Job Discussion Forums

[gaijinalways]

These are excerpts from a recent Mike Guest column in the Daily Yomiuri in Japan entitled Playing 'culture card' to win points

He is very negative here giving 12 examples of how not to teach culture.

they are;

1) You can use culture as an excuse to exclude other people.

2) Culture is an acceptable way of stating your in-group's superiority.

3) Culture allows you to claim some universal human value as somehow belonging exclusively to your group.

4) Culture mean focusing on differences, espcially on rules and prohibitions.

5) Remember: Your people have personalities. other people have culture.

6) Claim that culture is implicit in absolutely everything that other people do.

7) You can use cultural reductionism to justify your prejudices, no matter what the cultural traits are.

You can plausibily maintain anything you want to believe about a culture, no matter how unrealistic these claims may actually be.

9) Your culture equals, conveniently, whatever you happen to believe.

10) Culture can explain why people from other cultures dislike or don't understand you personally.

11) Culture can be a convenient way of avoiding justifications and explanations.

12) Claim that the cultures of foreign languages will infiltrate the speaker like a virus.

So how should we teach culture ?

[Mike_2007]

[spiral78]

I think 'teaching culture' is about communicating how culture influences language - both verbal and non-verbal. This doesn't imply that any specific culture is superior in any way to others - it's a matter of helping our language learners express themselves (in English contexts) in ways that confirm that they are educated, professional, and competent in English contexts.

I'm quick to catch cultural crossover behaviors (again, verbal or non-verbal) that make my learners appear less-than-professional or educated in an English language context. They've always appreciated this...

but I teach immigrants and professionals who work in international contexts, not students who just need to pass tests.

[naturegirl321]

SOme culture is important, like knowing how big people's personal space is or whether to shake hands or give air kisses. Especially if students are planning on going to live in another country, they'll have to understand culture.

[MELEE]

I'm currently reading Context and Culture in Language Teaching which is a very interesting read.

Teaching culture is not teaching a lesson on Halloween or whatever.
Teaching culture is about explaining the difference between date and appointment.

You can not effectively teach a language without teaching it's companion culture.

[gaijinalways]

[anninhk]

You might not be asked such a question in England about the weather but there are certainly people who might ask you, if you come from a former colonial country or elsewhere, why you don't go back where you came from!

[Mike_2007]