Incorporating World Cultures into Thematic Units for TEYL

        Teaching English as a second or a foreign language should not be limited to the teaching of linguistic skills and the culture of the target language. It should rather highlight other cultural diversities to prepare young learners (YLs) for a multicultural world.

Why at an Early Age?

     

        Young children with traits of a mono-cultural society need to be exposed to different aspects of other cultures at an early age so as to become independent thinkers, behave as members of a global and multi-cultural society, and build positive attitudes towards the differences of others because at that age kids are vulnerable and run risks of being influenced by ready-made stereotypes and negative attitudes instilled by adults explicitly and or implicitly. Exposure to different cultures at an early age leaves almost no room for stereotypes.

         Language teachers should be careful when selecting aspects of world cultures they intend to introduce to their YLs and should appropriately play the role of the more knowledgeable other as “children learn through effective scaffolding by adults” (Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976).

        Moreover, young learners respond favorably to differences and diversities as they are sociable by nature and are able to reflect on what they are exposed to. Vygotsky (1962) stated that “children learn through social interaction” and Piaget (1970) added that “children are active learners and thinkers.” Through teacher scaffolding, young learners gain insight into their own culture and other cultures as well as develop an intercultural communicative competence to “emphasize the mediation between different cultures, the ability to look at oneself from an ‘external’ perspective, analyze and adapt one’s own behaviours, values and beliefs” (Byram & Zarate, 1997).

 Cultural Aspects and Young Learners’ Profile

    

           “Young learners are very much linked to their surroundings and are more interested in the physical and the tangible” (Shin, 2006). They need to be exposed to what has connection with their real world. When teaching cultural aspects, teachers should start with commonalities and introduce what is familiar to their kids. The content should be of direct interest to YLs as well. Teachers should not be judgmental, but should be neutral and should pay attention to stereotypes, pitfalls and shocking aspects. They should also bring to class what is at the concrete level of culture and avoid abstraction. As “young learners tend to have short attention spans and a lot of physical energy” (Shin, 2006), culture input need to be split up into short hands-on-activities that involve much interaction and movement.

            Language teachers should enable young learners to actively engage in culture learning, rather than only learn about cultural information in a passive way, engage them in the process of exploring, comparing and contrasting their own culture and other cultures without being judgmental, and involve them in the process of discovering their own cultural dimensions and cultural differences. They should know when to intervene to adjust learners’ attitudes towards cultural otherness. It is the teacher’s role to empower YLs and sharpen their critical thinking skills to reflect on cultural otherness and set stereotypes into questions.

 

Where to Incorporate the Diverse Aspects of World Cultures in the Curriculum?

       An optimal way to introduce cultural aspects to YLs is through thematic units. A thematic unit is a series of lessons on the same topic or subject. Teachers can either incorporate a cultural aspect of a particular society or societies in each lesson or devote at least one session that has world cultures as content to culminate the unit.

Why Thematic Units?

       “Themes based on curricula from students’ other subjects are also effective” (Haas 2000). Thematic units can create broader contexts in which young learners focus more on content and communication than on language structure. Through thematic units there will be:

–        more comprehensible instruction

–        meaningful context

–        achievement of meaningful goals through language

–        smooth transition between activities and lessons

–        connection of content, language and culture to a broad idea

–        incorporation of real life situations in instruction.

–        Integration of language skills communicatively and naturally

–        focus on experiential learning

–        easy selection of the cultural aspects.

–        adaptation of the cultural aspects

–        reinforcement of the awareness of cultural aspects through recycling

–        more motivation and learner involvement

Examples of cultural aspects related to themes:

Intercultural Competence

Messner & Schäfer (2012) defined intercultural competence as the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures. In interactions with people from foreign cultures, a person who is interculturally competent understands the culture-specific concepts of perception, thinking, feeling, and acting. Ruben (1976) identified seven dimensions of intercultural competence:

1. Display of respect: individual’s ability to express respect and positive regard for other individuals.

2. Interaction posture: individual’s ability to respond to others in a descriptive, non-evaluative, and non-judgmental way.

3. Orientation to knowledge: individual’s ability to recognize the extent to which knowledge is individual in nature.

4. Empathy: individual’s ability to put her/himself in someone else’s shoes.

5. Self-oriented role behavior:  individual’s ability to be flexible and to function in initiating and harmonizing roles.

6. Interaction management: individual’s ability to take turns in discussion and initiate and terminate interaction based on a reasonably accurate assessment of the needs and desires of others.

7. Tolerance for ambiguity: individual’s ability to react to new and ambiguous situations with little visible discomfort.

The process of developing intercultural competence is cyclical. Below is a pathway for developing intercultural competence (Liddicoat, 2002)

Information Sources (Input)

        Teachers should be careful when selecting information. The input may be found in:

·         Extracts from films/TV programs

·         Visual/audio prompts

·         Internet (videos, images, podcast, websites …)

·         DVD & CDs

·         Encyclopedias

·         Background information

·         Anecdotes

·         Plays & songs

·         Photographs

·         Illustrations

·         Newspapers, magazines

·         Stories

·         Jokes

·         Proverbs

Activity Types (Output)

        Activities need to be task-based and should meet YLs’ learning styles. They can be done in groups, in pairs, or individually. Below are some examples of activities that are suitable for young learners:

• Storytelling 
• Drawing
• Role-play 
• Simulation  
• Problem solving 
• Projects 
• Quizzes
• Class discussions
• Writing assignments

Intercultural Learning Scenario 
      

        Below is an example of a scenario involving social gathering and dietary habits. The scenario includes a number of activities that help develop YLs’ intercultural competence in a cyclical way following Liddicoat’s pathway.

Conclusion:

Through world cultures as content, English can be used as a vehicle to instil in young learners global citizenship values and attitudes. There is no optimal way to teach culture; teachers should contrive suitable ways that meet their learners’ profiles and should be so prudent when selecting cultural content. Finally, it seems appropriate to end this article with a poem that is a letter to teachers of young learners everywhere. It summarizes the main points in a creative and inspiring way.

World Cultures within Kids’ Reach

Dear language teacher,

Young learners are known for malleability 

And zeal to quench their curiosity

So as to grasp life aspects and any novelty

Why not seize such a golden opportunity

And make their future free from hostility?

Dear language teacher,

It is mainly your responsibility

To offer young learners the immunity

To stereotypes, prejudice and bigotry 

By exposing them to a selected variety

Of other people’s culture and society

Dear language teacher,

Enrich every class with an extra activity

About cultural aspects of a different community

Be careful! Select your items with sincerity

And mind those concealing duplicity

To avoid any backfire or tendency to animosity

Dear language teacher,

When it comes to techniques and methodology

Do some readings to broaden your creativity

Then adjust them to match learner specificity

Make use of twenty-first century technology

To manage motivating hands-on activity

                                  

Chaouki M’kaddem

References:

Byram, M., & Zarate, G. (1997). Defining and assessing intercultural competence: Some principles

             and pro-posals for the European context. Language Teaching, 29, 239–243.

Haas, M. 2000. Thematic, communicative language teaching in the K–8 classroom. ERICDigestEDO- FL-00-04. http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0004thematic.html

Liddicoat, A.J. (2002). Static and dynamic views of culture and intercultural language acquisition. Babel, 36(3), 4–11, 37.

Messner, W., & Schäfer, N. (2012) The ICCA Facilitator's Manual. Intercultural Communication and Collaboration Appraisal. London: GloBus Research, p. 41

M’kaddem, Chaouki. ELT Poems by Chaouki M'kaddem. Retrieved from http://chaoukieltpoems.blogspot.com/

Piaget, J. (1970). The science of education and the psychology of the child. New York:

Orion Press.

Ruben, B. D. (1976). Assessing communication competency for intercultural adaptation. Group and Organization Studies, 1, 334-354.

Shin, J. K. (2006). Ten helpful ideas for teaching English to young learners. English Teaching Forum, 2. p. 2-7, 13. Retrieved from http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/06-44-2-b.pdf

Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Wood, D., Bruner, J, & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal

of child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17:2, 89–100.

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