1/21 Reading

Culture is such a complex word and involves so many different aspects.  The author of the readings does a great job of trying to come up with a broad definition that involves all of the different parts of culture.  Although I think that Morgan's definition is a good one, I don't think that anyone can come up with a universal definition.  I think that there are just so many different parts to a culture that can be so deep rooted that people outside of a culture would not notice.  I don’t think I could come up with a better definition than the author but I do think that there would be some piece that got left out.  It just seems impossible to cover everything that is a part of a culture.  I like how Morgan talks about being able to learn a lot about student’s culture by have discussions.  I had never really thought about the idea before.  Student’s responses to stories could tell a great deal about their beliefs, their community, and their family.  In chapter 4, Morgan talks about her struggle with trying to understand the different forms of “you” in French.  It made me think of my struggle with that same grammar rule in Spanish.  Only if you are truly immersed in the culture can you understand the rule.  Even then it would probably be difficult.  I had also never really thought about the different functions of language and thought that was really interesting.  After reading, I thought about all the different phrases my Spanish teacher in Mexico taught me while I was living there this past summer.  He was teaching me phrases that can’t be literally translated into English.  Some of the phrases were really hard for me to understand because they were a part of the culture there.  After some explaining I understood. I also liked how she discussed the distinction between language used to participate in a culture and language used to learn the culture.  I will be applying both of these practices into my classroom.  Although I was not born and raised in Mexico, I am Mexican and feel that I have a good understanding of the culture.  I want to use the language to learn more about my students and their culture, but also to participate in the culture so that my classroom can feel like a community and I can build authentic relationships with my students.