A Standard-based Approach to teach the target culture component: The Why s and How s

1. A Standard-based Approach to teach the target culture component: The Why�s and How�s Mohamed Abouhachni Fulbright FLTA - Morocco Southern Illinois University Edwardsville mabouha@siue.edu

2. People live in communities that are different from each other. Therefore, they verbalize their intentions, thoughts, and social values differently. In spite of any differences, people manage to communicate, somehow, with others outside their immediate environment: They interact, share, cooperate, negotiate, struggle, fight ��� etc However, their communication happens to be defective often times. Why? Insufficient knowledge of the other�s culture hampers effective communication and causes misunderstanding and sometimes a total communication breakdown. As Foreign Language Teachers, how can we ensure that our students have developed, not only linguistic proficiency, but also pragmatic competence and cross-cultural awareness ? Introduction

3.  The ever-lasting controversy: What to teach - Language or culture?

4. Language: *The words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community. .... a formal system of signs and symbols including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions. *It is a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings. Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2010 Basic definitions

5. Culture: *The customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group. *A set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.....the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a time or place. Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2010 * �A historically transmitted semiotic network constructed by humans and which allows them to develop, communicate and perpetuate their knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about the world.� Geertz 1973 *�The pattern of meaning embodied in symbolic forms including actions, utterances and meaningful objects of various kinds, by virtue of which individuals communicate with one another and share their experiences, conceptions and beliefs.� Thompson 1990

6. Culture includes:

7. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proposed that people of different cultures think and behave differently because the languages they speak influence them to do so. Trying to treat a culture like another is like trying to force an object into a container made for another. �Language neither drives culture nor is driven by it; the old question about which can be set aside is irrelevant, because the relation is not one of cause and effect but rather one of realization: that is, culture and language co-evolve in the same relationship as that in which, within language, meaning and expression co-evolve.� Halliday 1993 Applied linguistics considerations

8. To truly understand a culture, it is necessary to study / examine it from within (be participant in it) To fully understand a language, it is necessary to study/examine it from within the culture in which it exists and is used. The relationship and influence between language and culture is bi-directional. Cultural relativism Vs Linguistic relativism

9. The rationale for teaching culture in foreign language classes

10. Communication is rarely culture-free. Even with a shared language, successful communication may depend on socio-cultural factors. Cultural values are both reflected by and carried through language. Therefore, it is inevitable that representation of culture implicitly or explicitly enters into second language teaching. A foreign language learner needs to achieve functional abilities in the target language as well; it is necessary to: (1) learn how to understand and create language that is appropriate to the situations in which one is functioning. (2) employ the proper illocutionary patterns in accordance with the socio-cultural parameters of those situations. Failure in this respect may cause users to miss key points that are being communicated or have their message be misunderstood.

11. Most of communication breakdowns and stereotypical labeling of the foreign language users � as being insensitive, rude, or inept � is due to their poor pragmatic competence. Among the broad aims of foreign language teaching is the development of insights into the foreign culture and positive attitudes toward foreign people. Developing cultural awareness means being aware of members of another cultural group: their behavior, their expectations, their perspectives and values. It also means attempting to understand the reasons for their actions and beliefs. Recently, most work on the learning and teaching of the target culture has been more interested in attitudinal issues relating to learners� development of tolerance and understanding of other cultures as well as in the degree to which the study of other cultures enhances cultural self-awareness.

12. Standard-based instruction

13. Standards are statements about (1) what students should know and be able to do, (2) how they give evidence of learning, and (3) how well they should be expected to know or do a task. Standards are necessary! They serve as rigorous goals for teaching and learning. Setting high standards enables students, parents, educators, and citizens to know what students should have learned at a given point in time. The absence of standards has consequences similar to lack of goals in any pursuit. Without clear goals, students may be unmotivated and confused. What are standards?

14. Standards fall into (3) types: *Content standards: refer to what students should know and be able to do. *Performance standards: tell how students will show that they are meeting a standard. *Proficiency standards: indicate how well students must perform. Types of standards

15. The 5 Cs In the foreign language classrooms, the core of the what and how of language learning is built around a framework of five target goal areas: Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities.

16. Learners, within this framework, are actively engaged in very challenging and well-built language activities conducive to the exploration of the multi-dimensional aspects of the target language. Similarly, learners are provided the opportunity to use English to understand, gain insights into, and interact with other cultures. Learners are also encouraged to relate what they learn in class to their own community since the ability to serve one�s community is the aim of the teaching-learning operation as a whole.

17. Gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures. *Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the target culture(s). *Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the target culture(s). The �C� for �Cultures�

18. Practices: the patterns of behavior accepted by a society; they represent knowledge of �what to do when and where�. (like the forms of address, greetings, the use of space, body language, table manners, meal-time etiquette�..) Products: refer to the things created by members of a given culture, both tangible (like a piece of literature or painting, types of housing, eating utensils�.) and intangible (like religious rituals, oral folktales, dance, educational system..) Perspectives: the traditional ideas, attitudes, meanings and values of members of a culture.(like status of women, family structure, views towards wealth, social status��) The 3 Ps of Cultures

19. Classroom techniques to promote cross-cultural awareness

21. ??? ???????? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ?????? ????????? ??????????????? ???????? ??????????? ????????????? ? ????? ???????????? ????? ??????? ??????????? ? ????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???? ??????? ? ????? 13 O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honored of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). Sura Al-Hujuraat (Verse 13)

22. Thank you.You have been such a wonderful audience !! Any questions?

23. Barfield, S.C., & Uzarski, J.(2009). Integrating Indigenous Cultures into English Language Teaching. English language Forum, 47(1), 2-9. Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Longman. Chlopek, Z. (2008). The Intercultural Approach to EFL Teaching and Learning. English Teaching Forum, 46(4),10-19. MATE. (2008). The Pedagogical Guidelines for the Teaching of English in the Moroccan High Schools. Newsletter of the Moroccan Association of Teachers of English, 25 (3-4), 1-32. Rowe, B. M., & Levine, D. P. (2009). A concise introduction to linguistics. Boston, MA: Pearson/ Allyn and Bacon. Salli-�opur, D. (2008). Using Anecdotes in Language Class. English Language Forum, 46(1), 34-39. Shrum, J. L., & Glisan, E. W. (2000). Teachers handbook: Contextualized language instruction. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. References