Intercultural Standard: Culture
March 6, 2012
The Standard…
(BEWARE: Lots of big words)
• The student will be able to use the target
language to gain knowledge and demonstrate
understanding of the relationship among
practices, products, and perspectives of cultures
other than his/her own and will be able to discuss
and analyze cultural practices within the political,
economic, social, educational, religious, and
artistic realms in the target language in order to
determine their global significance.
What is “Culture?”
Culture – the Fifth Skill
Discuss!
• Is it Important to teach culture in our language
classes? Why or why not?
• How is culture currently taught in your classes?
• Are you satisfied?
Big “C” culture vs Little “c” culture
“Big C” culture?
• Big C culture refers to that culture which is most
visible. Some visible forms of culture include
holidays, art, popular culture, literature, and
food.
“Little c” culture?
• Little c culture, in contrast, in the more invisible type of
culture associated with a region, group of people, language,
etc.
• Some examples of little c culture include communication
styles, verbal and non-verbal language symbols, cultural
norms (what is proper and improper in social interactions),
how to behave, etc.
In American/U.S. culture, which of the below would be
designated "Big C" culture, and which "Little c"? Why? Which
items might be debatable as to their designation? Why?
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Mark Twain
"Citizen Kane"
a MacDonald's menu
Leonard Bernstein
a business card
Madonna
Betsy Ross' flag
Radio ad
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The Great Gatsby
iPods
baseball
The Great Depression
a bus ticket
a Coke can
The White House
Be Careful!
Generalizations vs stereotypes
Ways to Teach Culture…
• Art work
• Commercials
• Videos/movies (made in the
original country)
• Music videos
• News casts
• Pod casts
• Radio
• Field trips
• Festivals
• Maps
• Songs
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Newspapers
Anecdotes
Illustrations
Photographs
Literature
Stories
Realia (products from target
culture)
• Authentic materials
(Materials used by native
speakers)
Videos…
How to choose a video?
should be current, accurate and useful
should have a high audio/visual correlation: picture
and sound/words should work together to enhance
meaning
should contain multiple "layers," where repeated
viewings can increase understanding
choose material with high production value (Quality)
present a complete discrete segment (beginning,
middle, end), are entertaining, and can maintain the
interest of a native speaker.
Discuss…
• Have you used video in the classes you teach?
For what purpose? (i.e., linguistic, cultural, just
for fun, etc.)
• Did you design specific activities to accompany
the video, or were students only required to
view the video?
• Did the video activity achieve its goal? Explain
what was successful and what was not. What
would you change next time?
How to Use Authentic materials
1. Previewing: makes the material more readily
understandable to the learner
2. Task Viewing: guides the learner in peeling
away the various layers of the video segment,
to discover and master the linguistic and
cultural material contained in it.
3. Follow-Up: helps the learner understand the
broader application of the material covered in
the segment
What does “culture” look like at
various proficiency levels?
In general:
Cultural Knowledge: Familiarization with selected cultural
characteristics, history, values, belief systems, and behaviors of the
members of another ethnic group (Adams, 1995).
Cultural Awareness: Developing sensitivity and understanding of
another ethnic group. This usually involves internal changes in terms
of attitudes and values. Awareness and sensitivity also refer to the
qualities of openness and flexibility that people develop in relation to
others. Cultural awareness must be supplemented with cultural
knowledge (Adams, 1995).
Cultural Sensitivity: Knowing that cultural differences as well as
similarities exist, without assigning values, i.e., better or worse, right
or wrong, to those cultural differences (National Maternal and Child
Health Center on Cultural Competency, 1997).
Sample Novice Benchmarks:
• Develop awareness and demonstrate
understanding of some basic practices,
products and perspectives of cultures where
the target language is spoken.
• Observe and participate in age-appropriate
culturally authentic activities, such as
celebrations, songs, games and dances.
Sample Intermediate Benchmarks
• Identify differences in cultural products,
practices, and perspectives, which lead to
generalizations or stereotyping among
cultures.
• Identify achievements of important people
from different countries where the target
language is spoken.
Sample Advanced Benchmarks
• Investigate some of the significant historic and
contemporary influences from the cultures
studied such as explorers, artists, musicians,
and athletes.
• Compare and contrast cultural products,
practices, and perspectives among cultures
with the same language in order to dispel
stereotyping.
What Culture do you want to explore
and share?
• List some categories of culture you would like to
incorporate in your class
• Include both “Big C” and “Little c”
• After you find the resources, what are you
going to DO with them so students really “get”
it?
Resources
• http://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/cu
lture/
• http://nadabs.tripod.com/culture/
• http://www2.education.ualberta.ca/staff/olen
ka.Bilash/best%20of%20bilash/culture.html