Notes on HALL, Chapter 4
Overt culture (p. 61).visible and easily described.
Covert culture – not visible and presents difficulties even to the trained observer.
Explicit Culture – "such things as law, what people talk about and can be specific about.
Implicit Culture – "such as feelings about success, what they took for granted or what existed on the fringes of awareness.
3 levels of culture – formal, informal, and technical (p. 63).
|
Level |
Description |
How learned |
Awareness |
Affect (feeling) |
Change |
|
Formal |
Taken for granted (p. 64). |
Taught by precept and admonition … when a mistake is made and someone corrects it. [p. 67]. |
"Tradition," "what's right, what ought to be." (p. 71). |
What is "proper." (p. 74). |
Resembles instinct and may be thought "natural." (p. 76). Changes very slowly, resistant to outside attempts to change (p. 77). |
|
Informal |
"you'll get the hang of it." (p. 64). If you think about it, it becomes harder to do. ( p. 66). |
Model used for imitation ..without knowing the rules are being learned at all, or that they exist at all (p. 68). "…nobody can give the rules for what is happening. Only when these rules are broken do we realize they exist." (p. 69) |
Out of awareness, automatic, unthinking. (p. 70-1). |
None, as long as things are going well. Anxiety if there's a breach. (p. 74) |
People are never fully aware of what's going on, causes problems when two systems clash (intercultural communication). (p. 80). |
|
Technical |
Components well identified (p. 65). |
"…transmitted in explicit terms from the teacher to the student." (p. 69). Inevitable, when we have to teach anything to a large number of people, depending on how well presented the material is (p. 70). Counterintuitive: best at learning are not experienced, but good at following directions (p. 70). |
Highest level of consciousness." (p. 73) |
Feelings are suppressed, as they tent to interfere (p. 75). Supposed to be unemotional." |
"… readily observed, talked about, and transmitted to others." Opens path to improvement in technical procedures (p. 87). |