S5: English

Key Unit Competence: To use language learnt in the context of cultural
                                                exchange and African development.

Introductory activity

Picture observation and interpretation

Interpret these pictures, do the following activity:
1. Interpret fig. 2 and discuss what cultural exchange is.
2. Discuss cultural exchange for the development of Africa.
3. Can fig.4 contribute to the development of Rwandans and other
    countries? How?

5.1 Talking about cultural exchange towards African
         development
5.1.1 Learning activities: Reading and text analysis

Activity 1

Reading comprehension
Read the passage bellow and answer the questions that follow

Cultural exchange
When two cultures meet, there is bound to be a cultural crash. However, it
should be noted that no culture is superior to another. Indeed, all cultures are
transitory and dynamic as the society itself. What happens after a cultural
crash is that neither of the parent cultures remain the same. What is formed is
a hybrid, portraying characteristics of both parent cultures (though in varying
ratios).

The relationship between the African and the Englishman was based on
a master-servant basis. The understanding (misunderstanding) of the
Englishman is that he was the symbol of God’s light, and his was a divine duty
to deliver the African from “The Heart of Darkness.” This misrepresentation is
compounded by a long history of explorer, traveler and missionary experience
recounted in travelogue and the popular press (Blake, 1988).

Unlike the Native American experience, the African was uprooted from his
home and transported to the Americas via the infamous slave trade. Here
the African man had to live. But man cannot be without a culture. Culture is
based on experience. His experience was complex. He had the shades of
Africa, a home he could never go back to, he was also required to play the
role of a stranger in another land – as a slave. This experience is varied from
other world experiences. The Native Americans, for example was relegated
to secondhand citizenry (Fischer, 1989).

In pre-modern times it should be noted that the processes of cross-cultural
interactions had repercussions that went beyond the experiences of their
participants. Bentley notes that the processes had a significant impact over
and across the societal boundaries and cultural region demarcations. He
identifies three processes in particular: mass migrations, long-distance trade
and imperial expansion campaigns. Mass migrations, he notes, brought
economic, political, cultural and social transformations. Empire building,
on the other hand, had an impact on the historical development. Yet these
empires enjoyed a culture that was pre-dominantly independent of the parent
culture. Finally, there is the long distance trade. In this category squarely fall
the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and its effects.

Do the Englishmen and Africans perceive the world the same? Do the
Chinese and the Russians see the world in the same light?

The answer is no. No two cultures perceive the world in exactly the same
way. Perception is the manner in which an individual selects, evaluates and
organizes stimuli into a meaningful experience. It is therefore in order to say
that perception is selective and is culturally determined. Herein is to be found
the negative aspects of cross-cultural exchanges. First there is the creation
of stereotypes. In stereotypes there is no perception of individual behavior,
instead, what is perceived is the behavioral norm of members a particular
group.

Stereotype is most destructive if it is held subconsciously. A subconsciously
held stereotype reflects reality and thus is difficult to modify. Stereotypy has,
as history has proven, led the African to perceive any Whiteman not as an
individual but as a member of an oppressive and exploitative class. The
African has, throughout history, perceived the Englishman as a destructive
force and has always been treated with the greatest suspicion.

Stereotypes can be either good or bad. The myth of ‘mainstream Americanism
is also another tool meant to impose cultural hegemony. The Native Americans
have been sidelined. There is no common American culture. What we have is
an. Instead the powers that be suggest the existence of an American culture
so as to sideline the African-America, the Latin agglomeration of cultures
-Americans and the Native-Americans.

And like the Chinese proverb says, Heaven is high, the Emperor is far away.
The empires created during the campaigns of imperial expansion developed
to different entities from the mother nation. The New England and Chesapeake
colonies were both settled by immigrants from England. The geography of
two regions made the difference inevitable. But it is to be noticed that the
two regions are primarily different due to the initial motivation for settlement
by the pilgrims of this New World. The colonizers came to the New World
for different reasons. The New England colonies were created by Puritans
escaping religious persecution in England, while the Chesapeake colonies
were primarily created by companies interested in profiting from the natural
resources of the New World. (Countryman, 1996)

The founders of the New England colonies were a group of people that
believed in the sanctity of hard work and equality in men. The founding fathers
of New England believed that all men are equal and therefore none should
be master over another. On the other hand, their Chesapeake counterparts
believed in the profits of employing slave labor in the tobacco industry. That is
the source of antagonism – as the New Englanders preached to end slavery,
in Chesapeake slavery was lucrative.

Most people in New England were literate and they studied their Bibles
in detail with their friends and family. However, a strong focus on family,
education or religion was not an important aspect in the livelihood of the
Chesapeake colonists. The New England settlers were driven by the desire
to find and settle in a land of opportunity where they could better their lives

and exercise their religious freedom. Theirs was the desire to create a society
in which their energies would be focused on the family, religion and education.
The Chesapeake colonists were not running from England seeking religious
or social freedom, theirs was a greed for a nirvana of wealth abundant.
Tobacco soon became a most common and lucrative cash-crop. Herein is
where slave labor came to play an important role – African slaves working on
the land was the order of the day.

These two regions may have shared a common ancestry and the same
language for communication, but they rarely worked to the same goal. Of
all the factors that contributed to the differences, religion was the ultimate
difference between the two regions by 1700.

Adapted from (Writers, 2023)

A. Comprehension questions
1. Explain the three processes of cross-cultural interactions that Bentley
     identifies.
2. No culture is superior to another. Discuss
3. According to this passage, what is perception?
4. Discuss the disadvantages of stereotype.

5.1.2 Application activities: Vocabulary and sentence writing

Activity 1

Give the meaning of the following words and expressions as used in the
above passage
1. Transitory
2. Dynamic
3. Hybrid
4. Symbol
5. societal boundaries
6. Stereotype
7. Suspicion
8. Entities
9. Settlers

Activity 2

Write a 300 words composition on societal boundaries.

5.2 Describing cultural exchanges
5.2.1 Learning activities: Reading and text analysis

Activity 1

Reading comprehension
Read the passage bellow and answer the questions that follow.

Benefits of Cultural Exchanges
Culture can be defined as “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a
particular person or society”, so a cultural exchange is simply sharing any
aspects of your culture with someone else from a different background to
you, and vice versa.

It could be sharing information about what clothes you wear, learning a
type of instrument or talking together about religion or politics. It could be
discussing each other’s ideas and beliefs about anything that you do, from
day to day activities to special celebrations, what food you like to make or the
sport you play.

Benefits of Cultural Exchanges

The more we learn about each other and our differences, the more we will
realize how similar we are. That is how travelling helps in cultural exchange.

If we all travelled more and shared our ideas and experiences with each other
there would be no need for wars about religion, no excuse for treating people
of another sexual orientation, gender or skin colour differently.

Any kind of travel involves a certain amount of cultural exchange, but to go
beyond the superficial, the best way to learn about another culture is to speak
to someone from that culture. Get to know them, learn from them, and talk
about the differences and similarities in your beliefs and lifestyle and you’ll
see how powerful exchanging cultures can be.

Examples of Cultural Exchanges
There are lots of ways that we can share our culture with others, and arguably
anything we do is part of our culture, so simply telling people about our day
to day lives, and listening to them do the same is one of the simplest cultural
exchange examples.

However, there are some more specific ways we can exchange our cultures,
which relate to our personal passions or hobbies. Being able to share
something you love with someone from another culture, and learn about how
they do it, is a perfect example of cultural exchange. You can also choose
specific destinations which are renowned for their style of whatever you like
doing. Here are some examples of cultural exchanges that could relate to
your interests.

Learning Languages
Language is a huge part of our culture – how we express ourselves and
nuances in the words we use often lose a lot in translation. Learning another
language opens us up to a wider understanding of how we see the world,
and allows us to communicate with a lot more people who don’t speak our
language.

I’ve found through my travels that being able to speak to people in their own
language (in my case by speaking Spanish), I’ve met some incredible people
that I wouldn’t have been able to hold a conversation with otherwise. The
smiles on their faces as I’ve greeted them and asked them about their country
are more than worth the effort it took to learn Spanish!

Cooking together
Food is one thing that brings us all together because we all eat! Learning
how to cook a new dish, and then sitting down together to enjoy the food
you’ve made is a wonderful experience. What kind of food do you enjoy, and
what would you like to learn more about?

Music and Dancing
Music and dance are two forms of communication that you don’t even need
to properly understand to appreciate the meaning or beauty of it. Different
instruments and different dances have evolved all over the world, and being
able to watch and learn how people make music and dance in their country
and culture is a joy.

If you are a musician, for example, a drummer, perhaps going to your friend
to learn how to play the drums like the Rwandans, it would be an excellent
way to learn more about Rwandan culture if you are not a Rwandan.

A. Comprehension questions

Answer the following questions.
1. What is cultural exchange?
2. Discuss the best ways to learn about another culture.
3. Explain some more specific ways we can exchange our cultures, which
     relate to our personal passions or hobbies.

5.2.2 Application activity

Activity 1

Vocabulary and sentence construction
1. Give the meaning of the following words and expressions
a) sexual orientation
b) superficial
c) cultural exchange
d) nuance

2. Construct different sentences by using the words in number 1
     above.

Activity 1

5.3 Language structure

5.3.1 Comparison of adjectives

Comparison of adjectives in English

Grammatical constructions used for comparing adjectives.
Definition: Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns.
There are three forms of comparison:
• Positive
• comparative
• superlative

1. Comparison with -er/-est
clean → cleaner → (the) cleanest
We use -e/-est with the following adjectives:

1.1 Adjectives with one syllable

1.2 Adjectives with two syllables and the following endings:

1.2.1 Adjectives with two syllables, ending in –y

1.2.2 Adjectives with two syllables, ending in -er

1.3 Spelling of the adjectives using the endings -er/-est

2. Comparison with more – most
All adjectives with more than one syllable

3. Irregular adjectives

4. Special adjectives

Some adjectives have two possible forms of comparison (-er/est and more/most).

5. Difference in meaning with adjectives

Activity 1: Decide whether you have to use much or many.
1. We saw __________ animals at the zoo.
2. How __________ oranges did you put in the box?
3. There isn’t __________ sugar in my coffee.
4. I don’t have __________ friends.
5. The old man hasn’t got __________ hair on his head.
6. I’ve packed __________ bottles of water.
7. I didn’t get __________ sleep last night.
8. How __________ fruit do you eat in an average day?

Activity 2: Decide whether you have to use a little or a few.
1. Can you please buy __________ apples.
2. We need __________ water.
3. I have __________ money left.
4. I take __________ sugar with my coffee.
5. We had __________ pints of beer there.

6. You have __________ time left.
7. There are __________ chairs in the room.
8. He only spent __________ dollars there.

Activity 3: Decide whether you have to use some or any.
1. Is there __________ milk left?
2. There is __________ juice in the bottle.
3. Do you have __________ coffee?
4. I don’t have __________ money left.
5. She has __________ money.
6. Do you know __________ of these singers?
7. I don’t know __________ of them.
8. I know __________ of them.

Activity 4: Decide whether you have to use a little or a lot.
1. That may cost you __________ of money.
2. I added __________ sugar to the mix.
3. You’ll have to spend __________ of cash on this car. (a lot)
4. I can do it with __________ help from my friends.
5. __________ change can really make a difference.
6. I don’t have __________ of free time today.
7. He left __________ of laundry for me to do.
8. She gave him __________ attention.

Activity 5: Decide whether you have to use fewer or less
1. There were __________ days below freezing last winter.
2. I drank __________ water than she did.
3. I have __________ than an hour to do this work.
4. People these days are buying __________ newspapers.
5. I have __________ time to do this work.
6. __________ than thirty children each year develop the disease.
7. I wear __________ makeup on weekdays.
8. He worked __________ hours than I did.

5.4 End unit assessment

Activity 1

Fill in the comparatives and superlatives of the irregular adverbs and
adjectives in the table below.

Activity 2

Fill in each blank with the correct form – adjective/ adverb, comparative or
superlative.

E.g. The manager is the most powerful man here. (powerful)

1. Iron is __________ than other metals. (useful)
2. My English teacher is as __________ as Mukarukundo. (beautiful)
3. His Kinyarwanda is getting __________ and __________ (bad)
4. The __________ he gets, the __________ he becomes. (old, wise)
5. Ann does not swim as __________ as her coach claims. (quickly)
6. Which is __________, grammar or vocabulary? (important)
7. Staying at home is __________ than going on holiday abroad.
    (comfortable)
8. The __________ money you spend, the __________ you can save.
     (little, much)
9. This new job is the __________ I have had. (challenging)
10. This mini-bus driver is much __________ than any other driver I
      have ever met. (kind)

Activity 3

Put the adjectives between brackets in the correct form
1. My brother has a (tidy) __________ room than me.
2. Australia is (big) __________ than England.
3. I’m (good) __________ now than yesterday.
4. She’s got (little) __________ money than you, but she doesn’t
     care.
5. He thinks Chinese is (difficult) __________ language in the
     world.
6. Valencia played (bad) __________ than Real Madrid
     yesterday.
7. Cats are not (intelligent) __________ as dogs.
8. Show me (good) __________ restaurant downtown.
9. (hot) __________ desert of all is the Sahara and it’s in Africa.
10. Who is (talkative) __________ person in your family?

Activity 4

Writing skills
Write a letter to your friend living in America, explaining to him/her your
culture. Do not exceed 250 words.