Universidad Nacional Autónoma de

México
Facultad de Estudios Superiores Acatlán
Licenciatura en Enseñanza de Inglés

What is
culture?
Aylin Allisson Márquez Ponce
 Introduction

In the last decades, the word culture has been defined and re-defined by many
scholars from different field of knowledge such as Psychology, Sociology,
Philosophy among others with the purpose of giving an accurate meaning to it as
acceptable as possible.
However, it as has not been easy to standardize a single definition of culture
universally speaking for it involves individual human ways of thinking with its own
features as well as collective streams of though of certain nation that range from
spiritual to political aspects of a society.
The fact that the term culture involves such broad characteristics, makes it difficult
to carry out a study in a simple way due to the endless possibilities which continue to
increase along with humanity as time goes by.
Just to provide the reader with an approximation of the meaning behind this word, the
Webster's (2020) defines it as "the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits
of a racial, religious or social group".
The following conceptual map intends to show a definition which goes from general to
the particular traits of culture including main aspects that conform the culture in a
society by taking a reference to the authors Antonio Lebrón and Helen Spencer-Oatey.
 CULTURE
is the

Integrated pattern of human

knowledge, belief and behabivour

transmited through

Sociology Politics Language 

in terms of in terms of in terms of

Arts and Literature of any

religion Norms and status
kind

and

History and resulting in

Education Intellectual products
traditions are consolidated through

and and
Manners Scientific and
and values popular knowledge
conforming a set of
 ways of thinking and actions

either or

individual collective

which is consolidated by means of demonstrated by

perceptions and national

reactions culture

resulting in a determinated
takes part of an individual's

IDENTITY
 Conclusion

Culture turns out to be a greatly versatile word depending on the intellectual

perspective from which is studied. Nevertheless, it can be appropriated to
conclude that in every culture exists a sense of individual and national identity
created and chosen by its members in order to be known in its own way and
progressively evolve under the influence of other cultures resulting in an infinite
social cycle but that would be worthy of a complete study on its own.
Finally, culture is the basis of societies; is the means through which people
express they ideas; is a daily lifestyle and it is a permanent-changing being.
 References

Lebrón, A(2013). What is culture?. Merit Research Journal of Education. Vol 1.

University of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Available at: http://meritresearchjournal.org
Spencert-Oatey. H (2012) What is culture?. A compilation of quotations.
GlobalPad Core Concepts.
Available at: https://warwick.ac.uk/
fac/soc/al/globalpad/openhouse/interculturalskills

Webster, M(2020). Culture. Merriam Webster's Dictionary. Available at

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture