Sunday, October 28, 2012

Teaching Culture

I am a member of a Multicultural sorority, so my idea of culture might be slightly different. I think culture is more than a description of traditions done in a certain society. Culture includes traditions, food, as well as ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, values, and morals. I think it is extremely to teach the students who are learning a second language about culture. Learning about a language isn't simply just learning the language, it also includes learning the cultures that accompanies those cultures. If the learners ever plan on visiting a region in which the language is spoken, it is important to have a basic understanding of what to expect in that region.

There are many different ways to teach culture in a classroom setting. Teachers can have students read and answer questions about a passage in their textbooks. These passages typically include a lot about culture in a way that also pertains to the vocabulary and grammar of the current lesson. Culture can be taught through songs, readings, media, movies, etc. I think culture is best taught when the context of the lesson. For example, when teaching food vocab, you can use a song or a paragraph of text that people of that culture eat during holidays or special occasions.

2 comments:

  1. Does your multicultural sorority do any special events to celebrate or teach about different cultures?

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  2. While I also believe culture is best taught within the context of the current lesson, I have also had many classes focus too much on the food part. It's hard to generalize food as a cultural idea because unless the people of the language have very unique food preferences, the people generally have their own ways of eating and do not usually follow what a textbook might stereotype.

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