Fundamental of Culture

Culture is the framework and substance of a social group that comprises its activity, traditions, values, rules, identity and beliefs. All human beings identify with cultures and sub-cultures, and culture is fundamental to how we make sense of the world (Bennett 1993; Gupta 2003). Identity is 'always 'in process', always 'being formed'' and this process and formation occurs as the self interacts with society (Hall, Held & McGrew 1992, p. 287). According to Adler, 'Cultural identity is the symbol of one's essential experience of oneself as it incorporates the worldview, value system, attitudes, and beliefs of a group with which such elements are shared' (1998, p. 230), whether this group be national, political, religious or otherwise. Personal cultural identity incorporates nationality, gender, ethnicity and beliefs (Gupta 2003, p. 165).

In order to understand why culture is important, it is central to comprehend its concept.

Pai et al. (2006) proposed that culture is a set of values that belong to a society. It refers to people's behaviors, beliefs and worldviews. Every society attributes value to situations in their social environment. However, those values may vary between one group and another. Rogoff

(2003) stated, "Understanding different cultural practices does not require determining which one way is 'right'" (p. 12). Rather, it is important to be open to other concepts and assumptions about the world and be thoughtful of other cultures without abandoning one's own or disregarding the other. Herskovits has defined culture as "the man-made part of the environment" (Segall et al., 1999, p. 1). Human actions are shaped and limited by the social and physical environment that surrounds them. That environment encompasses personal ideas, values, beliefs, and languages of all its inhabitants. Human beings are the constant creators and 5 preservers of culture, which makes them active participants in their cultural process, which is in constant movement. Therefore, culture is always producing and creating change. For Rogoff (2003), cultural processes may change from generation to generation as a result of different factors. Culture is a dynamic process subjected to variations made by individuals or the community as a way of improving, adapting, or modifying culture. Moreover, as cultures come into contact with one another, new conceptions and adjustments occur within each culture. Each generation develops new alternatives in pursuit of progress.

Our results demonstrate clearly the importance of culture to students' academic motivation. Specifically, cultural factors explain significant variance in three aspects of motivation: (a) overall levels of academic motivation, (b) differences in specific dimensions of academic motivation, and (c) the