Culture defined. This book is aimed at enabling students majoring in technical sciences to create profitable business relationships by building cultural bridges that enhance

FOREWORD

This book is aimed at enabling students majoring in technical sciences to create profitable business relationships by building cultural bridges that enhance under­standing and establish trust.

We believe that establishing mutual understanding between eastern and western peoples and countries is the urgent issue of the day.

This book focuses attention on cultural knowledge not just as a necessary aspect of communicative competence, but as an educational objective in its own right.

Culture is often seen as ‘a way of shaping the mind’, ‘programming of the mind’ (Cohen)

‘Our minds are programmed by growing up in a certain social context. They are thus “loaded” like the computer that subsequently performs what programme ena­bles it to do’

If so, then efforts should be directed at making individuals aware of their own pro­gramming, raising their awareness of programming characteristics of other national cultures, and developing the skill of behaving independently from the original programming, i.e. to be able to ‘load’ other cultural models, and bring about what is often called a change in mentality, a breaking away from current mental patterns which equip them to cope with the unexpected.

Unit 1

CULTURE DEFINED

Activity 1. What do we mean by 'culture'? Write your definition of culture.

Activity 2. Compare your ideas with the definitions given by different dictionaries and scholars.

Culture —

1. in a society - the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society;

2. in a group - the attitudes and beliefs about something that are shared by a particular group of people or in particular organization;

3. art/music/literature - activities that are related to art, music, literature, etc. (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Culture —

the way of life, especially general customs and beliefs of a particular group of people at a particular time.

(Cambridge International Dictionary of English)

Культура —

1) совокупность достижений человечества в производственном, общественном и умственном отношении;

2) то же, что культурность;

3) высокий уровень чего-нибудь, высокое развитие, умение.

(С. И. Ожегов «Словарь русского языка»)

Культура —

исторически определённый уровень развития общества, творческих сил и способностей человека, выраженный в типах и формах организации жизни и деятельности людей, а также в создаваемых ими материальных и духовных ценностях.

(Энциклопедический словарь)

Culture —

‘a way of shaping the mind’, ‘programming of the mind’ (Cohen)

So, what do we mean by 'culture'?

Although there are many definitions of culture we are going to follow the Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede’s maxim ‘Software of the Mind’, the subtitle of his 1991 book ‘Cultures and Organisations’ and use the word culture in the sense of “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another”. The “category of people” can be a nation, region, or ethnic group (national etc. culture), women versus men (gender culture), old versus young (age group and generation culture), a social class, a profession or occupation (occupational culture), a type of business, a work organization or part of it (organizational culture), or even a family.

What culture covers is the commonly held traditions, values and ways of behaving of a particular community. It includes what we used to call ‘British and American life and institutions’, ‘daily life’ and also cultural artefacts, such as the arts or sports. This is all interesting and sometimes useful knowledge and it is often included in textbooks.

However, there is also another level of understanding, of culture. This is how you develop cultural sensitivity and cultural skill. This covers how you build cultural awareness, what qualities you need to deal successfully with other cultures, and how to operate successfully with people from other cultures. This is often considered to be a business skill for adults, such as international sales managers or explorers.

Unit 2

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