General Concepts

Themes Most Commonly Included (Cont’d)

• SERVICES : BANKING, POST OFFICE, ETC.
• COURTSHIP & MARRIAGE / DEATH
• HEALTH & WELFARE
• CONTEMPORARY SCENE / MEDIA/PRESS
• NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
• ETC.

• => Remember that you just cannot cover everything!
• => Select cultural aspects that are relevant and interesting for students.
• => Be aware of the language level of your students.
• => Some cultural themes are dictated by our textbooks.

Some Traditional Teaching Approaches

• cf. Galloway, Vicki (1985)

• 1. The Frankenstein Approach

• A taco from here, a flamenco dancer from there, a gaucho from here, a bullfight from there.

• 2. The 4-F Approach

• Folk dances. Festivals. Fairs. Foods.

Some Traditional Teaching Approaches

• (cont’d)

• 3. The Tour Guide Approach

• Identification of monuments, rivers, and cities.

• 4. The “By-the-Way” Approach

• Sporadic lectures or bits of behavior selected indiscriminately to emphasize sharp contrasts.

• => Oftentimes “teaching culture” equals teaching facts and showing products/artifacts. Is this enough?

• Q: Which methods do you use? What do you think of these methods?

cf. National Standards for Foreign Languages

• cf. National Standards for Foreign Languages

• Consider three inter-related components of culture: * Perspectives * Practices * Products

• =the “3-Ps Approach”

• The Prevailing Approach

• =the cultural framework to keep in mind when we teach

The 3 Ps Approach

• * Perspectives => ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and values that people tend to share within a group; they are molded by society's overarching framework and belief system (“world’s view”).

• * Practices => certain patterns/behaviors accepted by a society (traditions/rules); what to do when and where (e.g., use of personal space, use of compliments, when to kiss, hug, shake hands, etc.)

• * Products => inventions and innovations of individuals (e.g., clothing, foods, cars, songs, movies, novels, laws, etc.); they reflect the values and physical needs of a society.