phenomenon exclusive to language education matters. A. Little, who works not in
languages in education but in comparative studies in education, says:
For too long culture has been invoked by many in development studies
as an explanation of past failure rather than of success, of present problems
rather than achievements and of future difficulties rather than possibilities.
(Little, A, 1992,9)
The present study stands for a different approach to culture. I believe that, on the
one hand, many of the cultural features underlying the learners’ attitudes and beliefs are
more than appropriate to support the kind of cultural learning development I am
proposing to them and, on the other hand, after taking the necessary provisions for an
ethnographic approach to learning to leam, the sort of approach developed by Riley
(1996b, see section 4.3.5, p. 110), I believe that more than a clash of cultures we can talk
in terms of the creation of a new learning culture.
8.1.2 The process of creation
Following the discussion of the previous paragraph, I consider that creating a
learning culture is a process more related to the future of a culture than to its past:
the microcultures or arenas in which learning takes place involves novices
(learners) and experts (educators) interacting in specific ways to produce
learning outcomes which become inputs to or the force for future learning
and development (Little,A; 1992,9)
Basically, creating a learning culture is trying to adjust the set of representations,
beliefs and values to a new scheme for learning, which may involve a change in the
content, the manner, the motivation and/or the outcome of learning. The permeable,
dynamic and challenging features allow for learning cultures to change and develop,
whereas, the social interaction facilitates the change. In the section which follows I shall
discuss the features of human beings as learners and the conditions that make the
creation of a learning culture feasible.
8.1.2.1 Features of human beings as learners
I believe that it is possible to create a learning culture if we take into account the
nature of the learners we are working with. Human beings are, in general, according to
Thelen (1981), adaptive, participative and transcedental. In his words:
every person is to be regarded as a member of species, of society and
cosmos. The aspects of his life viewed from the standpoints of
these belongingness are, respectively, adaptative, participative and
transcendental. These components are in continual dialectical interaction
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