Scholar H.D. Brown describes what he refers to as "sociocultural factors" in the sense that such components become an "intersection of culture and affect." Considering this, Brown then asks not only how learners can overcome the personal and transcontinental barriers presented by two contacting cultures, but also strives to understand the relationship existing between 'culture learning,' and 'second-language learning.'
Accordingly, it is crucial to note the fact that, "no society exists without a culture," and how this truth then reflects the need for culture to fulfill certain biological and psychological needs in people. Keeping this in mind, the actual idea of 'culture' then proves to construct, for each individual person, a "context of cognitive and affective behavior." In other words, these sociocultural factors combine to form a necessary template from which to consider our personal and social existences.
Consequently, it seems that, for a person to truly understand and effectively converse with the people of a different culture, they must also be aware of such sociocultural factors. Yet, as Brown suggests, people tend to view the concept of reality within the context of their own respective culture. Thus, their world becomes nothing but a mere creation, moving away from a reality that could be empirically defined.
Therefore, considering all of this, I have learned that a hopeful learner must not only be aware of these sociocultural factors, but also that they have to always remember the possible influence(s) of their own, inherent biases. Our first and most familiar modes of expression may tend to govern a great deal of our daily lives, but we still must be able to successfully differentiate between the conditions of our initial origins if we ever hope to effectively understand the factors attributed to a new one.
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