Culture & SLA - Week 9 - Reading Group Activity

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 9 of the course Culture and Second Language Aquisition. In this class we will work in small groups to carry out a reading group activity regarding content from the following articles from Hinkel's book Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning:

• The Development of Interactive Competence in Another Language
• Issues in the Teaching of Pragmatic Comptence
• Cultural Codes for Calls
• Cultural Mirrors: Materials and Methods in the EFL Classroom

Today's Goals:

• Explore the results of a survey researching Costa Rican perspectives on national identity.
• Participate in a reading group with your peers in order to transmit the key concepts from your assigned academic article and guide your peers in a group discussion to connect these ideas with their teaching context and other content seen in this course.

Guiding Questions:

• What does the professional literature say about teaching culture in the L2 classroom?
• How can I promote professional discussion among peers about an academic article from my field?

Task 1: What does the research say?

A recent survey carried out among a group of adult Costa Ricans from various provinces asked participants to identify the key features of the Costa Rican national identity, mention aspects that make them unique, and to discuss what makes them happy. 

• What do you think were the most commonly mentioned words?

Click the group link to explore the results. As you read, discuss the questions below.

• Survey Results: CLICK HERE
• What words stand out? How accurately do they represent the national identity in your opinion?
• What are some of the less frequently mentioned words? How do you feel about them?

Task 2: Reading Group Activity

Now work with your assigned peers in breakout rooms. Take turns doing the following.

1. Choose who will go next and who will be the time keeper.
2. Introduce your assigned article and present your information to your peers in a clear and visually appealing way.
3. Clarify any questions or doubts your peers may have.
4. Lead your peers in a group discussion about your topic using the questions you wrote.

The time keeper will use the 15 minute timer below in order to ensure that all students have the chance to participate equally.  

References:

Hinkel, E. (2000). Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge University Press.