"t. Secondly,the cultural information sentedin a txt may ot may not presentan acclrateview of on the culture. For example,after readingthe shortpassage described the scene that mightconclude a sttldent ihe Smiths, in the readingis typical or t"pte.ent"tive of iife in theUnited while in fact it may'ormaynot be' States, teacher for the reading Thesepotentialproblemssuggest needs the teacher a text, two thingi. First of all, in selecting con' is information to ddteriine what cultural birck$ound tainedinthetextandtowhatextenttheculturalassumptions in the text differ from thoseof the students'And secondly' theteacherneedstodeterminetowhatextenttheculturalinof the societybeingdescribed'. . formation is representative have'disteachers Both the naiive and nonnativeneading :Sincenonnative teachers in these''iireas. tinct advanta'les able better are they students, the *ittt ;ffi u il;i; "oito* in is text a in contained information f;;;;;ir"*l ;'; example' For culture' own their in'conflict with ;;;; Jup"nes"t"u"hers, in using the text on the Smiths'would

Useful.activities ,iiln additio.n,toselectingterels,nad@ leachersneed to themfocuson rtiX rctivitb** provide,rstude4tswitb ftP for examTake, fuit' culml'wmlrinn tht,t"*t uttdoo the Inndby is ed ext&smMP;on litlrgt ple, thefollowfutg a father' laxalt's of nelhgqfrr The'bo* itobert'hxalt. 16' was when he s&seomsn"*m:ba Basque.sbeepberder" theageof 63 in tu&nfa&erst nre ?oilowiqg passe$Mn

McKay / Culurul Knowledgeand theTeachingofReadifig !11

2. TIrcThematicStimulus.iriiO"n,, ur" askedto generate questions that have to do with the,generalthemeof the '.1: ' :,,.'.i: : r' l -i r':ar'ri . i::: \: ::::: reading;, r; . : ,.r .,,,r.,. We madeit th-rough saladf without incithels.oup.andrthe t. ThePicure Stimuhis ; Pi,ctures'are uied,,tomoiivats student.t.It beganwien,the waitercameto take awayolr salad dentsto ask questionsrelated to the generalthemeof the platesand put on othersfor the main course.He collected reading, Jolrn's andmine, and then leachgdfoq.py fatler's. Bu! he 4. TheReading Stimalas. Students areasked toformulale could dot liftit,because my f4therwas holding it to the table questions at variouspoints in the text or at the end,of the with bothhands. passage. . ,r r'i .: t.: ." , "I'm sorry," said the waiter. "I thought you were passage:by In the case of the Laxalt, ,straeach: of, these finished." tegiescould be usedryith:aiparticular focus:onthe cultural "I amfinished,l'said'my father. ' *Oh," said the waiter, and again reached aspectofthe excerpt.Students' could:be instmeted,to raise for the salad plate questiorisabout the text, but told that these, ,questions . My fatherheldon. "May I takeyour plate, sir?" saidthe waiter. cannotdealwith,suchthingsas vocabulary or grammatical *No,'l'sni6ptfathermildly. ..:. :,.,., structures. ,.: The waiterblinkedandthensmiledyeakly. ,lfoh, i!fs;no To begin, the teachermight put the first s'entence bn the bothel at aI.!,"he gid, andagainreacledfor,the plate, (Wb'mbde boad it through the'soup and sakid without;in:ciput This time, my father his handsover theplateto protect dent.), andthen askstudents to write l0 questions. Verylikeit. The waiterstopped shortt andstraightened up. He looked ly somC of thequestioniiwould involvewherEthestorv,might akintof frenzy,andJohngestured atusin something with his he.rd.The waiter retreated havetakenplace'and to the backof the room arid stood why therewould be aninciAenrinVJVthereivatchingusfromlongdistince:'He waspaleandhestill salad.Secondly, ping sdtipand thestudents couldbdasked to hada platein his hands. raisequestions about,several of thegeneralthemesiii'thesto"Pop," saidJohn,"why don't you give him your plate?" of unacCeptabldorunusuirl'behdviorand ry suchasthetheme My fathershnrgged. "It's cleanenough,"he said,., ' socialnorms. t' Ttrird, the teacherrcoultl'present a pidtureof This time John blinked. "I don't understand what.you an exclusiverestainant or a'sheepherdei and'haG theist0mean." -'They dentSinitilte questions'aboutr:them.'Finilly, the students shouldn'twastea plate,i' said my father. "This couldbe encouraged to generate questions ai various points one'sfine," pasgage in the or'aftbr the reading.For example,,studeirts Johnregarded my fatherfor a longmoment. "It's reallyno couldbegiVenthetext'upto.thepoint where'the'father,fintrebother,"he said."They'vegot a washer backtherethatdoes fuses to give the waiterhis plateandthenbe encouragbd all thework." to 'l '"'WCll"the ': generate questions might run short,- my iathei said. regarding the text. , ;I i'. '' "I'm telling you, Pop," saidJohii."'"Ihere'sno danler.i' Ttreadvantage of usingthese reader.geneiAted questions is He took a deep drag of his' cigare-tte: and leanedrforward . that, as Henry (tS4:29) points out, this approachencouragaiil. !'Pop,''he said, "youtre going'to getthet'ivaiter.in agesstudentsto see reading as an llteractive processthat fiotiblb.'f takesplacebetween the readerandthetext. After all, in most *What?" said myfatherconcernedly, r ,' readingsituations outsideof the classroom, a reader comes "It's thisway,"saidJ-ohn.,lTheylre putanew supposedto away from a text with some new information and a new setof plateon for,e4ch coqsq.Tha.t's.3!rq,.way;,the management questions. What a readingclasscando then, is to validatet wants i!. tf thewaitgrdoesn't.4o.it.gn4.one of themanagers this process andto provide,perhaps, thg.rylswers:tg at least sees him,hegetfircdfonthespot." questions some generated'by of the . thg "I've never heard of such a thing,"myfather said. text, 'Another strategy that couldbe uFed,with probabiy "It's true,"saidJohn."Thatwaiter's EsL siudents worried to plentirb " clarift thecultural'ibsutnptions in'atdit wouldbeir6 haie the 'Well hell,'saidmyfather. '"Tellhimto take it'tlien." students map the differencesbetweep_:their own ciilture and theculture,depfcted in thetext. Forexample, with theLaxalt What kind of activitiescanthe readirig,&acli6i.desfn,to paslagg,theteacher couldput thefollowing categories sn the help students undestand the cultural assumptio;s.in'the teit? boardandaskstudents'to indicateany difierenc--es thatexist One.wayfor the teacher to:deal with'theseaisumptions is between their cultureandAmericanculture. through the use of questionS; howivdr;'thes0':'quCstions shouldbe studentinitiated:andnot.teacher Studeitsr.Ailterlcan impdsed::'Hbiiry (1984:29)outlinesseveraltechniques r,,;l1l1ure,: Cglture that can be usedto Na. of semingdishes encourage reader-initiated gueStions. Tn-ey dreasfollows. Therole of the waiter l. The First-Sentence Stimulus. The first senience of a Therole af the manager text is put on the board,and students are askedto write l0 Father-sanyglationsbip s questions aboutthe sentence
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an exclusiveNew York,restriiiranton the walr back to.,his forrthe fint time sincehe.came homeland to America.,

'12 PrnsPgCR-vrS ANDTHESRy

Th;.culturalqrrestioili,,,,' ":,,,,.;;..,., 1 ; .,,,,, Goodpanr: Kgnneth, :,ed., I9Tl,, Mtscue analysis: Applica. ttre reading piriblems thatcan arise fromthecultural tion:,toteading instructioni Urbana,Ill.: ERIC Clearing: -Give*,n info.rnlhtionin a text, it is natural to ask whetheror not the houseon ReadingandCommunication Skills. readingteacher,:should selecttexts with specificcultural .!.Rick,;, fiR.eader-generated Henf-yii 1,984'. questions:A tool biases.'First of all; ,it is extnemely difficult to completely for improving readingcomprehension. TESOL Newsavoidthepresentation of some culturalinformation in a text, letter, 38,3,p.29. since,even6rsirfipletex! like lhe onqon thg Smithsdoes;in Johnson, Patricia.I 98!,.,Eff99tq on geading comprehension fact;rcOnlqin inany:;duJ,liiral;asiumptions, Secondly,therearp of ldnguagecomplexity"*d cultural backgroundof a many benefitsthat can arisp from exquining the cultural text.TESOL Quarterly,15,2, pp.169-gl. assumptionS in a text:, Marshdlt:(ll97g:333),;,for,example; in Kuhn, ThomasS. 1970.Thestrurcnre of scientific revolur*ith:.P. ' using' English,literatuie, uertoRican,students, found tion, Znded.Chicago,Ill.,:,University.ofChicago press. that'as:shEworked to helpstudents,dvercome thedifficulties Kujgory,,'P. 1978,,,jlranian students-.and wesoern cultural of,thetext,,herownJappreciation of the text wasclarified a.n{ in literature. English Teachi.ng , conce-pts lournal, 32, her,respect, for thel:sfqdsnls: own:edlturali .' ;,,;', frameworkenpp.22l-25, ::', hanced. As shepointsout, onemajorbenefitof using,a:text Laxa$,.Robert. Sweet prongised, /azd,,New.york: ,1957with many impJiciq cultural as,sumptions is that sucha text . . ,r:r:,i , r, 6ndBrotliei5..:r: :, ,,iHarpgf can promotean incredie ih cultup!, awareness for both the Marshall,Madeleine:1979. ln.ve and death in Eden: Teachteacher andthe students. Thus,ratherthanavoidingtheuse ing Englishliterature totESLstudents. TESOLeuarterof texts.with specific culturalassumpfigns, it wouldbe wise I y ,1 3 , , 3 , p p 3.3 1 4 0 . ' for leachers to.assess whatculturalinio4pa-tion is present in Nuttalt; qntistine. 1982.Teachingreading skillsin a forthetext andto workwith thestudents to appreciate thisaspect e.ryn. language. London: Heinemann Educational ofthe text. Books. Clearly,with thecurrentrecognition in thefieldof ESL of RaimesrAnnr 1983,Tra.ditionand.revolution,in ESl,teachthe relationship between language and thought,it is time for ing. TESOLQu4rterg,,I7, 4, pp,535-53., rea{ingclasses.to reflgctthe fact that involvesnotjust processshategies blt also b.lgfgroundknowledge,andthat for Glossary ESL students a'lackof assumed ,(wordsmarkedby a..t in the text) culturalknowledge may be one importantfactor affecting their readingcomprehension. .frlrThus,,by working to help students understand the cultural ciealive;containing theqeeds of 13miyl:.orig11al, assurnptions, we, as readingteachbrs, will help them not ther de-velopment only increase their readinggomprehension, but alsogain a setof intellectual assumprions rhar ,*"pt""ljg-t ?.:h*"1 betterunderstanding of anotherculture " form the tradition of a discipline qntyi soryethingde,_ ano. lplrt, abnormal,ol.inegular par.aqlgq! sFE: a tranEltigntoward,a ngw paradigm, ,,j... .BIBLIOGRAP.HY caused b; the appearance of something.anomalousto the old paradigm posited: ploposed-, :suggested, assumed processsfi dtegleb skill s ;:language.prdcessing schemaitheory:"alearningtheoryitrat assertsr that lan. guagecomprehension involves an interactiveprocess betweel the.leeuner's backgioundknowledgeandthe text setthe table: put plates,silverware, glasses, etc.,on a table in preparation for a meal madeit through the soup and salad: finishedthe soup coursqandthe saladcourse without incident: withoql anything badhappening stoltlredshor,G:sjop_pe{sgdd,g.dyorabnrptly akin to: like, similar to ffreg;..diq,.grlqp..9{, fro,1q61iot : norms: standards valida!.e.11ci con_fi proof m.by factual,
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it'lt\ grt\k appearedin theAprit 1989iiiidbf:theEngtisli-iteactrqi:nomrn