TIME SPACE PATTERN

TIME SPACE PATTERN

PAPER

Proposed to fulfill the assignment of Cross Cultural Understanding

Recommended by Mrs. Azizah

 

Arranged by:

Fathor Rahman

STATE ISLAMIC COLLEGE OF PAMEKASAN

ENGLISH TEACHING DEPARTMENT

DESEMBER 2009

CONTENTS

CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ ii

CHAPTER I BACKGROUND ............................................................................ 1

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION................................................................................ 2

A.     PROMPTNESS ......................................................................................... 2

B.     DIVISION OF TIME ................................................................................ 3

C.     FUTURE TIME......................................................................................... 3

D.     SPACE ..................................................................................................... 4

E.      PRIVACY AND THE USE OF SPACE .................................................. 4

CHAPTER III CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 6

REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND

Every schoolchild knows what time is. But, for every schoolchild, there is a moment when they first encounter the paradoxes that lie just behind our everyday understanding of time. I recall when I was a child being struck all of a sudden by the question of whether time could end or whether it must go on forever. It must end, for how can we conceive of the infinity of existence stretching out before us if time is limitless? But if it ends, what happens afterward?

CHAPTER II

 DISCUSSION

When travelers lack an awareness of how time is regulated in a foreign country, they can expect to feel some what disoriented. Since most people take time for granted, the effects of values customs and social etiquette on the use of time are seldom examined. A culture that values achievement and progress will discourage people from”wasting” time. Highly efficient business people from these cultures may fell frustrated in country where work proceeds at a slow pace. In religious celebrations. If an individual tries to make an appointment during a screed holiday, her or she could unknowingly offend a religious person. Social etiquette determines appropriate time for visits, meetings, and even phone calls. Arriving two hours late for an appointment may be acceptable in one culture, whereas in another, keeping some one waiting fifteen minutes may be considered rude.

A.     Promptness 

Promptness is an important in American business, academic, and social setting. The importance of punctuality is taught to young children in school. Tardy slips and the use of bells signal to the child that punctuality and time it self are to be respected. An amusing report of school-child’s experience with time appeared in a recent newspaper article.

 People who keep appointment s are considered dependable. If people are late to job interviews, appointments, or classes, they are often viewed as unreliable and irresponsible. In the business world, “time is money” and companies may fine their executives for tardiness to business meeting. Of course, itrespecting deadlines is also important in academic is not always possible to be punctual. Social and business etiquette also provides rules for late arrivals. Calling on the telephone if one is going to be more than a few minute late for scheduled appointments is considered polite and is often expected. Keeping a date or a friend waiting beyond ten to twenty minutes is considered rude. On the other hand, arriving thirty minutes late to some parties is acceptable.

Respecting deadlines is lso important in academic and professional circles. It is expected that deadlines for class assignment or business report will be met. Student who hands in assignments late may be surprised to find that the professor will lower their grades even refuse to grade their work. Weather it is a question of arriving on time or of meeting a deadline. People are culturally conditioned to regulate time.

B.     Division of Time

Time is tangible:  one can “gain time” “waste time,” “save time”, or even “kill time”! Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as thought time where a procession. “Do you any time?”, “can you get some time for this?”, “how much free time do you have?” the treatment of time as a possession influences the way times is carefully divided.

Generally Americans are to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortable when an activity is interrupted. In businesses the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are common practices.  Appointment calendars are printed with 15-, 30-, and 60-minute time slots. A 2:30-3:00 interview may end in time for a brief break before a 3:15-4:00meeting.

The idea that “there is a time and place for everything “extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host’s personal time. Thus, calling friends on the telephone before visiting them is generally preferred to visitors’ “dropping by”. To accommodate other people’s schedules, Americans make business plans and social engagements several days or weeks in advance.

C.     Future time

Culture tends to favor either a past, present, or future orientation with regard to time. A future orientation, encompassing a preference for change, is a characteristic of American culture. The society encourages people to look to the future rather than to the past. Technological, social, and artistic trend change rapidly and affect people’s lifestyles and their relationship.

D.    Space

When we travel abroad we are immediately impressed by the many ways buildings, homes and cities are designed. The division and organization of space lend character and uniqueness to villages, towns and cities. Yet architectural differences may also cause confusion or discomfort for the traveler. In the following example, a group of Americans living in a country in South America reacted emotionally to the architectural differences they observed.

The Latin house is often built around a patio that is next till the sidewalk but hidden from outsiders behind a wall. It is not easy to describe the degree to which small architectural differences such as these effect outsiders. American technicians living in Latin America used to complain that they felt” left out”of things, that they were “shut off”. Others kept wondering what was going on “behind those houses”

 The separation of space inside homes may also vary from culture to culture. In most American homes the layout of rooms reveals the separateness and labeling of space according to function-bedroom, living room, dining room, and playroom and so on. This system is in shape contrast to other cultures where one room in a house may serve several functions. In Japan homes with sliding walls can change a large room into two small rooms so that a living room can also serve as bedroom.

E.     Privacy and the use of space

Architectural design influences how privacy is achieved as well as how social contact is made in public places. The concept of privacy is not unique to a particular culture but what it means is culturally determined.

People in the United States tend to achieve privacy by physically separating themselves from others. The expression “good fences make good neighbors” indicate s that a preference for privacy from neighbors ‘homes. If a family can afford it, each child has his or her own bedroom. When privacy is needed, family members may lock their bedroom door.

When the Americans wants to be alone  he goes into a room and shuts the door-he depends on architectural features for screening…..the English, on the other hand, lacking rooms of their own since childhood, never developed the practice of using space as a refuge from others

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

 

A culture that values achievement and progress will discourage people from”wasting” time. Highly efficient business people from these cultures may fell frustrated in country where work proceeds at a slow pace. In religious celebrations.

When we travel abroad we are immediately impressed by the many ways buildings, homes and cities are designed. The division and organization of space lend character and uniqueness to villages, towns and cities. Yet architectural differences may also cause confusion or discomfort for the traveler

In some cultures when individuals desire privacy , it is acceptable for them simply to withdraw into themselves . that is , they do not need to remove themselves physically from a group in order to achieve privacy

References

M. Hum Holidin, cross cultural understanding Malang: Muhammadiyah University  Press

http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/whattime.html