When I was travelling in the U.S, I was a bit surprised at a grocery stores or restaurants. At the checkout counter, the casher alaways said 'how are you?' In Korea, I haven't been asked that kind of question, so I was at a loss. Do I have to say just 'hi!,' 'Good, thanks' or 'I'm fine, how are you?' Was that question just another way of say hello or the casher really meant it. Every culture has different ways of saying and what is normally accepted in a given society is different. At school I learned that it is better to say 'bless you' when someone sneezes in American culture. I believed that it would be nice to learn the culture of the target language, when we learned the language.
However, this book casts doubt on this idea. Do we have to teach this kind of culture and let students follow or imitate it? Learners have identity. Some learners want to speak perfectly similar to native speakers, but some would not want to. We have to respect their identity and their decisions.
"Learners need to be able to make that choice for themselves."
It rocked my world. We need to deal with this kind of issue very sensitively. Every culture and every language should be respected. Also, sometimes we need to think about what we took for granted. We need to be flexible. That is the primary principle as a member of our society.
I summaried this chapter, and I wanted to share it but I'm worried about plagiarism. Is it okay to post the summary? If somebody knows, please let me know.
