CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
1.Self-defined cultural and language background
I can consider myself an Indonesian as I was born and have lived in Indonesia for almost all my life. I was born in 1982, so now I am 28 years old. I am proud to be Indonesian for several reasons. The main reason that makes me proud to be an Indonesian is the fact that Indonesia has more than 300 ethnic groups spread throughout 13.667 islands. In fact, Indonesia has about 13.667 islands as a whole, but apart from that number there are only five major islands which are occupied by the majority of Indonesians. Those five islands are Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya. Keep in mind that Indonesia is the largest famous archipelago country in the world.
Due to the fact that there are so many ethnic groups in Indonesia, it automatically affects the diversity of cultures, traditions, customs and even habits of Indonesian society. Various kinds of food and beverages as well as traditional clothing, houses and arts of each ethnic groups can be meet in Indonesia easily. This makes Indonesia very well known internationally as one of the very heterogeneous nation.
In connection with my personal background, it cannot be separated from the cultural diversity of Indonesia which has been discussed earlier. I grew up in a family that is harmonious. In Indonesia, my family is classified as a big family because my parents had seven children-four daughters and three sons. Since childhood, I was taught a very strong Indonesian culture by my parents even though my father and mother came from two different ethnicities. My father is a Javanese who come from eastern Java, and my mother is a Gorontalonese. I axiomatically have two different language backgrounds, namely Javanese and Gorontalonese.
My Javanese father always taught me to be polite to older people. This is in accordance with the doctrine that advocated Javanese to always respect; Mikul Dhuwur Mendhem Jero, which means that people should always respect their elders and maintain their knowledge of their mistakes just for themselves. In practice, the effect of this attitude is that the mistakes, follies and crimes committed by one's elders and leaders should be kept in the dark and can not be discussed about, for the sake of respect.
Furthermore, I consider that my self is a hypocrite. I say this because the intervention of my cultural background. Indonesian always speak well. They claim to uphold the good of moral values, but their actions reveal their hypocrisy. It would be very difficult for people to know if I am telling the truth or not from my speaking. For example, when someone asked me what is my opinion to assess a problem, I will always reveal a positive response despite the fact that I really have an opinion contrary to what I said before.
I assume, additionally, that I am highly polished, gentle in speech and friendly to everyone. I always had to put the most beautiful smile on my lips for everybody while not forgetting to say hello and pray for their welfare. My parents apply this pattern in raising me up. In addition to strict discipline of manners and etiquette, my parents taught me religion perspective, especially Islam. I was taught how to behave with the opposite sex who are not relatives. So far, no matter where I am, I will always apply these elements interact with my colleagues everyday.
2.Cross-cultural experiences and needs assessment
As an English teacher who has to teach English to Indonesian students who has ethnically diverse cultures, I think this course; Cross-cultural communication; is needed in order to support the learning process. In my mind, after I finished this course, it would be easier for me to understand my students' character. At least, this is what I expect to get from this course, that I can learn and understand how to deal with two or more different cultures in term of linguistics and non-linguistics matter.
I believe, when we teach language, it means we do not only teach the substance of the language itself, but we also indirectly teach the culture of speaker of that language. Between language and culture, they both look like a package, we cannot separate them. As an English teacher, as a fact, i have never interacted with the native speakers of English directly before. I interact and learn the language and culture directly from the native after I came here in Australia. This is very useful for me, because I can know exactly how native speakers use their language in various situations, which I just learned earlier in the text books or see in television and other sources that are not real.
One is also, by studying this subject, I learn how to put myself and how should I behave and interact with the native English speaker by giving a bit of concessions to the prevailing of Indonesian culture which I had as my cultural background in my new environment. I do not intend to forget my native culture, I just wanted to try to understand how I could survive in the midst of a new culture that may be different from my culture without changing the basic concept of my background.
3.Conclusion
As a conclusion, I hope that after I studied this subject I will get a better insight into what the importance to understand the culture in language teaching is. In order to achieve the main objectives of teaching, it is absolutely necessary. Minimising the cultural gap is absolutely necessary so that misunderstandings can be avoided. Australia is a multi-racial country which is almost similar to Indonesia, so I felt it would be easier to understand the theories of cultural intersection that I have learned, because I already have a real experience to deal with the native English. To sum up, I would go back to a basic principle that says, your culture is yours, and my culture is mine, without each other may feels that my culture is better than your culture.
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