This document outlines a 5-day lesson plan for a college-level second-semester Japanese class focusing on the culture of food in Japan. The plan aims to help students understand how cultural factors influence people's eating habits and attitudes toward food. Over the course of the lessons, students will learn about what different people and groups eat in their own culture and in Japan, identify any misunderstandings between the two cultures' food customs, examine relationships between food culture historically, and compare and contrast Japanese and their own culture's approaches to eating. The goal is for students to recognize how food reflects the cultural values of a society.

1. CARLA Culture as the Core Workshop
Sample lesson plan
College-level second-semester Japanese class (Novice Low to Novice Mid)
Created by Akiko Kilau, Hiromi Miyagi-Lusthaus, Yasuko Takata Rallings and
Eiko Ushida
Theme: the culture of food in Japan
Enduring Understandings:
All people need to eat to survive.
However, what people eat, how they eat, when they eat is largely determined by the
culture in which they live.
People’s attitudes toward food and eating, the role food plays in their lives are both
largely determined by cultural factors.
Essential Questions:
What do you eat? Is it the same as what your classmates it?
What do different people or groups of people eat in your country?
What factors influence people’s eating habits in C1?
What do different people and groups of people in Japan eat?
What factors influence people’s eating habits in Japan?
What similarities and differences can you identify between eating habits in your
own country and in Japan? How can you explain the differences?
Cultural Objectives:
(Attitude)
1. Students are willing to discover similarities and differences between eating habits
In C1 (learner’s own culture) and C2(culture of the target language).
2. Students are willing to question values and presuppositions in eating habits in C1
and C2.
(Knowledge)
3. Students will gain the knowledge of the relationship between social groups and
food.
(Skills: Interpretation/Relating)
4. Identify misunderstandings related to food and eating habits in C1 and C2.
(Skills: Discovering/Interacting)
5. Identify contemporary and past relationships between food culture in C1 and C2.
(Critical Cultural Awareness)
6. Identify how eating habits reflect the culture in both C1 and C2
Language Objectives:
Day 1
Students will be able to:
State what they eat, where, when, and with whom
Identify personal preferences as well as general tendencies (what other people eat)

2. Day 2
Students will be able to:
State what different groups of Japanese people eat, where, when, and with whom
Identify personal preference as well as general tendencies (what different people
eat) in Japan
Day 3
Students will be able to:
Identify any misunderstandings relative to eating habits and the culture of food in
C1 and C2.
Day 4
Students will be able to:
Identify contemporary and past relationships with respect to the culture of food in
C1 and C2. / Describe how eating habits and attitudes toward food have changed
over time.
Day 5
Students will be able to:
Compare and contrast eating habits and the culture of food in C1 and C2 with the
goal of identifying and explaining the differences.