View the following video and comment on cross-cultural communication. 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.
Culture should be taught throughout learning. The idea of using authentic material for presentation of new grammar or language subjects should be useful for this purpose. If culture is constantly incorporated to weekly lesson plans then students will learn a variety of culture information, and one can avoid simply teaching breadth but actually teach to the depth of the culture. However the limitations of teaching culture in a classroom exist and this practiced or rehearsed cultural interactions are referred to as Anticipatory Socialization. Unfortunately, without an immediately available community where students can truly become a part, or a member of a particular culture students will never truly achieve Primary Socialization status. Wherein students learn the attitudes, values and actions appropriate to the target culture. Being able to expose students to Primary Socialization would be ideal, but anticipatory is what can be practically learned in class. However if one was able to use the Cultura activity perhaps this could bridge the gap to Primary.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to develop students’ intercultural competence in the classroom, I believe it is possible to develop some intercultural competence but it will not truly set in until they can experience primary socialization. Although the classroom is an anticipatory socialization playground, it will not sufficiently achieve full competency.
An example of primary socialization could be creating a dialogue between a French classroom and our classroom, or more directly studying abroad in French classrooms would get the job done. In April my students will have the opportunity to go to Quebec and Montreal so hopefully we will be able to use our language and participate in a short term primary socialization experiment.
An example of anticipatory socialization would be in class students showing respect for their teachers, authoritative figures or other adults using the ‘vous’ form of the conjugated verbs, and the ‘tu’ form for their friends and siblings. Other examples could be acting out daily interactions in class, such as ordering a meal in target language.
Tim,
DeleteI completely agree with you on your commentary about primary socialization and direct impact of culture, and that without it, there can be little hope of true competency. I am excited for you and your class to be able to travel and experience those speakers and speaker cultures first hand with your students, and I envy that you get to expose them, not only to basic foreign culture situations such as ordering food, but also the classroom cultural setting, as it will give them a valuable insight into both the other and their own language cultures. My question is, can we use our native language culture to impress upon students the importance of the target language culture?? What do you guys think?
Morgan,
DeleteI believe what you are getting at is the comparisons C in the national standards. This idea what we can take C1 and compare it to C2 and explain that there is an importance in C2 sure I believe that we can. We can show what we do to celebrate something in our native culture and compare it to how the target culture celebrates it and by discussing what may be more interesting or more intriguing this could spark something in the students. Perhaps you could conduct a project where there are do's and don'ts that might not exactly transfer between cultures, and this could be a really fun and engaging project for the students.
Tim and Morgan,
DeleteI also think it’s great that Tim is able to accompany his students to Quebec and Montreal and that they have a chance to experience primary socialization instead of the anticipatory socialization that they are exposed to in the typical classroom setting. I wish that I had taken advantage of more primary socialization opportunities in middle and high school.
To answer Morgan’s question, I would agree with Tim and say that the comparisons “C” of the national standards comes into play here. In my opinion, students most effectively learn a target culture by first relating it to their native culture. In this way, teachers contextualize cultural information and then clearly stress the fact that students cannot rely on native cultures to explain all aspects of target cultures. As Tim said, starting with C1 and making connections to C2 will help language students to see the importance of learning about C2 and, beyond that, could be a useful tool for eliminating cultural stereotypes and assumptions about target cultures.
Tim,
DeleteI completely agree that culture should be taught through out a students learning. I also agree that unless the surrounding community is native speakers of the target language and target culture then getting the primary socialization is very hard to do. I agree with the comments being made that using the C1 to understand C2 is key. This allows learning the other culture to have some context when it is being compared to something the students already understand. Truly understanding the new culture may be difficult for some students at first because like might be confused as to the reasoning behind why other cultures are the way they are. This is where expressing the importance of looking at the target culture through a different perspective, that of the person living in it, is key. The cultura project stresses this. Also, I wish I had taken the chance to go abroad more as a student because although we can try and teach culture to the best of our abilities the best way to learn it is to be completely surrounded by it. I hope your students take advantage of the opportunity they have.
As far as the video on cross-cultural communication goes, I agree with the notion (brought up by Professor Charlton McIlwain) that cross-cultural communication is increasingly relevant to our lives and especially to our globalized society. As Professor McIlwain comments, cultural differences can manifest in daily tasks such as how one acts in a public space, how people conceptualize time, and what somebody considers to be taboo. What’s more, I agree with the point made by Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss that there are variances not only between cultures, but within cultures. For example, how a U.S. citizen may have acted in a public space in the 1950’s is not necessarily how a U.S. citizen would act in a public space today.
ReplyDeleteBased on this knowledge of cross-cultural communication, how should a target culture be learned or taught? I think that we’ve all already expressed the importance of language learning in the sense that it encourages cultural awareness and cross-cultural connections. I would guess that most of us also agree that language and culture (like the 5 C’s emphasize) overlap and are both essential components of language instruction. I believe that teachers should incorporate culture into their lessons. PACE Model lessons, as we’ve already discussed in class, are meant to help students contextualize grammar points with culturally-relevant, authentic materials. Furthermore, lessons that focus on listening and reading comprehension naturally involve the use of authentic texts or recordings. For example, students learning about the Day of the Dead holiday in a Spanish language classroom could do so with oral interviews (listening comprehension) or written passages (reading comprehension). Activities that follow should be directed at checking for student understanding in addition to enhancing cultural understanding.
In my opinion, it is possible to teach culture and develop students’ intercultural competence in the classroom setting but only to an extent. In the cases of some language students, what they learn in a classroom is the only exposure to culture that they’ll have or the cultural instruction in the classroom could inspire them to value culture more than they did before. Likewise, as developing technology has a larger impact on foreign language teaching, teachers and students have access to a wide range of authentic materials that teachers can implement to support their language lessons.
However, there are limitations to teaching and learning culture in classrooms. "Facts” about cultures may be difficult to identify in part because of any given culture’s changing nature and teaching generalized information about cultures creates the possibility of teaching stereotypes. For example, students who are learning about the Day of the Dead holiday as it’s typically celebrated in Mexico might assume that every Mexican citizen celebrates the holiday in the way that they’ve been taught or that all Latin American countries celebrate the holiday the way that Mexico usually does. Overall, students must be made aware of something that the video explicitly states: Although cultures hold a significant place in language learning, there are changes from culture to culture as well as changes within cultures and across time.
Candace,
DeleteYou've definitely made a lot of excellent and critical points when it comes to cultural education within the class room, but one thing that I am stuck on is the PACE model in all of this. To me this approach to L2 education, although a wonderful and diverse way to introduce grammar points via Authentic input, does not have much of an impact on culture, except of the sociolinguistic value of the language contexts. Culture had to be authentic when taught, otherwise it is not culture, but simply seeing the PACE model is barely a thin dimension of culture in full that can be taught.
As for your commentary on Dia de los muertos, I agree definitely that assumption is a huge danger of teaching culture, and it is a variable that we as educators should always be aware of.
Morgan,
DeleteWhile I agree that it is difficult to teach authentic culture in the classroom setting, I would hope to use PACE Model lessons as a jumping off point for some meaningful cultural point to share with students. Like you’ve said in your blog post, “teaching” culture may not even be entirely possible, but I believe it’s worth it for students to have some form of culture incorporated into lessons (even if they are never fully immersed in the target culture through study abroad trips or similar experiences). As you’ve also discussed in your post, it’s difficult for any teacher who does not necessarily belong to a target culture to accurately portray the target culture to students (especially due to the fact that perceptions of target cultures vary within a given culture). Through the use of authentic materials as well as native speakers, I think students will gain at least a sense of the target culture.
Culture and cross-cultural communication skills are concepts that are imperative to any foreign language class, but the question remains if culture can be taught at all. From my perspective, I feel that "teaching" culture is not possible. You can't teach culture. There is no way to synthesize and condense all of the social, community, religious, ethnic, linguistic, and historical concepts that make up the tip of the iceberg that is culture. But you can share it. I don't see the foreign language class room as a place of just instruction, but rather a way for us to experience and share something different from us.
ReplyDeleteAuthentic materials are important because they give exposure to a purer form of the language, as well as valuable insight into who the people are that we are learning to speak with. But, just relying on them to explain culture is a less than adequate way to explain and share culture. The same goes for instructional videos and units on culture. I agree that students of Spanish should be familiar with customs such as Dia de los muertos in Mexico, and Students of Russian should understand what a "metro face" is, but just knowing what they are isn't enough. What really needs to be addressed is the why, rather than just the who, when, and what.
But again it is a challenge because to get the how, we have to have access to both authentic sources, AND native inhabitants. There is no way that I can explain a culture from the perspective of someone in that culture. I can come close with enough of my own exposure, but it will never be as concise and accurate as it would be from an actual native who grew up in that culture, was formed by and also helped shift that culture to what it is today. Culture is so diverse and flexible, and is so unique everywhere you go that without a huge amount of exposure and without making the connection that NOT EVERYONE FOLLOWS EVERY CUSTOM!!! Culture is limitless and endless, and I think we have to try our best to bring the widest, yet most accurate view of cultures of a target language. I honestly don't know to what degree it is possible to do so, but to establish that idea is what remains the most important.
Me gusta lo que dijiste: no puede enseñar una cultura o la cultura pero puede compartirla! It seems like we expressed similar things in our blog entries. The conclusion I think is important to make the recognition that what we can do is provide an awareness and an understanding of cultures and that they ARE different and that different cultures do exist. If we teach this vital understanding first we can then begin to share and discuss culture, whether it be our own or a foreign one in which we are trying to learn about.
DeleteEstoy de acuerdo Max, pero la otra cosa importante es la idea que las culturas no son solamente diferentes. We see differences in everything we do because we are human beings. We take things apart and separate others and other things from ourselves from the moment that we develop an understanding of existing and where we end and the rest of the universe is as an infant. Our perception of differences is the easy part, but what takes more time and strategy is the idea of sharing those similarities of culture, while also preserving the respect and individuality of each culture we encounter and study. As an example, to point out how Dia de los muertos has the idea of spirits return to the earth around the time of the end of October/Early November, BUT IT'S NOT HALLOWEEN. That is what we want to see, students seeing how the basis maybe similar, but the perspective, the traditions, and the reasons behind it are all vastly different.
DeleteMorgan and Max,
DeleteThe point that Morgan has made here makes me think back to the textbook reading that we completed for this week. One section of the chapter we read talks about “native lexical hypothesis” or the tendency of students to conceptualize a foreign language as being directly related to their native language (in other words, their native language corresponds identically to the target language). A similar situation may occur in terms of teaching target cultures in the sense that students are susceptible to assuming that a target culture can be viewed as a series of parallels to their native culture (which we know is not the case). What Morgan brought up as far as U.S. students projecting their knowledge of Halloween onto the Day of the Dead holiday illustrates this idea well. I’m interested to know, how do both of you feel that teachers can most effectively encourage students to avoid these types of false expectations about target cultures? Is it possible for teachers to use these false expectations to emphasize cultural differences or similarities between a native culture and a target culture?
Culture is so diverse! Among the many great points that you made, this one may in fact be the most important. The idea that all Mexicans, Spaniards, Russians or French celebrate the exact same way all the different holidays across the world and in the countries. But in taking something that is limitless and endless, how can teachers bottle it up and effective teach what is constantly changing? How can you put a true label on something that is so malleable as a culture?
DeleteTim,
DeleteYour comment reminds me of the challenges of teaching not only target cultures but foreign languages. As Morgan and you stated, it’s hard to teach culture effectively in a classroom setting. Why? Cultures vary and change. If you believe that language and culture go hand in hand, wouldn’t that also imply difficulty in teaching languages? “Spanish,” for example, is an all-encompassing label that is assigned, but the reality is that the use of the Spanish language in practice depends on several sociolinguistic factors along with geographic location. Additionally, the use of the Spanish language differs over time (similar to culture). Like any subject, it’s important for teachers to reflect on and revaluate what they’re teaching to students by considering how they’re presenting the dynamic entities that are language and culture as well as updating what they’re teaching to better match the language use in practice (or making students aware of the fact that language and culture are inherently variable).
After hearing what these two professors had to say about Cross-cultural communication (CCC), in my view I think it is really important to incorporate the target culture into your everyday lesson plan however you are able to. Even if it is only in small, subtle doses. It seems difficult to 100 percent, authentically teach culture, but do say the least I believe we can make our students aware of what culture is. Professor McIlwain used a phrase, “cross cultural understanding” and he gave some examples on some basic, but common differences in culture. For example the concept of time, the concept of power and hierarchical structures, the understanding or recognition of social norms. It seems to me that if we made it simpler for our students to be aware of some things, maybe it would help in getting a start to really “teaching” culture and developing the “intercultural competence”. In conclusion I do not think it is impossible to teach parts of culture or to incorporate culture into your daily lesson plan in order to begin to develop “intercultural competence”, but to “teach culture” does seem quite impossible to me in most class room settings at this day and age.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is going to depend on what your definition of teaching culture is or to what extent of teaching culture that you want to reach. There are many figurative situations that we could discuss as examples. We can talk about the benefits of having a teacher that is native to the target culture at hand. It seems that they would obviously have an easier time incorporating authentic culture into the classroom in place of someone who does not have the same cultural experience.
To contrast (un poco), Cynthia miller comes in and basically tells us that another definition for culture could be the “entire way of life” for a people. When we think about it like this, I think my proposal of cultural awareness becomes more viable and applicable. Another point I found interesting, which professor miller introduced, is the importance of recognizing a variances in the same culture over time (generational variance). I think this would be a step back from a focus on a different culture and force the focus on our own culture first. If this notion of exploring our own culture through generational variances was the focus, it might be better to have someone who is native to this culture and not the actual target culture at hand.
So Max, I love your take on this, but I also want to know more about what you think of non-native versus native teachers. I am interested to hear, how does not-being a native speaker effect overall ability to teach culture, and can you actually teach culture effectively at all? Is there a way to compensate for this difference? Also in terms of native speakers, how do you think having a native speaker as a professor or teacher will effect the cultural understanding of a target language student? WILL they have better understanding of the culture as a whole? Or will it give a biased, narrow view of things, but from a an interior perspective within the whole culture? Which is worse do you think?
DeleteI certainly agree that culture should be introduced to the lesson plan on a daily basis. Teaching culture is whatever the product is of that incorporation process. Yes it would be difficult to make it fun and authentic in every single day of class but including culture bit by bit will add up in the long term. Students will begin to associate the culture with the language and over time become more interested and become much more culturally comprehensive.
DeleteSo how can a non-native language teacher achieve the cultural awareness in students the same way a native teacher could?
Morgan,
DeleteTo take a stab at some of the questions you’ve directed at Max, I’ll first say that it’s unrealistic, in my opinion, to expect only native speakers to teach target cultures. So, in that case, I think it’s our responsibility as foreign language teachers to make cultural lessons in U.S. classrooms accessible to non-native language learners to the best of our abilities. I recognize that distilling cultures into learnable “facts” is not an effective method of teaching culture, and that it’s hard for students (and teachers) to conceptualize cultures that they might not have firsthand experience with. However, I believe that by presenting students with authentic materials from a variety of sources (including native speakers) and challenging cultural stereotypes in the classroom while inviting students to consider culture to be a multi-faceted, changing concept, teachers can cultivate an appreciation for cultures in their students.
What’s more, the second half what you’re asking is interesting to me because you bring up the other side of your original question. Even though native speakers have the ability to provide valuable cultural insights, students must be careful not to interpret a target culture solely based on any one person’s (native or non-native) perceptions and accounts.
how should the target culture be learned or taught?
ReplyDeleteCulture should be taught as much as possible in the target language. In my opinion it should be taught with authentic material. Teaching the base of the culture such as how people interact and socialize is key to having students understand cultures. It should be learnt from the bottom up. The concept of time and what is valuable in a culture is a basic cultural aspect that should be a start for learning the target culture.
Is it possible to teach culture and develop students' intercultural competence in the classroom setting?
Yes it is possible to teach culture and develop intercultural competence in the classroom. This would have to be done using appropriate methods and materials, such as teaching how to interact or respectful ways of communicating in the target culture. In Spanish some countries have a culture that uses the formal ways of speaking to people (Usted) such as Costa Rica where using the informal way of speaking (tu) is considered rude. These grammatical differences can be taught in a classroom setting. Also watching videos on cultural festivals and videos that explain eating habits can help students understand some differences and similarities between their culture and the target culture.
What are the limitations?
Some limitations might be that you can not give your students first hand experience with many of these cultural aspects. Unless the students travel abroad it is very hard to explain small aspects of the target culture. These are things like grocery shopping or riding public transport. These from my personal experience were not things I was every taught about. I see that they do not really have a easy way to be a part of the classroom and are more easily learnt when the student is in the target culture. Speaking to native speakers of the target culture is also a limitation in the classroom. Many teachers are not native to the language they are teaching so any authentic material that students listen to is a recording, live face to face interaction to the accent and culture is rare.
Culture is a very important aspect of language learning, however, often times, there is not enough emphasis placed on teaching and addressing cultural norms in foreign societies. I strongly believe that cultural instruction should be initiated at the beginning of a student's foreign language instruction. In my experience, culture is a supplemental part of learning a second language because if students just learn a language and how to communicate with individuals from another country, and bypass learning about traditions, social norms, holidays, etc. that pertain to other people, then along the way through their interaction, the learners may end up crossing social boundaries that could negatively affect their ability to properly interact in the target language and culture, as well as affect their ability to create and sustain relationships with people who belong to a different culture. Another important point to argue regarding the importance of learning about a target culture; knowledge of a foreign culture creates a form of awareness that a student will be able to apply throughout their life, well beyond interaction with a person from the target culture. Having a solid foundation in cultural awareness and understanding can help individuals greatly in their professional life, given that we are all citizens of a global society, in addition to the overwhelming amount of ethnic and cultural diversity present in the United States.
ReplyDeleteI believe that teaching target culture in the classroom environment is very achievable through the use of resources. I have found, in my experience, that using authentic material from my cultural interactions and experience has been very useful, and has served a dual role by augmenting my teaching of target culture, as well as get my students excited about the material. Simply by sharing my foreign experiences and showing pictures/videos that pertain to the material during the cultural lesson has given me a tremendous advantage because the lesson has been easier to run through, and my students have showed more interest when they find a direct way to relate to the experience, rather than only reading about it in the textbook. I think that this simple method can work to any instructor's advantage (especially in lower levels) when teaching target culture in their class. I would like to add, however, that even though this method serves as being extremely useful, I believe that it can only shape a student's cultural competence to a certain level. One thing I have found important through my learning of Spanish and Hispanic culture is being put in a setting on a regular basis where I had the ability to interact with native speakers. When I was in high school, I worked three days a week at the Latin American Center in Manchester, NH; which I continued for three years. Through this frequent exchange with native speakers, I found that it provided me the opportunity to acquire a lot of knowledge and tolerance for Hispanic culture and traditions, and the longer I worked in this role, my understanding of Hispanic culture became greatly enriched. I believe that out-of-class experiences like this should be used in order to build on to a student's experience with the target culture to facilitate enhanced understanding, knowledge and acceptance.
Limitations that I have found to hinder students' learning of target culture have been poor use (by the students) with the target language, and a lack of diversity in course curriculums; where there is a diminished emphasis placed on teaching target culture. I believe that many school districts and universities across the country need to create a better balance in curriculum design so that students have a chance to become more interested in cultural aspects. As stated above, another limitation that I identify with is students not having an opportunity to build on their understanding of target culture outside of the classroom. I think it would be quite beneficial for students to even spend one day a week integrating themselves in the target culture through interaction with native speakers, or some kind of community outreach.
DeleteIn terms of how target culture should be “learned”, there is not a better a better equivalent of authentic cultural material than to go abroad and immerse yourself in a C2. I don’t believe that culture is something that can be taught so abruptly, but over a long period of time, dues to so many different aspects of what is considered as cultural material; such is the case we see when C2 is first being introduced to introductory students of a L2 class. With the use of authentic materials(textbooks, music, videos, articles, internet resources, etc.) hopefully it ties into the grammar lessons, language and culture are intertwined as should be treated as two pieces of a whole.
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of L2 students that are not able to experience immersion into a C2, until they have already been exposed to materials that allow to understand the “Anticipatory Socialization”, the process of socialization in which a person role plays potential positions, occupations, and social relationships. An example of this would be how to order food in a restaurant or how to pay for an item being purchased at a store. The other cultural variation, “Primary Socialization” is the process of when people learn the accepted behaviors, history, and beliefs of a particular culture. This cultural variation is lightly exposed to students during L2 instruction, it is learned from real life experience; i.e., cultural immersion.
I think that it is possible to teach (some or many) aspects of culture and develop students’ intercultural competence in the classroom setting, but the brunt of C2 learning is mostly independent. The cultural topic must be of some interest to the students or it will be wasted time. Also the authentic material must relate with either the grammar lesson, or have a specific cultural significance that can be related to their own C1. In the beginning of learning about a target culture the focus is centered more on vocabulary, and being able to translate and demonstrate comprehension. Using the C2 target language to understand the “informative” aspect of the culture; down the line as the L2 students will continue to improve their literary skills, their target cultural assignments will move away from only being able to identify the information and define it. The students will progress towards being able to draw parallels between the cultures and create analytical observations displaying cultural awareness, and L2 proficiency.
There are limitations in terms of C2 teaching within a classroom, for example, culture and language are always changing. What is considered to be the truth or factual information today may change tomorrow. Language and culture are essences of human life, they are the manifestation of ideas, beliefs, acceptable human behaviors that are unique characteristics of a certain group. Also there is to consider on how to introduce C2 to an introductory class. Perhaps the students may focus more on what is grammatically correct, and not what is the distinction between their C1 and C2. It is not a large obstacle, but still one to consider when contemplating on how to teach the target culture. I find there to be less limitations in how the students can learn about the target culture once they are at the Intermediate and Advanced level classes.