teaching culture

1. Traditional Ways of
Teaching Culture
Chapter 6
Ann C. Wintergerst
1
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani
Aghchay

2. ATU PhD
Course: Culture & Identity
in Language Teaching
Professor: Dr. Khatib
Prepared by: Amir Parviz
Molkizadeh & M.Soleimani
Aghchay
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 2

3. Views about Teaching Culture
In ESL context, teaching culture is
inevitable (for survival purposes).
In EFL context, teaching culture is
preferable.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 3

4. Goals for Teaching Culture
Seelye 1974 proposes 7 goals:
Ss should demonstrate that
1. They understand that people act the way they do
because they are using options the society allows
for satisfying basic physical and psychological
needs
2. They understand that social variables as age,
sex, social class, and place of residence affect
the way people speak and behave
3. How people conventionally act in the most
common mundane and crisis situations in the TC
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 4

5. 4. They are aware that culturally conditioned images
are associated with the most common target
words and phrases
5. They are able to evaluate the relative strength of
a generality concerning the TC in terms of the
amount of evidence substantiating the statement
6. They have developed the skills needed to locate
and organize material about the TC from the
internet, library, mass media, and personal
observation
7. They possess intellectual curiosity about the TC
and empathy towards its people
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 5
Goals for Teaching Culture (cont.)

6. Tips for Traditional Ways of
Teaching Culture
1. Use literature to explore culture
2. Use the arts to explore culture
3. Surround Ss with stimuli from TC
4. Assign Ss to present research on the TC
5. Include problem solving skills to help discover
culture
6. Engage Ss in role plays, drama, simulations
7. Get Ss involved through experiential learning
and contact assignment
8. Introduce holidays, festivals, and religious
traditions
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 6

7. Use Literature to Explore Culture
Peterson(2004): Big C culture
consists of grand themes readily
visible, but little c culture consists
of minor themes, often invisible.
Little c e.g. behavior, attitudes,
values
Big C e.g. literature of TC
 Can be used to teach culture
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 7

8. What the Research Says
Valdes(1986): when using poetry, short
stories and novels in teaching literature,
“make clear the values that underlie the
behavior of characters and points of view of
the authors” (p. 139) to help Ss grasps key
elements of the target culture.
Christison(1982, pp. 5-11) provides criteria for
the selection of poetry:
 High student interest
 Short and simple
 Full-filled and rhythmic
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 8

9. Collie and Slater (1987) recommend the
following aims for the use of literature:
 Maintain interest and involvement by using a
variety of student centered activities
 Supplement the printed page by appealing to a
variety of learning styles
 Tap the resources of knowledge and experience
within the group by encouraging shared activities
 Help Ss explore their own responses to lit.
 Use target lang.
 Integrate lang. and lit.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 9
What the Research Says(cont.)

10. Use the Arts to Explore Culture
Means of connecting Ss with the target
language:
Visual arts
Films
Music
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14. Murphy (1992) provides ideas for using songs:
What is the pedagogical value of the song?
Be sure that the song is enjoyable for the Ss
Are the lyrics easily accessible and
understandable to the Ss?
Do the lyrics have some degree of repetition?
Be sure you have an accurate copy of the
lyrics
Do the lyrics contain lang. or ideas that might
be objectionable to some Ss, parents, or
school administration?
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 14
What the Research Says

15. Recommended movies by genre and
cultural topics:
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 15
What the Research Says(cont.)
Genres Movies
Family relationships Dead poet society
Race relations The color purple
Feminist films and the role of women Tootsie
Religion Ganhi
Cultural conflict E.T.
Biography JFK
Short story adaptations A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

16. Surround Ss with stimuli from
TC
Mainly in EFL context
Awareness of Ss’ differences can
help focus teachers’ efforts when
they surround Ss with stimuli from
the target culture
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 16

17. Remember Ss have different learning
styles (Ehrman and Oxford 1190, p.311)
Remember that Ss have eight
intelligences: Gardner (1983, p.62):
Multiple intelligence, “human intellectual
competence that entails a set of skills of
problem solving- enabling the individual
to resolve genuine problems/ differences
that s/he encounters.”
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What the Research Says

18. Maley, Duff, Grellet(1981) suggest working
with visual arts, paintings, photographs,
drawings, and cartoons to provide stimulus
for discussions
Goldstein (2008) suggests designing
activities based on descriptions,
interpretations, and creating images from
visual arts to provide cultural insights.
Other stimuli include: newspapers,
magazines, radio and TV broadcasts, films,
songs, and food
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 18
What the Research Says(cont.)

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20. Assign Ss to present research on the
TC
Excellent way to give them the
responsibility of first learning about the
culture and then presenting their
knowledge to their peers
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 20

21. Jenks (1974b): teacher provides Qs, Ss would
need to search to find the answer.
Chastain (1988, p. 309): culture aside, an
unplanned brief cultural comment, e.g. Ss
have the word coffee, teacher talks about how,
when, and to what extent it is used in different
cultures.
Taylor (1972): slice of life technique, teacher
chooses a small segment of life from TC and
presents it at the beginning of class, e.g.
calendar
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 21
What the Research Says

22. Taylor and Sorenson (1961) introduced
 Culture capsule, Ss present information about
the target culture in a short report of about 2 to
4 paragraphs. Presentations are combined
with audio visual reinforcements and followed
by comprehension questions.
 Culture clusters, several culture capsules
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 22
What the Research Says(cont.)

23. Include problem solving skills to
help discover culture
By taking advantage of Ss’ natural
curiosity and desire to solve problems,
teachers can motivate them to learn
more about culture.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 23

24. Seelye (1993, p. 162) presented culture
assimilator:
Describes a critical incident of cross cultural
interaction that is usually a common occurrence in
which a foreign visitor and a host national interact,
a situation one or both find puzzling or conflictual or
that they are likely to misinterpret, and a situation
that can be interpreted in a fairly unequivocal
manner, given sufficient knowledge about the
other’s culture.
After Ss read about the incident, they are
asked an interpretive question, may be in
MC form
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 24
What the Research Says

25. In writing culture assimilators, the writer
should consider:
The incident must be reasonably natural rather
than too artificially contrived
The incorrect answers or distractors must be
sufficiently plausible
The explanations offered for the distractors
should also lead to learning
The correct answer needs to be such that a
typical
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 25
What the Research Says(cont.)

26. Engage Ss in role plays, drama,
simulations
Good for kinesthetic learners
Provides variety in activity types
Involves learners multidimentionally
Helps Ss grasp concepts and ideas
about the new culture
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 26

27. Wintergerst et al. (2003, p. 92) found that
Russian EFL students and Asian ESL
students preferred a kinesthetic learning
style or what researchers called "project
orientation,"defined as "a student's
preference of learning best when he or she
is involved in hands-on activities of when
working with materials in a learning
situation." e.g. minidramas/miniskits,
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 27
What the Research Says

28. Kalivoda, morain, and Elkins (1971): make use of TPR
in teaching TC e.g. the audio-motor unit, Ss act out
commands given by the teacher e.g. Ss imagine they
are in a restaurant, T tell them to pick up their napkins,
unfold them, put them on their laps, pick up the fork in
their left hand, etc.
Damen (1987):
 social-psychological contrasts btw the two cultures, Ss read sth
and then discuss, role play, dramatize, etc.
 Critical incident, some problems occur in interactional pattern
of people from different cultures, Ss consider the situation and
reaction of the people and comment on the cultural values
 Self awareness techniques, Ss think about their own beliefs,
values, attitudes, and actions to understand the role of culture
in society and individual lives.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 28
What the Research Says(cont.)

29. Ryffel (1997) noted that when selecting,
adapting, and using culture learning activities,
teachers should vary tasks in an effort to
acknowledge the different learning style
preferences of students.
Brown (2001, p. 183) notes that role play
involves:
 Giving a role to members of a group
 Assigning an objective or purpose that
participants must accomplish e.g. a series of Qs
for discussion
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 29
What the Research Says(cont.)

30. Allen (1985): the micrologue, T chooses a
cultural passage to read aloud in class in 1
min. Ss listen, answer Qs, give oral
summary, or write a dictation.
Morain (1979): cultoon, T presents a
cartoon/ cartoon strip in which some
cultural misunderstanding occurs, Ss
discuss the clues to come up with correct
interpretations
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What the Research Says(cont.)

31. Get Ss involved through experiential
learning and contact assignment
Can mainly be used in ESL context
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 31

32. Experiential learning or contact assignments
involve the creation of a task that students then
carry out in the community around their
classroom:
 interviews of native speakers
 opinion surveys
 trips to various types of stores
 rides on public transportation
Jerald and Clark(1983) prefer "Eating Out“: A
visit to a restaurant can introduce students to
typical foods of the host culture, as well as to
the appropriate behaviors in a restaurant
setting.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 32
What the Research Says

33. Introduce holidays, festivals, and
religious traditions
The source or reason for a holiday
and the way that a culture chooses
to celebrate it provide valuable
insights into the way that a group of
people think about themselves
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 33

34. A shift in focus from the traditional ways of
teaching culture to new ways of looking at
intercultural communication deemphasized
the teaching of the three Fs: food, fiestas,
and famous people.
Klebanow and Fischer(1985) offer a number
of suggestions and resources for teaching
about holidays in a U.S. context:
 Examining current traditions and customs
 Looking into the background, origins, and
traditions of the holiday
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 34
What the Research Says

35. Kohls (1996, p. 63) suggests:
 Identifying the nation’s heroes and
heroines as a key part of “knowing thy host
country”.
 It is helpful to learn about
 Predominant religion
 Sacred writings
 Important religious observations e.g. marriage
celebrations
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 35
What the Research Says(cont.)

36. Resources
Chastain, K. (1988). Developing Second
Language Skills Theory and Practice.
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Rivers, Wilga M. (1981). Teaching Foreign
Language Skills. The University of Chicago
Press
Wintergerst, Ann C. (2011). Tips for
Teaching Culture. Person Education Inc.
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 36

37. Thank You for Your
Attention
A. P. Molkizadeh & M. Soleimani Aghchay 37