Otherization vs. New Set of Eyes

The influence of culture upon people’s worldview and attitudes is very strong, even when most of the time we are not aware of it. Just when we have the opportunity to travel to a different country we realize that there are other ways to do things and to understand certain situations. Sometimes when we are confronted to a culture very different from our own, we tend to see the people who are different as inferior or less capable than us. This phenomenon is called otherization. Kumaravadilu (2008) defines it as “a crudely reductive process that ascribes an imagined superior identity to the self and an imagined inferior identity to the other” (p. 16). Otherization is a natural reaction especially when we don’t know other cultures very well. It is like if we were trying to solve the conflict between what we believe is right and other people’s beliefs. But, if it is a natural reaction when we find something different, does it change over time? Does knowing more about other cultures reduce otherization? Or, does it just help us to have a proper social behavior but we still look at others as inferiors?

I think we can find an answer if we consider that otherization occurs even within the same culture, because there is no homogenous culture. Every culture has subcultures, and also “cultures are dynamic” (Decapua & Wintergerst, 2004, p. 12), which means that different generations of the same family may differ culturally. So when we meet new people, even if we have been born in the same country, the first reaction we have is probably influenced by prejudices. We usually look carefully and even analyse new people. But over the time, when we get to know them better, our feelings and attitudes towards them change. Sometimes we become very good friends and we laugh when we remember our first thoughts about them. In the same way, I believe that when we just go to a different country and are confronted to different morals and values, our first reaction is negative, but when we know the people better, our attitude change, and probably some of our customs change, also. Even when we keep our own values and manners, we do not see other’s way as wrong or inferior, just different, because our perspective has changed. As Decapua & Wintergerst (2004) described it, we will have two set of eyes, then, or maybe a new and different one. In this way, the more we travel, the wider will be our worldview. As language teachers, it is important to encourage an open attitude towards different cultures in our students, even if it is not possible for them to travel; we can still share our enthusiasm to know about other cultures trough different materials. And this positive attitude toward different cultures will be reflected on a positive attitude towards the second/foreign language.

References

DeCapua, A. & Wintergerst, A. (2004). Crossing cultures in the language classroom. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan University.

Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008). Cultural globalization and language education. A study of interactional patterns, pathologies, and paradoxes. New Haven, CT: Yale University.