Schumann's hypothesis is that the greater the social distance between two cultures, the greater the difficulty the learner will have in learning the second language, and vice versa.
The following are the 8 factors that influence social distance (Lets analyzed how successful Gina would be)
1. Social Dominance. When one group dominates the other there is a greater social distance...
Whose social group is more dominant? As we are in USA, native-English speakers are the dominant group, English is the official and main language here. So according to this theory Gina is not likely to be successful in learning Spanish.
2. Integration Pattern. There is more social distance when exists limited integration between the two cultures...
How much do learners integrate, or do they do most things apart from the main stream? I think Gina is not very familiar with the Latin culture or Spanish language (apart from what she might know about Mexican culture), so because of that she is not very likely to be a successful Spanish learner.
3. Enclosure. If the learner group is self-sufficient and does not need to interact with members of the target culture in daily life there will be more social distance...
To what extent does learner's group have their own resources for interaction, such as church, publications, clubs? As English is the official language here, Gina is self-sufficient, she does not need to interact with Spanish speakers in her daily life, apart from that, most of the Spanish speakers (like us) are supposed to know English. Therefore, Gina would not be successful in Spanish.
4. Cohesiveness. When the learner group is tight-knit there is more social distance.
How much does the group "stick together"? I think the native-English group has a great cohesion so they do not need to care about there other cultures that are surrounding them, and as Gina belongs to this native-English group she would be less likely to be successful in learning Spanish.
5. Size. If the learner group is big there will be more social distance.
How large is the group? I think that the largest group here is the native-English one, so as the theory points out it would increased the social distance so Gina would be less likely to success in learning Spanish
6. Cultural Congruence. When groups are very different culturally there is more social distance...
How are the cultural patterns and customs of the home culture and the target culture alike or different? I think that there are more differences than similarities between Latin and American culture, in terms of manners, food, political and educational system, etc. So this would be detrimental for Gina's success (according to the theory)
7. Attitude. When the learner group has a negative attitude toward member of the target language there would be more social distance...
What attitudes do the home and target cultural groups have toward one another?
I think that since in the US there are many different cultures existing together, the native-English speakers have a good attitudes toward other cultures, such as Latin culture. So in this terms Gina would be successful.
8. Intended length of residence. If the learner's intentions are just to stay in the country a short time the social distance will be greater...
How long does the learner intend to stay in the new country? Since Gina is not living in a Spanish speaking country I think the social distance would be greater so she would be less successful in learning Spanish.
The following are the 8 factors that influence social distance (Lets analyzed how successful Gina would be)
1. Social Dominance. When one group dominates the other there is a greater social distance...
Whose social group is more dominant? As we are in USA, native-English speakers are the dominant group, English is the official and main language here. So according to this theory Gina is not likely to be successful in learning Spanish.
2. Integration Pattern. There is more social distance when exists limited integration between the two cultures...
How much do learners integrate, or do they do most things apart from the main stream? I think Gina is not very familiar with the Latin culture or Spanish language (apart from what she might know about Mexican culture), so because of that she is not very likely to be a successful Spanish learner.
3. Enclosure. If the learner group is self-sufficient and does not need to interact with members of the target culture in daily life there will be more social distance...
To what extent does learner's group have their own resources for interaction, such as church, publications, clubs? As English is the official language here, Gina is self-sufficient, she does not need to interact with Spanish speakers in her daily life, apart from that, most of the Spanish speakers (like us) are supposed to know English. Therefore, Gina would not be successful in Spanish.
4. Cohesiveness. When the learner group is tight-knit there is more social distance.
How much does the group "stick together"? I think the native-English group has a great cohesion so they do not need to care about there other cultures that are surrounding them, and as Gina belongs to this native-English group she would be less likely to be successful in learning Spanish.
5. Size. If the learner group is big there will be more social distance.
How large is the group? I think that the largest group here is the native-English one, so as the theory points out it would increased the social distance so Gina would be less likely to success in learning Spanish
6. Cultural Congruence. When groups are very different culturally there is more social distance...
How are the cultural patterns and customs of the home culture and the target culture alike or different? I think that there are more differences than similarities between Latin and American culture, in terms of manners, food, political and educational system, etc. So this would be detrimental for Gina's success (according to the theory)
7. Attitude. When the learner group has a negative attitude toward member of the target language there would be more social distance...
What attitudes do the home and target cultural groups have toward one another?
I think that since in the US there are many different cultures existing together, the native-English speakers have a good attitudes toward other cultures, such as Latin culture. So in this terms Gina would be successful.
8. Intended length of residence. If the learner's intentions are just to stay in the country a short time the social distance will be greater...
How long does the learner intend to stay in the new country? Since Gina is not living in a Spanish speaking country I think the social distance would be greater so she would be less successful in learning Spanish.
After analyzing all this 8 factors I would say that, according this theory Gina does not have much opportunities to succeed in learning Spanish, but apart from this factors there also exist some others I will analized then
Factors that influence Psychological Distance:
I. Motivation.
Does the learner want to learn the new language? Yes she does. I see Gina is very is very motivated in learning Spanish, I hope we're able to teach her some.
II. Attitude.
How does the learner feel toward the target-culture group? I think Gina has a very possitive attitude toward Spanish and our culture, she is always trying to know more about us, our culture and customs, so if she wants to learn Spanish I think she will be able to do it.
III. Culture Shock.
Is the learner suffering culture shock? No, she isn't. Since she is here in the Us she does not have the problems of suffering from culture shock, so it gives her even more opportunities to learn since she does not have to deal with getting used to a foreign culture.
As a conclusion a can say that according to the social distance theory Gina does not have much opportunities to succed. On the other hand, if we take into account the psychological theory she has many opportunities to succed because she is motivated, has a positive attitude and does not experience culture shock.
In my personal opinion, I think psychological factors are more important and deciding than the social ones, because if you are motivated, have a positive attitude and does not experience culture shock you can overcome any social dominance, enclosure factors, etc.
0 comments:
Post a Comment