Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Teaching Culture
In your view, how should the target culture be learned or taught? Is it possible to teach culture and develop students' intercultural competence in the classroom setting? Why and why not? What are the limitations? Use examples to support your points of view. Be sure to watch this video and share your observations.
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I personally believe that the teaching of culture should be equally as stressed as language components like, vocabulary, grammar, etc. but it should be integrated throughout the length of whatever course is being taught. A very effective way to incorporate cultural competence while also using the target language is to use audiotaped interviews of a native speaker, or giving a lecture using the teacher's own visual aids, and personal experiences with another culture would be a more fun and effective way to teach culture. If a student is going to actually learn about a new culture, it is crucial that the teacher gets the students to understand that what they say, do, and think are heavily influenced and defined by their own culture and that it is not the same everywhere else in the world. If students do not have this understanding it will most likely lead to stereotypes and other forms of negative biases that will only inhibit the student from learning the target culture, which will then in turn result in them not being able to learn how to effectively communicate with native speakers.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is challenging to teach culture and develop a student's intercultural comprehension in the classroom, I do think that it is possible. I think for it to be possible language departments at any school need to work together to figure out how they can get students to think about other cultures right at the beginning of their foreign language education. Teachers often times assume that cultural understanding will come overtime as students develop a mastery of the language structures. Foreign language students have to be exposed to the idea that their native culture is not in fact the only way people think, and they need to be influenced to constantly be thinking about the other cultures of the target language that they are studying. A limitation often seen in the classroom setting are that many teachers feel that they have no room in their overcrowded curriculum to focus more directly on cultural aspects of foreign language education. If a teacher realizes that culture and language are two intertwined aspects of learning another language they'd be able to incorporate cultural aspects in their already made unit plans which would in turn help them resolve the issue they are facing in not having sufficient time to teach culture.
After doing the chapter reading and the reflections what was said in the video seemed pretty obvious but I did appreciate how she addressed the differences between teaching adults and children. It makes sense that the two would require different approaches to teaching because adults do have their own self/cultural identity developed where as children do not. The idea of keeping the idea of culture in the back of a student's mind is the same idea of what I was trying to say in the paragraphs before. If students are trained to always be thinking of and identifying different cultural aspects observed through authentic materials provided they will be able to really understand the cultural differences between their own culture and the target culture. Having students understand that they won't be successful in communicating, especially with native speakers, if they do not have the cultural comprehension needed.
I appreciated your comment that there are many ways that a teacher can incorporate and provide cultural competence into a classroom setting and instruction. I do think that one important example is a teaching giving a presentation about their personal experience to the class. I understand this as a good teaching approach for the following reasons: 1) it would be a fun approach and that allows student to engage more effectively 2) the teacher is clearly at a level of speaking to be able to inform and instruct and therefore the direction of instruction intends to incorporate oral and cultural proficiency in a correlated manner 3) the personal example will provide a unique and informative cultural exchange which would be markedly a cultural lesson. I think that this type of cultural inclusion is a good technique to be used in high school because it recommends the importance of study abroad (if presented) and that experienced cultural exchange but then indicates that cultural exposure can be presented within a classroom setting which will allow for a good foundation. I think that cultural comprehension can be developed through the learning process and it actually is very important to acknowledge its inclusion in the course of learning a foreign language. Also, you are right in stating that audiotaped recordings are very instructive in assisting students in engaging in culture learning. Also, the teacher presenting their personal experience can allow critical development within the learning experience because the approach is a technique that can try to distinguish cultural confusions.
DeleteI absolutely agree with you in that interviews and teacher lectures using visual aids are great ways to teach culture, as long as not explicit factuality is implied by that which is said by the interviewee or the teacher. It is important that students maintain the idea that culture is not explicit fact, things vary and everyone is their own person. But certain patterns do of course exist in the dress, speech, interests, mannerisms, manners, etc. of certain cultures.
DeleteI also agree that teachers can't assume students will build their own cultural understanding over time. If nothing is taught, many students will never find the time, need, or interest to research on their own time in a way that is as free of bias as possible. That is one of the most important parts of teaching culture in the classroom; we can teach students to look at culture through a lens free of bias.
Perhaps the most effective way I have been taught culture has been in a class called México y los mexicanos at Tufts University. This class pivoted on Mexican culture through exploring literature, film, music and history. Furthermore, the Professor taught lessons concerning the four language skills. This course helped improve my language skills and my cultural competence. I prefer this method of teaching culture to the "jack of all trades, master of none" technique conducted by many institutions.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the best way to learn culture would be by pairing cultural studies i.e., exploring literature, film etc., with contact with the native culture by the way of cultural immersion ala Professor Lee's study in 2012.
I appreciate the personal example that helped you to learn and engage in cultural learning. I do think that film is a really significant platform to learn a foreign language and to develop an understanding of its culture. Film production and technique could also employ a cultural component so it can be considered a cultural difference as well. I think that watching a film for a class is a great learning technique because it allows for listening comprehension and can physically demonstrate cultural differences. I understand the term cultural competence and I think that film viewing can allow a student to understand this and also being to develop their cultural competence. The viewing of the film incorporates having to understand the language and then interpret and then understand content. Film viewing is not by any means and nor does it purport to be cultural immersion but it is a method of language and cultural learning. In a classroom setting the listening to of authentic music or for example literature is an implicit method to learn a language. These techniques provide the student with practical instructional learning for better proficiency. It is important to reference other material in order to engage in actual translation. To have a song or poem to reference is a resource that also qualifies as a material to dictate improvement and growth.
DeleteThis is certainly a great way to master the "Olympic" aspects of culture and I do agree that it is nice to see students with a more refined degree of knowledge about foreign culture, the likes of which you would get from that sort of a course. But I'm not sure there is enough time in the general language classroom to teach that in depth about the music, literature, art, and history of a country while also keeping in mind it is important to also teach the beliefs, behavior and values of that culture as well.
DeleteMaybe we should be offered classes in high school entirely about culture like the one you took at Tufts. Culture is what schools are saying is most important anyways. What do you think? Is learning the culture alone more or less important than learning the linguistic aspect of the language? Are either even necessary?
I can see why this type of class was a very effective way to learn about Mexican culture and so forth and I can imagine how much you were able to learn from it. In regards to a high school education though I don't see any school willing to pay a teacher on such a specific niche area of a foreign language course. To teach a course like this in the target language would also require a decent amount of students with high proficiency levels. I can't picture a student taking a course like this during this stage of their high school education on top of another Spanish class like Spanish 4 or AP unless they knew Spanish was going to be their major in their undergrad. Another thing I think is worthy of bringing up is the fact that this type of class focuses on one culture, when there are so many others to be learned about as well. That is why it would be better to have a cross-cultural approach to teaching the language so culture aspects are learned while the students are also learning the language.
DeleteI think learning a culture that way through film, music and history is great way to learn a target foreign culture. I personally think literature is one of the best tools since literature will give you an overview of history, politics, and the society in general.
DeleteChris, I think The cultural aspect and the linguistics aspects are equally important; at least to me. As much as enjoy learning about Spanish culture, I would definitely be less interested in learning about Spanish culture if the classes were not taught in Spanish. I learned greatly how to express my opinion in Spanish about a subject simply by learning about that subject in Spanish. Therefore, not only I am learning the cultural content but also language skills are being reinforced.
DeleteBryce, I definitely agree with you. It would be impossible in High school to have one class designed to teach only that that particular course. Nut another thing that I have noticed studying Spanish culture. It would be impossible to understand Mexico today without an understanding of Spain since Mexican history is definitely tied to Spain. Also it would be impossible to understand Mexico and Spain today without understanding the role the United stated played in shaping their future. I think cross-cultural learning is definitely crucial since the world is so interconnected.
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ReplyDeleteI appreciated the simplicity of this video and its overall indication that the teaching of culture is a very exciting topic that should be incorporated into the coursework. I think that culture is as an important portion and component of language teaching and learning as is learning about language and its content. I think that the initiation and application of culture into a course of study gradually develops and through that development, students can learn the cultural differences and exchanges and then can begin to develop their cultural competence during the progression of higher level of studies.
Initially, I think that lower levels of classroom teaching will utilize textbooks, these texts will include information about foreign nations and different practices. This information constitutes as cultural information because it introduces new information about a culture such as food, customs/traditions and the language and its use. Early on, the reading and in the target language of this information contributes to the development of language proficiency and cultural competence. The text will introduce pictures and graphics of the target culture to present a visual difference (for example a picture of a busy street can depict the differences in clothing, how people look and their customs. The text will of course identify important holidays and customs and primary information regarding geography and historical contextual information. This application of basic and structured information will allow the student to learn information to eventually be able to apply it contextually. The same text will also most likely introduce paragraphs in the target language. It is an initial practice to develop reading comprehension. The paragraph in the target language will be on the same page as the visual information and that allows the student to make associations. A paragraph in Spanish will allow the student to transition to proficiency. This text will also begin to include authentic materials such as a poem written in target language. I think it is very important to be introduced to this type of material because it presents general overview of a different culture.
To present the application of teaching of cultural competence through the study, the typical coursework will include a text (such as above) and then will begin to initiate classroom activities and tasks. A more developed example of cultural information would be listening to a song during class in the target language. The purpose of this is to be able to then associate language and culture. Another example of classroom work would be reading authentic materials (poem, song) in the target language. All language study includes learning vocabulary specific to a incident (such as car trouble) in order to prepare the student in that incident occurs. This practical information will begin to provide a more developed speaking proficiency. This vocabulary will eventually be learned and will provide the student with a larger continuum of information. Another portion of cultural competence is identifying how native speakers actually speak and their mannerisms. This information can be learned through oral development. Eventually, students will engage in speaking conversations in the target language and can practice their understanding of cultural competence through role playing and or adjusted conversations. I think that practical exercises such as listening to a native speaker and learning about foreign customs can be regularly applied and this will maintain a foundation.
I agree with you that the teaching of culture is as an important portion and component teaching and learning as is learning about the language and its content. I wish that I had been taught more in my earlier years of Spanish studying because I know it would've made me more proficient in almost all aspects of the language. I would agree that lower levels can and will utilize textbooks for basic cultural information about many of the different varieties of cultures we are able to see in the Spanish speaking community, but I do think that it is CRUCIAL for teachers to have students step back and evaluate their own culture, and identify why they say what they say, why they do what they do, and why they think the way they think about certain topics in order for them to really compare and contrast their culture to the target cultures of which they are studying. I am glad to see that you brought up that the cultural competence of identifying how native speakers speak and their mannerisms because I feel that this is very often not talked about in your typical high school curriculum which is very unfortunate because it is honestly one of the most important things to really know. Being able to understand social cues and what gestures mean what in a language is very important in regards to interpersonal communication (As aspiring teachers I feel that our end goal is to teach our students how to communicate in the target language because that is the most practical application of it). The use of all sorts of different genres of authentic is clearly very important to you, as it should be and I feel that with all the different materials you've brought up in your posts shows that you know how to use them in your curriculum and your students will efficiently learn about culture from you. When you say "I understand that a classroom setting cannot provide direct immersion but it can provide contextual application. As study abroad provides the student with actual immersion, I think that we should identify that it should not be considered a limitation that we do not have that opportunity in middle school or high school, that is just a reality that not all can study abroad. We should however strive to have experiences such as speaking with a native speaker so that these measures no longer are isolated learning techniques but regular and applied instruction" I think that this is all 100% true; teachers just need to know what resources are available for them to help "immerse" students into another culture even if they are not able to go abroad.
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ReplyDeleteThe introduction of watching movies and films in a classroom in the target language is important because these movies can present real native experience and culture. Given my experience in Spanish study, I have been able to understand that all language experience seeks to provide students with immersion. I understand that a classroom setting cannot provide direct immersion but it can provide contextual application. As study abroad provides the student with actual immersion, I think that we should identify that it should not be considered a limitation that we do not have that opportunity in middle school or high school, that is just a reality that not all can study abroad. We should however strive to have experiences such as speaking with a native speaker so that these measures no longer are isolated learning techniques but regular and applied instruction. In this nation, we can provide cultural competence with the resources that we do have. The practice of speaking online with a native speaker could be practiced and this can lead to personal competence and confidence both within language and cultural development.
The video that we watched indicated that a classroom can provide artistic measures of authentic materials and can demonstrate regular practical customs such as requiring students to engage in speaking and conversation practices that that culture practices regularly. The video also presented an idea that classrooms can invite speakers that speak in the native language and students can then be exposed to accent and linguistic cultural differences. I think this video is important because it demonstrates that a classroom can provide exposure to a target culture and limitations do exist but they do not impede nor impair the classroom and its student nor do they reverse acquired cultural information and future cultural acquisition.
I think that in the American classroom within the high school years, the regular classroom can provide enough cultural exposure that students can acquire cultural competence, mainly even being able to identify cultural differences. I think that American classroom practices focus on authentic materials to give historical and cultural information. So I do think that it is possible to teach cultural competence such as through oral actual instruction. A teacher can teach in the target language and identify a cultural practice and regular cultural habits. The classroom also provides resources for further identification of cultural information. The limitations of non-immersion should not be considered a limitation because we are able to travel abroad it just is not a regular product of high school learning. But the attention to native speaking can provide managed and structured cultural material to present cultural comprehension. A student will innately understand that cultural content needs to be learned and cultural acquisition can happen through the practice of speaking with a native and referencing linguistic differences. I think that immersion is the overall goal and that goal is accessible. This video presented the fact that students can acquire cultural competence and students can be shown how to learn culture.
Questions: 1) What do you consider to be the main differences in the teaching of culture to young students compared to adult learners in adult language class settings?
2) Do you think that the foreign language classroom offers enough visual cultural information that non-immersion is not a limitation?
I think you're on to something when talking about immersion in the L2 classroom. We need to give students as much input as possible, but it is also important to elaborate a little further on the cultural aspects of that L2 since we are not from that culture and will therefore notdo the same things that they would do. Hence why actual full immersion is the best option, albeit not possible for most as you have stated.
DeleteTo answer your questions, first, young students are more easily influenced and may take what they learn to be complete fact. This would be ineffective as we are now teaching them new stereotype and effectively alienating them from other cultures. Also, young students may not yet have a sense of there own culture. A great example is through the use of the political cartoon in which a great deal of cultural knowledge is necessary for it to be understood. Young children don't understand these cartoons as their own cultural understanding of themselves is unrefined. We must wait until they have the background necessary to debate the differences and look at the positives and negatives of both cultures.
Second, it depends on the classroom. Different teachers use different quantities of visual cultural information. Obviously, visual aid is great when you haven't actually been to a place or even seen it, but I don't necessarily non-immersion necessarily has to be a limitation at all. Many students take cultural classes in L1 and get a great deal out of it even without visual aid. I have taken classes on Greek and Roman customs during the first century and had the time of my life. Of course, with a class based on ancient history don't run the risk of stereotyping a group of people or getting their customs wrong since no one can really dispute that which is taught.
To answer your questions:
Delete1. The main difference between teaching culture to adults and young students (assuming elementary) is that younger students still are developing their own culture, the rights and wrongs, what is a formal setting compared to informal, political biases, etc. compared to adults who already have a self identity. When teaching young students you have the opportunity for children to discover other perspectives and views across the globe which can be an amazing opportunity for them to develop into culturally sensitive people and more well-rounded people. With adults they have their opinions, they understand their own culture so presenting a new culture to them just involves a more direct approach where the teacher could realistically just lecture their students on other cultures and they can just learn about the others. (Like what we see in university level culture classes)
2. I think that it is less on being heavily dependent on presenting cultural information and more just on how the teacher gets students to understand and indentify other cultural aspects of the target language. Yes, the use of visual aids will only help students develop a higher level of competence but merely providing pictures with a brief explanation will only really give students the ability to answer a question on an exam and then just forget about it once the class has moved on to a new section. I think that if a student is not able to immerse themselves in the target language and culture they will not be able to achieve the highest level of proficiency that they are capable of but I don't think that it means they are doomed to ever learn how to speak the language sufficiently.
I have always found that with culture teachers have a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage students who otherwise have absolutely zero interest in a subject. This is very useful in everyday lesson planning as well as the entire curriculum of a course and it goes without saying that the idea of using culture in curriculum is extremely relevant to foreign language (as students may not have any background whatsoever in culture outside of that of the USA.) Being as culture is such an important tool -that can be used to teach students not only about the customs, activities, people, monuments, dress, etc., but also to teach students about the language itself- we need to be careful not to alienate students by either boring them or teaching them from a POV of bias. In which case students may not care about the foreign culture at all, thus destroying the endless limit of ways they could've been engaged through cultural activity.
ReplyDeleteTeachers should integrate cultural lessons as often as possible. A few of my favorite things are to:
A. Teach students cultural points through stories of your own cultural experiences
B. Have students come up with some of the aspects of their own culture; this should include a discussion of some positives and some shortcomings
C. Teach culture through intercultural interaction ie. penpals, video conference, letters, etc.
D. MOST IMPORTANTLY, use authentic sources as often as possible and relate the themes of these sources to aspects of the C2.
I will elaborate a little further on D. This doesn't have to be explicitly related to culture. For instance, a video could be a news article about a man from Argentina who found out his longtime missing twin brother was actually still living, but had made his way into the US. I would subsequently give them a little more background info, talking a little about los desaparecidos in Argentina. Maybe we could have a little discussion about other similar regimes which have taken advantage of their people and whether this has been seen before. We must also make sure not to alienate latin american countries by portraying them in a negative light, or in a way that seems foreign and unknown to us. Therefore, I would continue by asking if the US has ever done any such thing, by taking advantage of citizens in any way or preventing them from speaking about their political views/what it is that is really happening. We could start with talking about something like slavery which was very much politically motivated, but we could also talk about things like US censorship in music, media, books, news, etc to this day. We could talk about US treatment of territories such as Cuba and even the territory of Hawaii which is now as we know a US state. There are plenty of examples of political corruption that we can look at in the US.
It is important to show students that we're not so different as we maybe think we are from these other cultures and also to show students that the differences that do exist are not as unthinkable as we sometimes make them out to be. The best way to have students understand these differences is to live and experience the culture. In this manner they can think like the native of that place and see through his eyes. This of course is a limitation to cultural study, for it is not always an attainable goal. But there are still ways to show these differences through debate and comparison, always keeping in mind the limitations and the positives of both cultures.
Your sentiment that teaching culture is a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage students who "have absolutely zero interest in a subject" is a perspective that I had not really thought of but is very true. This, right away points out a huge challenge that teachers need to address from the beginning of their students education and make it something of interest if they actually are going to take something out of each lesson. Students most likely will have no background knowledge of other cultures, especially with how the majority of public education systems of the US go about teaching foreign language. Teachers do have a clean slate to work with though as a result of this so it can be very exciting for them to work with as long as they are competent as well.
DeleteI think that it is awesome that you addressed that teachers should show students that at the end of the day we all are humans and that our cultures aren't all that different; but where there are differences it doesn't make them weird or strange but rather what makes them who they are. And to have a understanding of this will lead to more advanced abilities in communicating and understanding these other people.
I agree with your inclusion of authentic interaction. This chapter reflected on the concept that either a student or a professor/teacher could be in a position to not be able to demonstrate cultural information due to their feeling of lack of experience. I think that authentic interaction can build confidence because in a given situation, the person can rely on their personal uses of communication even if not that proficient. These types of experiences can help a person become more proficient in both language and cultural competence. I think that cultural information should be allocated as that- students in America should appropriate this information as to their benefit in order to be determine that cultural competence is a skill that can then be applicable to different areas of study. I think teachers should be informed as to how to approach the topics of cultural teaching and learning in order to respond effectively if there is opposition but most importantly, how to avoid that from the beginning. I think you are right in stating that applying and including cultural information in the everyday lesson plan is a strategic teaching method because it could continue to build interest and foster beneficial resources for the student.
DeleteI think when we are teaching students about other cultures, the objective is not about pointing out that we are different or similar in some ways. I think it is about showing that we have diversity in who we are and what we do as human beings. It is a way to learn, understand, and be aware of other customs, values, and beliefs.
DeleteLearning a new culture can be quite challenging and there is no doubt that being immersed in the target culture would be the most beneficial for learning. Even after spending some time in the target culture country, you may still feel like there is still much to learn or you did or quite get what just experienced. This is why I think teaching culture in classroom is also critical. From my experience, before traveling to Granada, I took several classes about, Spanish history, literature, and culture. I think the fact that I was already prepared and I already had that background information that made me more apt to explore and learn more about the culture in Granada, Spain.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways to teach culture in classroom, I think cultural lessons and activities related to the target culture are fundamental. Authentic materials and language are definitely useful in the classroom to get students to have a feel of what it is like to interact with native speakers and authentic materials from the target culture. Using pictures, photos as illustrations to learn target culture is great way to learn. Also, students will benefit greatly when we use target language to teach cultural content. I think these are some of the way that students can learn about culture in the classroom setting.
In the video, some very fundamental points were made regarding teaching culture in the classroom. One term I learned and I think it is very important; it is deep culture. Deep culture and surface culture are very important to be taught. It is very important to make students aware of the differences between their own culture and the target culture in order to learn the specificities and not to generalize what they know about their own culture. Certainly, we should be very careful on how we teach culture to children since they are still learning or trying to understand their own culture.
Great!
ReplyDeleteI just like you video. Very Informative.
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