tpack model
CONTENT
WHY TEACH CULTURE? WHY WORKPLACE CULTURE?
TESOL standards (1997) provide the following definition of culture:
The ability to function according to the cultural rules of more than one cultural system; ability to respond in culturally
sensitive and appropriate ways according to the cultural demands of a given situation, competence includes developing
understanding of cultural practices and products in addition to building awareness of both native and non-native cultural
perspectives, beliefs, and values.
(p. 154)
Byram (1997) defines intercultural competence (IC) as the "readiness to suspend disbelief and judgement with respect to others'
meanings, beliefs and behaviors and a willingness to suspend belief in one's own meanings and behaviors, and to analyze them
from the viewpoint of the others with whom one is engaging; a person who displays this competence is known as an intercultural
speaker" (p. 34).
The idea of teaching culture is not new in the second language environment. Peterson and Coltrane (2003) claim that:
In many cases, teaching culture has meant focusing a few lessons on holidays, customary clothing, folk songs, and food.
While these topics may be useful, without a broader context or frame they offer little in the way of enriching linguistic or
social insight - especially if a goal of language instruction is to enable students to function effectively in another language
and society. Understanding the cultural context of day-to-day conversational conventions such as greetings, farewells,
forms of address, thanking, making requests, and giving or receiving compliments means more than just being able to
produce grammatical sentences. It means knowing what is appropriate to say to whom, and in what situations, and it means
understanding the beliefs and values represented by the various forms and usages of the language. (p. 2)
Tavares and Cavalcanti (1996) believe that the main aim of teaching culture is to “increase student’s awareness and to develop
their curiosity towards the target culture and their own” (p. 19), while in the article by Educational Alliance, Brown University
(2006), explaining the term of Culturally Responsive Teaching, the authors claim that:
Culture is central to learning. It plays a role not only in communicating and receiving information, but also in shaping the
thinking process of groups and individuals. A pedagogy that acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates fundamental
cultures offers full, equitable access to education for students from all cultures. (p. 1)
Being an adult new immigrant is a challenging role. Regardless of their professional backgrounds and levels of language
proficiency, searching for their new identity goes hand in hand with the internal struggle for who they are and for what they can do
with their lives in their new country. Norton Peirce (1995) claims that "when language learners speak, they are not only
exchanging information with target language speakers but they are constantly organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are
and how they relate to the social world". She makes a powerful conclusion by saying that "an investment in the target language is
also an investment in a learner's own social identity, an identity which is constantly changing across time and space" (p. 18).
"Because learning transforms who we are and what we can do, it is an experience of identity, a process of becoming, or avoiding
becoming a certain person, rather than a simple accumulation of skills and knowledge" (Pavlenko and Norton, 2007, p. 670).
Pavlenko and Norton claim that through imagination learners can perceive their connection as individuals not only to people of
their immediate social networks, but also beyond them. They argue that:
The notion of imagination as a way to appropriate meanings and create new identities allow us to transcend the focus on
the learner's immediate environment, as the learning of another language, perhaps more than any other educational activity,
reflects the desire of learners to expand their range of identities and to reach out to wider worlds. (p. 670)
It is the cultural and linguistic identity creation or construction that is the key in the new immigrants' success in negotiating their
standing in Canadian society. Thus, choosing the content for my project I was guided by the existing urgent need for the human
dialogue between educators and students, superiors and employers, peers in the classroom, and co-workers in the workplace, a
dialogue that would provide language learners with “diverse opportunities to take ownership over meaning-making, and to
re-imagine an expanded range of identities for the future” (Norton 1997, p.12). Believing in the strength and value of new
immigrants' cultural capital and, consequently “making the desirable possible”, will help to maintain the social fabric of life of
newcomers, their families, and also enrich and humanize the larger community and Canadian society.
PEDAGOGY
HOW DO I TEACH CULTURE?
Innovative English language teachers should consider the ways in which our multilingual classrooms can be “re-imagined as
places of possibility for students with a wide range of histories, investments, and desires for the future” (Pavlenko and Norton,
2007, p. 678), where their histories, identities, and contributions are acknowledged and validated.
Levi (2007) outlines special qualities of culture as follows giving teachers particular pedagogical suggestions:
1. Culture as elemental
· We are deeply embedded in our own culture.
· We have to learn about our own culture first to better understand our frame of reference.
· Aim at "practical objectivity", with the learner as researcher.
2. Culture as relative
· A contrastive approach is unavoidable, but problematic.
· Generalizations have some value, as long as they are not considered absolute.
· Small scale interactive models/methods are helpful.
· Aim at direct engagement to develop a more nuanced perspective.
3. Culture as group membership
· Membership of groups is layered and multiple.
· Membership is regulated formally and informally.
· Aim at raising awareness of the cultural groups we belong to and how language is used to negotiate and sustain
membership.
4. Culture as contested
· Culture is contested at many levels.
· Culture is contested through multiple language interactions.
· Aim at raising awareness, identifying points of contestation and managing differences.
5. Culture as individual (variable and multiple)
· Cultural knowledge varies from person to person and operates at many levels.
· Students and teachers are selective in how they represent their culture.
· Aim at sharing individual experiences and building upon them.
(p. 112)
Teaching culture, it is also very important to bear in mind that "although such process does not necessarily provide learners with
lived experience or guarantee they will internalize the new cultural values, it leads them to reflect on their own and the host
cultures. It makes them more aware of the commonalities that underline the two cultures and how the differences can be bridged"
(Courchene, 1996, p. 9).
Borrowing Morasse's (1995) four step consciousness-raising procedure, my lessons are going to include the following elements:
1. Asking new residents to be observant of the day-to-day people's behaviors and asking to discuss their observation and insights.
2. Comparing their observations and insights with the true state of affairs to temper their judgements.
3. Leading them to reflect on the meaning of the observable behavior by tying it to the underlying values.
4. Drawing their attention to the legal consequences of unacceptable behavior; and telling them about their rights and
responsibilities and resources as citizens.
Most of my ESL adult learners were taught in traditional and passive classrooms. They were born and raised in countries where
learning was delivered top down, being an instructor-designed and instructor-led endeavor. According to Moore and Kearsley
(1996), “the more one understands the nature of adult learning, the better one can understand the nature of distance learning” (p.
153). In addition to that, their past educational, professional, and life experiences might not be very helpful in guiding them in
their new environment for living in the present. As a result, they might feel insecure and even hopeless at times.
Based on the Knowles’ (1980) theory of andragogy - an adult learning theory - and three other adult learning theories:
self-directed learning, experiential learning, and transformational learning, Cercone (2008) developed 13 characteristics of adult
learners to consider when designing online instruction with specific teaching recommendations and strategies to follow. For the
purpose of this project, I chose to use all 13 characteristic of adult learners but only those recommendations which are applicable
and relevant for its design and delivery.
Recommendations for Online Course Development based on Characteristics of Adult Learners:
If you experience trouble seeing the document on the screen, please download it from below.
table_with_characteristics_of_adult_learners.pdf | |
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Dema and Moeller (2012) review the National Standards in Foreign Language Education project’s (1997) Cultural Triangle Model
approach to teaching culture consisting of perspectives (why?), practices (how?), and products (what?). They demonstrates how
the 3P cultural framework can help teachers insure that culture is explored in a systematic and contextual way, examining how
products and practices are related to perspectives: underlying values, attitudes and beliefs. The authors conclude that the
acquisition of culture should take place in the environment enriched with interactions between and among the participants, based
on student-centered learning. The philosophy of collaborative inquiry allows students to ask questions, collect information, find
answers by investigation, create their own concepts and theories, and present their findings to others, promoting peer and teacher
feedback and encouraging further investigation.
TECHNOLOGY
Why and how involve technology?
While I was putting my project together, I came across some famous technology quotes that I found online. One of them,
belonging to Rao (2012), especially resonated with me. It reads: "We need technology in every classroom and in every student
and teacher's hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world."
My learners are adults ranging in age between 25 to 60. However, in their new Canadian environment, due to their busy schedules
and family responsibilities, the online format is convenient and in some cases is the only option possible. Several studies suggest
that major advantage of Web 2.0 technologies is creating learning environments which are comfortable (Antenos-Conforti, 2009;
Armstrong & Petterer, 2008; Chen, 2009), relaxed (Ducate & Lomicka, 2009), collaboration-oriented (Kressler, 2009; Lee,
2009, 2010; McCarty, 2009; Zorko, 2009), and community based (Antenos-Conforti, 2009; Baten et al., 2009; Harrison &
Thomas, 2009). They also offer favorable conditions for increasing student interaction and collaboration as well as output in
the target language (Baten et al., 2009; Chen, 2009; Lee, 2006, Peterson, 2006).
Asynchronous nature of this project will provide valuable opportunities for reflection and representation of cultural understanding.
Levy (2007) posits that "the learner has the time to consider features of their own cultural background and those of their partner,
and the time to think about how best to represent their own understanding of the C1" (p. 116).
Dema and Moeller (2012) assert that:
When teachers integrate powerful technological tools into their instruction, students are allowed to personally interact with
real data and solve open-ended problems. Integrating technology in this manner places the majority of responsibility for
negotiating meaning in the hands of the learners. This learner-centered approach allows students to start with what they
know and build their own understanding of culture. The integration of content, pedagogy, and instructional technology
when constructing knowledge promotes a rich and engaging learning environment for foreign language learners. (p. 76)
Wang and Vasquez (2012) state that "the most frequent reported benefit associated with Web 2.0 technologies is the favorable
language learning environments they help to foster" (p. 412).
Two out of eleven lessons in my project are based on video materials. Exploring the impact of video on developing cross-cultural
competence in adult ESL classes the action-research project, Wilcox (2009) argues that providing rich context for the exploration
of cultural language aspects, the use of video in ESL classrooms has a potential to enhance students' cultural awareness in ways
that other media do not. She asserts that "reflective practices based on cross-cultural content in a video, both self-regulated
(journal writing) and social (group discussions) should be encouraged and maintained as an integral part of the SL or FL program"
(p. 97). In my project, I am planning to create the environment in which my students could explore and analyze their native and
Canadian target language cultural practices, products, and perspectives through their reflections based on video materials included
in the lessons with the help of the discussion board and reflective journal.
Using reflective journal writing, my students will be invited to share their stories, surprises, and discoveries related to Canadian
culture. As Kress (2005) claims "even in a digital screen-based culture, writing is still the most important means of access to the
vast repository of knowledge of literate culture" (p. 5).
Analyzing the role of reflective journal-writing, Miller (2007) points out its significance for teachers and students alike:
For teachers the journals provide insights not only into the developing language competence of the ESL students, but also into
their experiences, identities, feelings, needs, and perceptions. The journals thus become a means both of accessing students’
voices – while scaffolding the development of language competence meaningfully – and of providing important cues for
student-centered pedagogy. (p. 24)
Miller continues by saying that:
For students journals offer powerful and nonthreatening means of presenting and negotiating their identities, along with the
way to practice and experiment with written forms of English… The key is that reflective writing done in a special diary or
journal privileges the writer’s voice and gives it both purpose and value… (p. 24)
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