What is culture?
Culture is a learned way of life
shared by a group of people. It includes languages, food, celebrations,
artistic expression, the arts, sports and media.
It can be divided into three groups:
Products: literature, folklore, art, music, artefacts
Behaviours: customs, habits, dress, foods, leisure
Ideas: beliefs, values, institutions
Beware of stereotypes
We must beware of stereotypes e.g.
everyone in England has tea at 4 o’clock, London is foggy; as they tend to be
outdated, idealised, represent the middle-class and often quite wrong. For
culture if dynamic and also exists on two levels. There is what we can see:
surface culture and what lies beneath: deep culture, which includes belief
systems and attitudes.
We include culture in education
Because learners should have contact with
native speakers and cooperate with them. Learners must be acquainted with the
target culture.
Stern, 1992
But what is the ‘target’ culture when learning a global language?
The Scottish Curriculum of Excellence says:
The goal of education is to equip
all pupils with the foundation skills, attitudes and expectations necessary to
prosper in a changing society
And help understand diverse
cultures and beliefs
These are all excellent reasons
for studying cultures of other countries and groups, especially in the
multicultural world we live in today, where ignorance of cultures and beliefs
leads to so much friction and even hate.
BUT: ‘the viewer contains the view’
I would argue that any study of
culture should begin with one’s own. Start with the known, then move to the
alien. For
·
Culture is a two-way process
·
Students need to have a sense of
their own cultural reality
·
We need to appreciate our own
culture in order to make comparisons and appreciate similarities
DISCUSSION TASK: FOOD
A.
Make a list of food that is
traditional in your country.
Think about why this food is
common.
What’s your favourite local food?
Is there any local food you don’t
like? Why?
What’s your favourite foreign
food?
B.
Where do these foods come from
and what are they?
Pizza
Dim sum
Sushi
Muesli
Goulash
Curry
Have you tried them? Did you like
them?
C.
Have you ever eaten any of these
foods?
Frog’s legs
Snake
Camel
Snails
Monkey brains
Chicken feet
Where do you think they are
eaten?
Would you try them, if they were
offered to you?
We use tasks like this to
·
To explore
fascinating aspects of cultures = motivation
·
To understand
diverse cultures = become a global citizen
·
Appreciate own
culture = represent own realities
·
And we don’t
forget we are teaching English = afford opportunities to use language
meaningfully
Literature
I love using all kinds of texts in the
language classroom and literature doesn’t have to mean Shakespeare and Byron,
but can be folk stories, comics, simple poems and children’s books.
The haiku is a traditional form of
Japanese poetry, consisting of 3 lines. The lines rarely rhyme.
e.g.
Ancient pond
Frog Leaps
Splash!
Haikus can be great to read and discuss in class, but particularly to get
learners to respond to them in different ways like drawing the poem and writing
their own versions.
There is something about a haiku, to me, that reflects Japanese culture:
the seeming simplicity and careful choice of a few words to create a powerful
image.
Limericks are humorous five line poems with an AABBA rhyme scheme and
strict rhythm.
e.g.
There was a young lady
named Rose
Who had a large wart on
her nose
When she had it removed
Her appearance improved
But her glasses slipped
down to her toes.
They can be read just for the fun of them and students can try writing
their own. They are great for exploring the rhyme ad rhythm of English.
In exploring literature we can learn about different cultures as well as
individuals.
Communication is “a
process by which two individuals ‘try’ to exchange a set of ideas, feelings,
symbols.. meanings”
Pierre Casse, Teaching for the Cross-Cultural
Mind, Society of Inter-Cultural Education, 1981
We must learn to understand more than just the words, but also
·
Read between the lines
·
Negotiate meaning
·
Tolerate ambiguity
·
Effectively interpret messages
·
Accept difference
Proverbs
Nothing defines a
culture as distinctly as its language, and the element of language that best
encapsulates a society's values and beliefs is its proverbs.
phrases.org.uk
Task
Introduce this Arabic proverb to your students.
The son of a duck is a
floater.
Ask them to discuss what it means and to find a proverb in their L1 that
conveys the same meaning.
In English we say: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Ask students to find proverbs in their L1 that convey the same meaning as
the following:
A woman’s work is never
done.
Never judge a book by its
cover.
You’re never too old to
learn.
This could lead to an interesting discussion.
Including culture in
language teaching
·
Brings the world into the classroom
·
Broadens students’ knowledge of world
·
Leads to classroom exploration
·
Practises more than just grammar and vocabulary
·
Allows for critical thinking
You can find examples for class room use in the following:
Video
CDs
TV programmes
Readings
Internet
Stories
Students own information
Songs
Newspapers
Interviews
Guest speakers
Anecdotes
Souvenirs
Photographs
Surveys
Illustrations
Literature
