"Hello, sir. Where are you going?" a Balinese boy greeted a foreigner on the street with a wide smile.

"None of your business!" mumbled the foreigner with an angry look.

The above picture is only one example of the way that culture is reflected in language. The expressions are grammatically correct, and let us assume the pronunciation is also perfect. But why couldn’t the conversation go on as the Balinese boy expected? There is one little thing missing - a correct understanding of cultural difference.

The main purpose of learning language is, of course, to get the message across. But, other than that, the other objective is to minimize misunderstandings by knowing and understanding the culture of the country where the language is spoken.

I would like to present my paper about the cross-cultural aspects of language by giving some examples in the form of sample sentences or short conversations. If possible, I will also invite participants to do role plays in order to demonstrate the principle of understanding cultural differences as expressed in language.

Biodata:

Aryati was born in Tabanan in 1963. She graduated in English from Udayana University and taught Indonesian Language to American students through 1999 for the School for International Training (SIT). In 1996 she received a Fulbright teaching award and now works as Academic Director for the SIT Program in Bali.

tel  +62 361 225243 / 221782 / 221783 fax  +62 361 263509 kipbipa@ialfbali.co.id www.ialf.edu/kipbipa/