Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457): Topic: Change in culture and communities — Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked examples, read the study guide for this topic first.

These notes cover the topic Change in culture and communities from the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). They draw on section 2 (assessment objectives), section 3 (topic list and key terms) and section 4 (details of the assessment and command words). The topic can be used in Component 1 Written Exam, Component 2 Individual Report and Component 3 Team Project. Knowledge of content is not assessed: these notes show how to use the topic to practise the assessed skills.

Links: IGCSE Global Perspectives hub · 0457 checklist · practice questions for this topic

The assessment in one table

Component	What the syllabus prints	How this topic helps
1 Written Exam	1 hour 25 minutes, 70 marks, 35%. Four compulsory questions on sources: Q1 (18), Q2 (16), Q3 (16), Q4 (20). Assesses AO1 only.	Practise reading sources about cultural change and judging their evidence
2 Individual Report	60 marks, 30%. Global issue that divides opinion, your own global research question, 1500–2000 words	Find a global cultural issue with clearly different perspectives
3 Team Project	70 marks, 35%. Teams of two to five, a local issue, Explanation of Research and Planning (300–400 words), Evidence of Action, Reflective Paper (750–1000 words)	Find a local community issue you can act on and measure

Skills named in the syllabus: research, analysis and evaluation (AO1); reflection (AO2); communication and collaboration (AO3).

Key terms

Term	Meaning (syllabus wording where printed)
Issue	“An important subject or problem for discussion”
Perspective	“A viewpoint on an issue based on evidence and reasoning”
Research	“The systematic study of a global issue to find evidence and develop understanding”
Evidence	Information about an issue that helps develop understanding or prove something true or false
Argument	A series of statements with reasons and evidence supporting a claim
Claim	A statement put forward as true, which may or may not be supported
Fact	A statement that can be checked against evidence
Opinion	A personal view that cannot be proved true or false
Value	A belief about what matters, such as tradition, freedom or fairness
Prediction	A statement about what will happen in the future
Generalisation	A claim about a whole group based on some members
Bias	A one-sided presentation that leaves out or downplays other views
Vested interest	Something a source gains if people accept its view
Culture	Shared ways of living: language, customs, beliefs, arts, food, celebrations
Community	A group of people linked by place, identity or shared interest
Intangible cultural heritage	Living traditions such as music, crafts, festivals and oral stories

Issues by level at a glance

• Global: smaller languages declining; global media making cultures more alike or more mixed; protecting traditional knowledge.
• National: language of schooling; public funding for heritage, arts or festivals; how history is marked in public places.
• Local: a market, meeting place or club closing; young people leaving; rising rents changing who lives in a neighbourhood; a festival becoming commercial.

Real-world examples at a glance

Use these for research practice. They are context, not content you are tested on.

Who / what	What happened	Use it to practise	One evaluation point
UNESCO, 2003	Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted	Global perspective; courses of action	Listing a tradition may protect it, or may freeze it and draw tourism that changes it
United Nations General Assembly	International Decade of Indigenous Languages, 2022–2032	Global awareness as a course of action	Awareness needs national and local follow-up to change outcomes
New Zealand, Māori language	First kōhanga reo (language nests) opened 1982; Māori Language Act 1987 made Māori an official language	Community and government action together	Judge success with evidence such as speaker numbers over time
Wales, Welsh language	Cymraeg 2050 strategy (2017) set a target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050	Telling a target from evidence	A target is an aim; ask how speakers are counted

Must-know distinctions

• Topic vs issue. “Change in culture and communities” is a topic. “Should minority languages be taught in every school?” is an issue.
• Perspective vs opinion. A perspective has evidence and reasoning; an opinion may have neither.
• Fact vs claim. A fact can be checked. A claim is put forward as true but may be unsupported.
• Prediction vs evidence. “The dialect will vanish” is a prediction. Falling numbers of speakers is evidence.
• Cause vs consequence. Rising rents (cause) → families move away (consequence) → fewer pupils at the local language class (further consequence).
• Global issue vs local issue. The Individual Report needs a global issue with local and/or national and global perspectives. The Team Project needs a local issue.
• Describing a change vs judging it. Marks come from analysing who gains and who loses, not from saying change is good or bad.
• Emotive language vs evidence. “The heart of our town is being destroyed” persuades but proves nothing.

Source checks in four questions

1. Who wrote it, and what do they gain? (vested interest, bias)
2. How was the evidence gathered? (sample size, who, where, when)
3. Does the conclusion follow, or does it generalise or predict too far?
4. What does the language do? (emotive words, loaded questions)

Mini answer plan: assessing actions

Typical task (in the style of Component 1, Question 4): “A town’s traditional festival is losing visitors. Using the sources, assess two possible actions and recommend one.”

1. Name the issue and its main cause from the sources (for example, ticket prices, fewer young volunteers, competing events).
2. Action 1: lower prices with council funding. Evidence for: tackles a cost barrier shown in a source. Evidence against: costs public money; may not change interest. Who gains, who loses.
3. Action 2: invite young people to help design part of the festival. Evidence for: tackles lack of involvement; builds ownership. Against: older organisers may object to changes; may alter the tradition.
4. Compare on effectiveness, feasibility, cost and sustainability.
5. Judgement: recommend one, say why it beats the other, and state one condition for success.

Keep every point tied to a source. In Component 1 you are not credited for outside knowledge.

Quick self-test

1. Does the 0457 syllabus assess knowledge of the topic Change in culture and communities?
2. How does the syllabus define a perspective?
3. Name the eight terms the syllabus says candidates benefit from understanding for Component 1.
4. “Within ten years this village will lose its dialect.” What kind of statement is this?
5. A developer pays for a survey showing residents want flats instead of a heritage hall. Which term describes the problem?
6. Which assessment objectives are not assessed in Component 1?
7. Give one global and one local issue within this topic.
8. What word limit applies to the Individual Report?
9. How many people can be in a Team Project team?
10. Why is “Culture” not a good Individual Report title?
11. Name two criteria for judging a course of action.
12. What is a generalisation? Give an example from this topic.

Answers

1. No. The syllabus states that knowledge of content is not assessed; topics are contexts for skills.
2. “A viewpoint on an issue based on evidence and reasoning.”
3. Bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value, vested interest.
4. A prediction (also a claim).
5. Vested interest; the funder gains from one answer, so the evidence may be biased.
6. AO2 Reflection and AO3 Communication and collaboration; Component 1 is 100% AO1.
7. Global: smaller languages declining. Local: a traditional market closing. (Other valid answers accepted.)
8. 1500–2000 words, not counting the bibliography or reference list.
9. Two to five members.
10. It is a broad topic, not a question; it shows no issue that divides opinion and no perspectives.
11. Any two: effectiveness, feasibility, cost, who benefits, unintended consequences, sustainability.
12. A claim about a whole group based on a few members, e.g. “Teenagers don’t care about local traditions.”

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing background knowledge about a culture in Component 1 instead of using the sources.
• Naming a perspective (“the elders’ view”) without giving its reasons and evidence.
• Saying a source is biased without naming the interest or quoting the loaded words.
• Accepting a small or narrow survey as proof of what a whole generation or country thinks.
• Mixing up a prediction or target with evidence of what has happened.
• Listing causes and consequences instead of linking them in a chain.
• Proposing a course of action without weighing its drawbacks or who might lose out.
• Ending an extended answer without a clear judgement.
• Picking an Individual Report issue with no global dimension, or a Team Project issue that is not local.
• Presenting your own view on a contested cultural or religious practice as fact.

For more on each component, see the Written Exam guide, Written Exam revision notes, Individual Report guide and Team Project revision notes.

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Your teacher will confirm which topics your class is using.