Korean Basic Course: Area Background. INSTITUTION Defense Language Inst., Washington, D.C
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 055 491 FL 002 558 TITLE Korean Basic Course: Area Background. INSTITUTION Defense Language Inst., Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. REPORT NO 01K047 PUB DATE Jul 71 NOTE 278p. AVAILABLE FROMDirector, Defense Language Institute, Departmentof the Army, U.S. Naval Station,Anacostia Annex, Washington, D.C. 20390 (With specificpermission) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Art Expression; *Cultural Education;Educational Policy; Foreign Policy; Foreign Relations;Government (Administrative Body); Industrialization; *Instructional Materials; Korean; *KoreanCulture; Land Use; Modern Languages; *PoliticalSocialization; Religious Cultural Groups; Social Change; *socioeconomic Influences ABSTRACT Designed to serve as an introduction to some aspects of Korean culture and civilizaticn,this text consists largely of lectures on various topics prepaped bystaff members of the Defense Language Institute. The majorsection on the Republic of South Korea includes information on:(1) tho historical setting;(2) the politico-military complex;(3) the socio-economic structure; (4) the socio-religious tradition incluEing religion,education, kinship, the Korean house, customs, and cuisine;aLd (5) artistic and intellectual expression. The final unit on the People'sRepublic of North Korea examines the geography of North Korea, thestructure of the government, party politics, foreignpolicy, industrial development, land reform and collectivization, theeducational system, and the Armed Forces. (EL) KOREAN Basic Course AREA BACKGROUND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF REALM, EDUCATION WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECES- SARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION POSITION OR POLICY. July 1971 DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE This pamphlet is for use by the faculty, staffand students of the Defense Language Institute solely fo- official purposes.It is NOT for general distribution. It may NOT be released to other persons,quoted or extracted for publication, or otherwise ,copied or distributed without specificpermission in each instance from the DirectoT, Defense Language Institute. -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPY- RIGHTED MATERIAL BY MICROFICHE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY hi KESSLER TO RIC AND ORGAN TIO OPERA ING UN R AGREEMENTS WITH T U.S. OFFICE Colonel) USA OF EDUCATION, FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PER- Director MISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." PREFACE The purpose of this volumeis to provide the student the native of the Korean languagewith an introduction to speakers of that languageand their culture. Understand- ing culture is anindispensible part of thelanguage learn- ing process, because aprofound relationship existsbetween language and culture. Consequently, learning aforeign language is essentially anethnolinguistic experience. manner To be able to conversein a "grammatically" correct is not enough. One may commit errorsof graver conse- quences if thesocio-cultural aspects of languagelearning are neglected. This book was designed as anintroduction to.some as- pects of Korean cultureand civilization. It consists of lectures on various topicsprepared by staff membersof the DLI Korean Branchin Monterey. It is hoped that they will create in the studentthe desire to pursuehis investi- gations further and makehis language study ever more meaningful. One hour lectures on the'various topics are presented in the third week by instructors everyother week, starting of the course. Students are given readingassignments prior to the lecture. The volume is used asreference material and students areencouraged to read it. For) convenience, a bibliography is appendedoffering suggestions for further readilig. Attention is specifically called to the following books recently published onKorean civiliza- tion: Area Handbook for the Re2ublic of Korea, Westwood Research, Inc. Aug. 1969, and Area Handbookfor North Korea, Oct. 1969. All inquiries concerning these materials, including rEquests for authorization to reproduce, will beaddressed to the Director, Defense Language Institute, U.S.Naval Station, AnaCostia Annex, Washington, D.C. 20390. iv Introduction to Area Information Program Korean Branch I. Intercultural communication Human societies have :uch in commc.m. However, the dif- ferences are more striking and deep-seatedthan one might surmise from a cursory observation. These differences are natural reflections of the varyingcultural patterns. All societies have culturally distinct customs, mores,and be- liefs that are often incomprehensible andmysterious to us. The importance of understAnding thesecultural differences can not be overemphasized. Throughout history societies havedeeply influenced one another; today more than ever,modern communication systems permit endless and unprecedentedopportunities for inter- cultural exchange. As Landis states, the U.S. hasbecome the leader of the free world;should this spirit of free- dom prevail, America might extendher sphere of irfluence to the entire world. However, the fate of America'sleader- ship will depend largely upon herunderstanding of other societies and upon a successfulapplication of that under- standing in international affairs. 5 A. Various needs As the political, econoulic, military, and cultural commitments of the United States become worldwide, thereis an ever-growing need foreffective communication between Americans and other peoples. How can this be achieved? The President's Commission on National Goals be- lieves that Americans well prepared for cultural contact with foreign people should be encouraged to live andwork abroad in increasingly larger number in the future. These people could and should become our good-will ambassadors. The present situation is already verypromising. There are many obstacles hindering- effectiveinter- cultural commvnication and understanding. Personal mis- understandings in working with people overseas arisefrom many sources, including languagebarriers and differences in values, beliefs, social systems, role expectations and educational backgrounds. These variations must be recog- nized and understood in order to overcome and avertprob- lems. The American going overseas must accept anddeal with the fact that many non-Westerners have arather dis- torted view of Americans, just as Americans mayhave of theit. These stereotyped concepts aboutAmericans are of- ten based on impressions derivedfron American movies or books, emotional reactions to past events, onfirsthand contact with alimited number ofAmericans, ard above all, against us on the skillfulanti-American propaganda waged by our Communistadversaries throughout theworld. Nevertheless, in spiteof all the anti-Yankee pro- paganda conducted by theCommunists, Americans abroadhave been able to prove tothe world that theCommunist picture of Americans as ruthlessimperialists and financial ex- if not ploiters is at best,propaganda-based distortion pure fabrication. The mere presenceof Americans abroad will not counteract thispropaganda. It is the Americans' behavior that is importantin dispelling false imagesand facilitating better inter-culturalunderstanding. There training of people is still much roomfor improvement in the who will work overzeas. The President'sCommission be- lieves that the universities,the businesr world, andthe federal government should greatlystrengthen and increase training in language andappropriate specializedfields in order to better preparepersonnel being sent abroad. With proper training andattitude, these people can more effective_Ly assist the underdeveloped oremerging nations in teaching their nationalobjectives. B. Cross-cultural problems The first step in thecreation of good working re- lations is inter-culturalunderstanding. When people from vii different cultures come intoclose and prolonged contact with each other, problems maydevelop. As Foster states: Living and working in a newenvironment with different rules and unfamiliar waysof think- ing is a difficult andemotionally demanding task. It is not surprising thatinvesti- aators who have undertaken toevaluate the performance0 and problems of Americans over- seas, have concludedthat it is usually the human problems associatedwith working in a different culture that arelikely to be cri- tical in the success orfailure of their assignment0 1 The problems mostly stemfrom the faulty belief that our own way of lifeis the only natural and logical one, and that consequently,everyone should think,feel, and act in the same way we do.This is the first myth that must be dispelled. We must develop tolerancefor and understanding of the culturesof other peoples. Each culture is unique and must berecognized as such. There- fore, we must know the history,religious life, economic system, social structure, andabove all, the cultural be- havior of a particular peoplein order to understand the present state of affairs and thenational character of the society. Secondly, traditions are theconditioned and re- inforced habits of a society. They exert a very strong 1Robert J. Foster, Examplesof Cross-Cultural Problems En- scounteredaAmericans WorkinR Overseas, p. 3. viii influence over people and thevalue systems which they hold. Religion often influences peoplein a very forceful way; any blatant attemptto change the reveredtraditions and institutions may meet withextreme resistence. Thus, tra- ditionscannot be ignored.