Culture of English Speaking Countries - Week 3 - Defining Culture

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 3 of the course Culture of English Speaking Countries for the bachelor's in English teaching at ULACIT term IC 2023. This week we will discuss definitions of culture and Moran's 5 Dimensions model. Then we will consider the topics of cultural/national exceptionalism in the US and Costa Rica and discuss the historical influence of religion on the culture of the United States.

Today's Goals:

• Discuss the topic of cultural exceptionalism in the US and Costa Rica.
• Explore the cultural iceberg by using Moran's Five Dimensions to describe a cultural phenomenon in Costa Rica.
• Compare the impact that religion has had on the United States and in Costa Rica.

Guiding Questions:

• What is cultural exceptionalism and why does it exist?
• How are the five dimensions of culture interrelated?
• What impact has religion had on the persepectives and practices of your culture?

Warm Up: Metaphors for Understanding Culture

Click the link below and go to your group's section of the document.

• Presentation: CLICK HERE

Task 1: Week 2 Recall

Last week we discussed the four cultural knowings that form the cultural experience. We also discussed the ideas of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism. Complete the following tasks with your partners to review these important concepts. 

• The Cultural Experience: Click on your group link below and complete the chart with the missing information by copy/pasting the names of the stages, their descriptions, and examples into the green spaces.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE

• My Cultural Experience: Can you think of an example of a cultural learning experience you have had and describe it using the four cultural knowings? This could be an experience you have had with someone from another country, another part of your country, or even experiences adapting to a new school or work environment. 

Theory Break: The Cultural Knowings

• "The cultural knowings framework offers a means for describing culture in terms of what students need to do in order to learn it - their encounters with another way of life. Once these interactions are specified, the learning objectives follow, as do the choice of teaching and learning activities and the appropriate means of evaluation (Moran, p. 15)."

Learn the Rules of Trash Collection in Vermont

• Knowing How: The landlord told us to be careful and pointed us to a sign with rules. We tried and failed. And tried again and failed again.

• Knowing About: We read the rules. We discussed it with our neighbors and professors and even with our landlord again.

• Knowing Why: We understood the importance of helping the environment for the people of Brattleboro.

• Knowing Myself: We rejected this cultural practice after several attempts to participate.

Task 2: Ethnocentrism and Cultural Exceptionalism

We learned last week that all cultures are ethnocentric. This means that members of the culture view their way of life, their practices, and perspectives to be the normal, default way of understanding the world. By extension, this means that they view other cultures as different. An important part of United States culture is "American Exceptionalism", the belief that America and Americans are special. Watch the video and read along with the narration. When you finish, discuss the questions below.

• How do Americans see themselves?

• How do Americans see others?

• What exceptions are mentioned? Why do you think these are exceptions?

• Why do Americans have these views about themselves and others?

• What do you think about this quote:

• "International visitors are well advised to remember that it is not malice or intentional ignorance that leads so many Americans to treat them like inferior beings. The Americans are, once again, acting the way they have been taught to act. They ahve been taught that they are superior, and they ahve learned the lesson well."

• How does your culture view its members?

• How does your culture view others?

• In you culture does there exist a feeling of "Costa Rican Exceptionalism" (or Korean Exceptionalism)? 

• If so, how does it appear?

• If not, why do you think your culture does not feel this way?

Task 3: Reading Response Exploration

Now work with your partners to discuss some of the ideas from the chapter you read in Moran (2001) called "Defining Culture". You can have your study guide open but try to look at it only when it's absolutely necessary.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE

Theory Break: The Cultural Experience

• "Seen in broad terms, culture consists of artifacts, actions, and meanings. The three components of culture - products, practices, perspectives - reflect a triangular concept. This view of culture is understandable and relatively easy to apply, with two important exceptions. Cultural artifacts, actions, and meanings do not exist apart from the people of the culture. People - alone and with others - make and use artifacts, carry out actions, and hold meanings. To capture the active role of people in their culture, I have added two dimensions to this definition: communities and persons (Moran, p. 23-24)."

Task 4: Uncovering the Iceberg

As a group choose a cultural phenomenon in Costa Rica and add ideas to the shared document. 

Possible Ideas: 

• Feria del agricultor
• Bus Travel in Costa Rica
• Beach Vacations
• New Year's Celebration
• Other ideas?

• Group Document: CLICK HERE

Task 5: Sharing our Culture Learning Journals

Last week you read the chapter "Understanding the Culture of the United States" and wrote the firest entry in your Culture Learning Journal. Take a moment to open your journal (CLICK HERE), share what you wrote, and discuss the additional prompts below:

• Summary: 
• What were the main points made by the author? Speak in general terms. You don't need to remember every detail.

• Reaction: 
• What did you think about the content of the reading? What were your thoughts, opinions, reactions, or interpretations?

• Connection:  
• Mention how these ideas are similar or different to what you know about your own home culture. What similarities and differences can you see between what you read and your own culture?


• The author describes the distribution of religions in the population of the United States. How does that compare to religions in your country?

• Read the following quotes. Then answer the questions that follow. 

• Quote: "Although there were some Catholics, the vas majority of the European settlers were Protestants, most from England. As the new nation formed, it was the Protestant branch of the Christian faith that had the strongest effect on the development of the religious climate in the United States."


• "After the Protestants broke away from the Catholic church, they found that they could not agree among themselves about many beliefs. Therefore, the Protestants began to form separate churches, called denominations."


• Because many groups left Europe to escape religious persecution, the immigrants to the colonies accepted the importance of "freedom of religion" and "separation of church and state". 

• What impact has religion had on the culture of your country?


• The chapter also talks about the Protestant work ethic and focus on self-improvement following from the idea that "God helps those who help themselves." What impact have these beliefs had on American society?

• In the US there have been no "openly" athiest presidents. In fact, with the exception of John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden, all presidents have been Protestants. JFK and Biden are the only Catholics ever to hold that office. What importance does religion play in presidential election politics in your country? Do you consider this to be a good thing? 

• Religion is also a point of cultural division in the US with many people arguing that Christian symbols should be removed from public buildings, parks, money, and the pledge of allegiance while others argue that Christianity was essential to the origins of the country and it should continue to have an important role. Are there similar disagreements in your country?

References:

Althen, G. (2011) American Ways: A Cultural Guide to the United States (3rd ed.) Intercultural Press.

·  Kearny, M., Crandall, J., & Kearny, E. (2005). American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture (3rd ed.) Pearson Education, Inc.

Moran, P. (2001). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Heinle Cengage Learning. 

  TOEIC Preparation - Week 2 - Part 1 Photos

Task 1: Preposition Practice 

You already practiced hand gestures for these prepositions with your teacher. Now it's time for you to practice with your partners. In each group one person will be the leader. The leader will do different gestures and the partners will say the preposition they see. The leader will go quickly so that it is difficult. Then after a minute, the leader will not do anymore gestures. He or she will only say a preposition and the partners have to do the corresponding gesture. After a few minutes, you can change the leader and try again. 

Click the picture to see the full version.

Task 2: Identifying Physical Relationships with Prepositions - Click on the pictures below and analyze them. What object can you identify in the picture? What prepositions can you use to describe them? Look at the sentences. What prepositions would make senses in those examples? 

Click the pictures to see the full version.

Now for the last picture, work with your partner to create sentences to describe the relationships between the people and objects in the photo. Try to use as many different prepositions as possible.

Click the picture to see the full version. 

Task 3: Facts or Opinions?
Look at the images and the descriptions below them. For each one, decide if it is a fact about the photo or an assumption. You do not need to write, only discuss.

1. The businessmen are having a meeting. (Fact / Assumption)

2. Some people are sitting on the grass. (Fact / Assumption)

3. The friends are about to play a game. (Fact / Assumption)

4. There are some clouds in the sky. (Fact / Assumption)

5. Some of the men are wearing jackets. (Fact / Assumption)

1. The repairmen are discussing a problem. (Fact / Assumption)

2. The light is difficult to fix. (Fact / Assumption)

3. The stepladder is very heavy. (Fact / Assumption)

4. There is a sign above the door. (Fact / Assumption)

5. Both men are looking up at the light. (Fact / Assumption)

1. The man is carrying plates of food. (Fact / Assumption)

2. He is about to serve some customers. (Fact / Assumption)

3. The waiter is working very hard. (Fact / Assumption)

4. The man is wearing a long-sleeved shirt. (Fact / Assumption)

5. The restaurant is very busy. (Fact / Assumption)

1. The tourist is taking a photograph. (Fact / Assumption)

2. The woman is wearing sunglasses. (Fact / Assumption)

3. There are some cars in the background. (Fact / Assumption)

4. The camera has failed to function. (Fact / Assumption)

5. She is holding something in her hands. (Fact / Assumption)

Task 4: Analyzing Distractor Types

Click your group link and follow the instructions. 

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Task 5: Analyzing Photos

Click your group link below and complete the document with your partners.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE
• Group 3: CLICK HERE
• Group 4: CLICK HERE
• Group 5: CLICK HERE
• Group 6: CLICK HERE

Task 6: Group Practice

Now you will complete a short quiz to put into practice what we have been studying. One person should share their screen AND computer sound. Then you can take the quiz together. If you need to listen to part of the audio again, you can do it before moving to the next section. When you finish, check your answers. Say what is wrong with the incorrect distractors. 

• Group Quiz 1: CLICK HERE
• Group Quiz 2: CLICK HERE

  Culture of English Speaking Countries - Week 2 - The Culture Experience

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 2 of the course Culture of English Speaking Countries for the bachelor's in English teaching at ULACIT term IC 2023. This week we will discuss content related to the culture experience, the four cultural knowings, ethnocenrism and cultural relativism, and also the topic of cultural pluralism and national identity.

Today's Goals:

• Describe the four cultural knowings that make up the culture learning experience.
• Classify the content, activities, and outcomes of culture learning.
• Compare and contrast the perspectives on immigration and cultural pluralism in the US and your home country.

Guiding Questions:

• What are the four cultural knowings and how can they help me better understand the cultural expderience?
• How can the cultural knowings help teachers conceptualize what aspects of culture to teach and how best to do it?
• How does cultural pluralism contribute to the national identity of my country?

Warm Up: Where in the World?

Click the link below and follow the teacher's instructions to play the game.

• JamBoard: CLICK HERE

Task 1: Week 1 Recall

Last week we introduced the course and discussed several important topics. Let's strengthen your memory by making some attempts to recall some of the key moments of last lesson. Discuss these questions with your partners:

• Teacher: Mark mentioned that one of his favorite foods is ceviche and he showed a picture of one he made. Can you remember the secret ingredient?

• Assessments: Your teacher summarized the key points from the syllabus and you were expected to read the syllabus in detail over the week. What do you remember about the following assessments. 

• Culture Learning Journal (25%)
• Reading Responses (15%)
• Cultureal Map Video Podcast (15%)
• Folktale Analysis Presentation (15%)
• Holiday Research Paper and Presentation (20%)
• LinkedIn Learning Course Certificate (5%)
• CEPA (5%)

• Poem: You reconstructed, read, and analyzed a poem called "The Blind Men and the Elephant". What was it about? What was the author's message? How can the poem serve as a metaphor for the process of learning, describing, and teaching culture?

• Cultural Analysis: You read about the rituals of the Nacirema people. What do you remember about their customs? What was the authors intended message? What is the importance of the following terms: 

• Ethnocentrism
• Cultural Relativism

• "Culture hides much more than it reveals, and strangely enough what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture but to understand our own." - Edward T. Hall

• English Speaking?: We finished by questioning what we mean by the term "English Speaking Country". Why is the definition of this phrase not obvious? What complexities did we explore regarding this topic?

Task 2: Reading Response Exploration

Now work with your partners to discuss some of the ideas from the chapter you read in Moran (2001) called "The Culture Learning Experience". You can have your study guide open but try to look at it only when it's absolutely necessary.

• Group 1: CLICK HERE
• Group 2: CLICK HERE

Theory Break: The Cultural Experience

• "As teachers, we have little difficulty listing cultural topics, but organizing them is another matter entirely. For good reasons. Culture is multifaceted and complex, and there is no consensus on what culture is (Moran, p. 13)."

• "As language teachers, our challenge is to bring some order to the apparent randomness of culture, both for ourselves and for the students in our classes, as a first step in making culture accessible (Moran, p. 13)."

• "Culture has many definitions... For the most part, these definitions present culture as an abstract entity that can be separated from the experience of participating in it. While they do help us understand the nature of culture, these definitions remain abstract, disconnected from the people who live in that culture, and more importantly, from the experience of participating in that culture (Moran, p. 13)."  

Theory Break: The Cultural Knowings

• "The cultural knowings framework offers a means for describing culture in terms of what students need to do in order to learn it - their encounters with another way of life. Once these interactions are specified, the learning objectives follow, as do the choice of teaching and learning activities and the appropriate means of evaluation (Moran, p. 15)."

• In terms of the stages of the cylce, concrete experience becomes participation, where the task is direct or indirect engagement in the culture, with an emphasis on knowing how. Reflective observation becomes description, with a focus on knowing about. Abstract conceptualization becomes interpretation, where learners concentrate on knowing why. Active experimentation becomes response, with an emphasis on self-awareness, knowing oneself (Moran, p. 19)."

• Reflection: Moran gives the example of a female college student from the US studying abroad in the Dominican Republic. What were some of her initial confusing experiences? How did she interpret them? How did she come to greater levels of self-awareness as she also learned the other knowings (about, how, and why)? 

• Task: Describe a time when you had an experience with another culture. Use the language of the experiential learning cycle and the Cultural Knowings framework to illustrate your learning process and your own reactions to it.

• "The cultural experience is highly personal, and therefore idiosynchratic. Individual learners need to understand themselves and their own culture as a means to comprehending, adapting to, or integrating into the [target] culture (Moran, p. 17)."

• "In the end, individual learners set the limits of knowing about, how, and why. They decide. For this reason, knowing oneself is the organizing dimension of the cultural knowings. Learners' abilities to make such decisions depend on their awareness of themselves, their situation, and their intentions. The more aware they are, the more focused their work becomes in the acquisition of cultural information, skills, and understanding (Moran, p. 17)."

Learn the Rules of Trash Collection in Vermont

• Knowing How: The landlord told us to be careful and pointed us to a sign with rules. We tried and failed. And tried again and failed again.

• Knowing About: We read the rules. We discussed it with our neighbors and professors and even with our landlord again.

• Knowing Why: We understood the importance of helping the environment for the people of Brattleboro.

• Knowing Myself: We rejected this cultural practice after several attempts to participate.

Task 4: Sharing our Culture Learning Journals

Last week you read the chapter "Understanding the Culture of the United States" and wrote the firest entry in your Culture Learning Journal. Take a moment to open your journal (CLICK HERE), share what you wrote, and discuss the additional prompts below:

• Summary: 
• What were the main points made by the author? Speak in general terms. You don't need to remember every detail.

• Reaction: 
• What did you think about the content of the reading? What were your thoughts, opinions, reactions, or interpretations?

• Connection:  
• Mention how these ideas are similar or different to what you know about your own home culture. What similarities and differences can you see between what you read and your own culture?


• The author describes the United States as a nation of immigrants. Would you say that your own home country is also a nation of immigrants? Why or why not? What impact have immigrants had on your culture?

• Read the following quote from page 6. Then answer the questions that follow. 

• Quote: "One of the critical questions facing the United States today is what role new immigrants will play in their new country. To what degree will they choose to take on the traditional American values and culture? How much will they try to maintain some of their own language and cultural traditions? Will they create an entirely new culture based on some combination of their values and those of the traditional American culture?"

• What challenges do you think immigrants and the children of immigrants have when trying to form their identity in the United States? Do you think immigrants in your home country face similar challenges? Is there concern in your country that immigrant populations do not assimilate into the mainstream culture? Is cultural diversity celebrated or is maintaining cultural values and traditions from the immigrant home cultures seen as a threat to your country's national identity?


• One of the cultural issues your teacher encountered early in his experiences in Costa Rica was the sensitivity that some people have about the words America and Americans. On page 8 of the chapter, the author describes why this is truly a linguistic problem rather than a view of superiority.

• What do people in the United States mean when they say America or Americans?
• What do people in Latin American mean by those terms?
• Why don't people in the US use terms like "estadounidense" in English?
• What is the problem with refering to people from the US as North Americans?

References:

Kearny, M., Crandall, J., & Kearny, E. (2005). American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture (3rd ed.) Pearson Education, Inc.

Moran, P. (2001). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Heinle Cengage Learning.

 Teaching Grammar and Writing - Week 2 - Grammar as a Process

Introduction: Hello and welcome to Week 2 of the course Teaching Grammar and Writing for the Master's in English Teaching at ULACIT in term IC 2023. In this class we will discuss challenges to the traditional structuralist views of grammar and instead make the case that it is a skill and a dynamic organism. We will also look at your grammar drill design and consider principles for guided discovery techniques in grammar instruction.

Today's Goals:

• Discuss ways grammar can be viewed as a dynamic process or action rather than a product or object.
• Describe the relationship between grammar and context.
• Consider alternative metaphors for grammar and langauge acquisition.

Guiding Questions:

• What are some differences between product and process views of grammar?
• What is the relationship between grammar and context?
• In what ways is a mechanic view grammar and an acquisition view of language learning inadequate?

Task 1: Activity Type Demo - Grammar Drills

In this course you will be asked to create sample grammar activities in order to compile a portfolio of grammar activitiy types that describes their basic features, strengths, and challenges. 

• Characteristics: What are the features of a drill or restricted output activity?
• Example: What activity did you create?
• Strengths: In what ways are drills potentially beneficial?
• Challenges: What potential limitations or challegnes are associated with drills?

• Additional Considerations: CLICK HERE

Task 2: Assigned Reading Discussion - Grammar as a Process

For homework you read the chapter "Grammar as a Process" from the book Uncovering Grammar (Thornbury, 2001). Take a few minutes to discuss the questions below to review some of the concepts.

• Thornbury begins the chapter by asking the question "Is grammar a thing or is it something that happens?"

•  What does he mean by that? 
• In what ways can we think of grammar as a noun and in what ways can we think of grammar as a verb?

• Consider this quote from the beginning of the chapter. Read it carefully then describe what it means to you and what you think about it.

• "Inferring the process of language acquisition from its product (grammar) is like inferrring the process of 'omeletting' from the omelette... It ignores the fact that the product and the process are two quite different things - that there is grammar and there is grammaring, and the latter is not easily inferable form the former. In short, a description of used language is not the same as language being used."

• Another part of the chapter descriped situations in which very little (if any) grammar is needed to communicate and other situations in which grammar is needed to "fill in the gaps". 

• What are some examples of situations where less grammar is needed? 
• In other situations, what are the kinds of gaps that grammar is needed to fill?

• There chapter also contained the first two diagrams below talking about the relationship between context and grammar. I also added a third diagram to illustarate the influence of social distance and status on grammar. Explain in your own words what you undertand these diagrams to mean.

Click to view full size image.

• In the chapter there were two sample dialogues. Read each one aloud then discuss these questions.

• Which dialogue sounded more natural? Why?
• Which circle(s) from the diagrams above does this example help to illustrate?

Click to view full size image.

Task 3: Grammar as a Dynamic Organism

Chapter 3 from Diane Larsen-Freeman's (2003) book Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring contrast the traditional "static"conception of grammar by proposing four ways in which it is a "dynamic" system, one that is better described with an ecological or organic metaphor rather than the traditional mechanistic ones.

References:

Larsen-Freeman, D. (2003). Teaching Language: From Grammar to Grammaring. Heinle Cengage Learning.

Thornbury, S. (2001). Uncovering Grammar. Macmillan Education.

  TOEIC Preparation -Week 1 - Course Intro and Part 1

Introduction: Welcome to the first day of the course. Let's take a moment at the beginning of the class today to get to know each other and set our intentions for this course.

Task 1: Nice to Meet You (5 minutes)

Have a conversation to get to know your partners. Ask and answer questions to learn basic personal information.

• Name
• Hometown
• Studies (past, present, future)
• Work
• Hobbies
• Favorite things

Task 2: Class Experiences (10 minutes)

Now discuss some of your previous experiences with English classes.

Click the picture to see the full size.

Task 3: Class Rules and Requests (5 minutes)

Online classes and face to face classes are not the same. What are some recommendations we should follow to make this course a nice experience?

• What do you need from: the teacher, your partners, and yourself?
• What you want your teacher, your partners, and yourself to do?
• What are some positive actions that your teacher, your partners, and you can do to contribute to a nice learning experience in this course?

Task 4: Page 7 - Task A - In this task you are asked to identify words and phrases that describe an event. Look at the event on the left and then consider the phrases on the right. Which phrases do you NOT ASSOCIATE with that event? Why not?

Click the picture to see the full version.

Task 5: Group Practice

Now you will work together with your partners to complete a strategy practice and group quiz. One member of the group should share the screen (and computer sound), click the link below, and follow the instructions. 

• Group Quiz: CLICK HERE

Task 6: Preposition Practice 

You already practiced hand gestures for these prepositions with your teacher. Now it's time for you to practice with your partners. In each group one person will be the leader. The leader will do different gestures and the partners will say the preposition they see. The leader will go quickly so that it is difficult. Then after a minute, the leader will not do anymore gestures. He or she will only say a preposition and the partners have to do the corresponding gesture. After a few minutes, you can change the leader and try again. 

Click the picture to see the full version.

Task 7: Identifying Physical Relationships with Prepositions - Click on the pictures below and analyze them. What object can you identify in the picture? What prepositions can you use to describe them? Look at the sentences. What prepositions would make senses in those examples? 

Click the pictures to see the full version.

Now for the last picture, work with your partner to create sentences to describe the relationships between the people and objects in the photo. Try to use as many different prepositions as possible.

Click the picture to see the full version.