Page 287 - Beyond Methods

Raising cultural consciousness 275
for exploring the nuances of cross-cultural practices. It is worth re- peating what I have said in other chapters: with some effort, teach- ers can individually or in small groups explore imaginative ways of designing their own microstrategies or try to creatively adapt com- mercially available textbooks to suit their specific needs, wants, and situations. A crucial point to remember in designing microstrate- gies for raising cultural consciousness is that teachers should make a serious attempt to access, respond, and build on learners’ vast cultural knowledge in order to help them connect the norms of their own cultural practices with those of the target language com- munity, and of the wider world, and thereby gain a deeper under- standing of all. With that goal in mind, I present below three sample microstrategies with varying degrees of conceptual and linguistic challenge.
Microstrategy 12.1: Cultural Profile
12.1.0 Cultural Profile, as a microstrategic activity, is best done at the beginning of a new academic year, or a new semester, when you and your students come together as a class. You may lead them in any getting- to-know activity to familiarize themselves with one another, and then you may do Cultural Profile as a follow-up activity. Depending on your learners’ proficiency level and participatory skills, you can skip parts, modify, or add to the activity.
12.1.1 Find out your learners’ initial knowledge of the concept of culture. Ask simple questions and, as they respond, write down some of their key words on the board, preferably in two columns. The first column should contain items that may later be explained as Culture with a big C, and the second column items related to culture with a small c. Ask the students to guess the rationale behind the categoriza- tion. Then, briefly explain the two cultural constructs, emphasizing that the class will be focusing on culture with a small c.
12.1.2 Ask every learner to select one or two (or however many) fea- tures of home culture from the second column, or, if they wish, select features that are not listed on the board. Most probably, learners will volunteer practices related to their cultural customs: holidays, festi- vals, art, music, etc.
12.1.3 Give students time (a day or a week, depending on how much work is expected of them) to collect relevant information about the cul- tural elements they selected. List potential sources of information: the