Response Paper 6: Movies

Response Paper 6:

• Describe the difference between both movies. Describe what happened , using operations, acts, and scenarios. And explain the significance of these movies to your lives.
• In “Shall we dance” a married man goes to dancing classes without telling his wife and children because he is looking for a passion that he has lost over the years of daily routine. In “Shall we dansu”? A single guy goes to dancing classes and falls in love with his dancing partner.
• So the basic difference for me is that in “Shall we dance” passion and love are separated, and in the other version they are not. That may reflect the north-American way of thinking that couples must not share every minute of their free time together, but can follow their separate hobbies.(?)
• At the same time both movies have the message that we should never lose our passion and do things that make us happy, no matter how others may look at them.

• Questions to determine appropriateness in cultural practices. Table 6.2 page.72
• Avoiding attention:
• 1. Scenario in Germany: A young woman is sitting alone in a café. She has already ordered a café, but is still looking at the menu. The waiter approaches her and asks if he can bring her something else. She tells him she has not decided yet. The waiter leaves her alone.
• 2. Scenario in Costa Rica: A you woman is sitting alone in a park, reading a magazine. A guy approaches her and asks her for money. She tells him she does not have any, and turns her back to him. The guy walks away.
• 3. Scenario anywhere: A young woman is sitting in a park reading a magazine. A guy approaches her and starts telling her how pretty she is. Then he asks her if she gives him her telephone number. The woman tells him that she is married, so he walks away.

• In all the scenarios the woman has the role of the rejecter and uses body language to show her negative response to the man’s request. (She turns her back to him.) The man uses body language by first approaching and looking at her closely, and then walking away from her.
• The man always wants something from the woman: he wants her to order, to give him money, or her telephone number. He is rejected in all cases. All the scenarios can occur at any time of year. The style of communication in the first scenario would be formal/direct, in the second informal/direct, and in the last scenario informal/indirect.

Response Paper 5: Chapter 5, Cultural products

Response Paper 5:
5.2 Teaching culture : Analyzing Artifacts:

Artifact: Dog Cleaner, a machine that cleans your dog for you. You can find this artifact in every “Fressnapf” store in Germany.
Practices: It is very easy to use: You just choose the type of cleaning you want, and then push the button. Of course you will have to fill the water and shampoo up, but only once a month. For dogs that don’t like to get bathed, you just enhance the lead on the chain to the collar. You can use it every time you come home from a walk with your dog.
Persons: This product is used by dog owners. It is available in 5 different sizes.
Communities: Only dog owners who walk their dogs regularly buy the dog cleaner.
Perspectives: Dog owners use this machine to save time and backaches! cleaning up their dogs 3 or more times a day. The dog cleaner is solar powered and has a warranty of 20 years, so it is environmentally friendly.

Please see picture on BB.

5.3 Learning Culture: MAPS
My house reflects in many ways the culture I was born in. We take our shoes off when we come in. You don’t come into the living room like it is common in Costa Rica, but into the dining room. My house has 2 floors, and houses in Germany always have several floors. Typically as well is a little laundry room, an extra bed- bathroom downstairs for guests. It is common as well that there is a bedroom upstairs, but my husband and I have separate rooms to have our personal space to work, study, play the guitar… Another culture feature is that there is no television in the bedroom, and there is a fireplace downstairs like in many houses in Germany. And, of course, the dogs have their beds inside and their space and houses outside in the garage.

Please see picture on BB.

5.4 Learning Culture : Flowcharts


Please see flowcharts on BB.


(We celebrate Christmas with presents under the tree and a big meal on the 24th of December. In my home town, in the evening everybody gets together on the market place and watches a box coming down of a house roof that opens up and reveals the baby Jesus, and everybody sings Christmas songs and drinks hot wine and eats a sort of cookie called “Lebkuchen”. )


Is personal relationship to cultural content a factor in your teaching of culture?
Of course it is. If we teach a language, we must teach it in cultural contents. Only in this way language can become meaningful to our students, and they will be able to interact in the target language in a culturally acceptable way. Therefore it is our responsibility as teachers to get familiar with the cultural context of the use of the target language. As language reflects products, persons, practices, perspectives and communities, the language used in different circumstances reflects that people from different cultures, even when doing the same thing, do it in a different way. For example, no one in Costa Rica drinks hot wine on Christmas simply because it isn’t cold.

Please see pictures and flowcharts on Blackboard.

Lesson 4

I liked the photographic story, showing that especially when we travel it is our responsibility to inform ourselves about what is considered to be rude in that country. Because if we don’t, we might go around offending people all the time, which will affect the way these people see people from our country and their attitude towards them. We can’t forget that everywhere we go we represent not only ourselves, but a whole culture.
As teachers I think it means that we have to find out who our students are- do they all have the same backgrounds and beliefs? We should make an effort to find out, not only in order to not offend them, but also to be able to choose topics that are meaningful and interesting to them.

Response paper 4: Comment on the article “Culture in Second Language Teaching”

Language definitely isn’t only part of culture, but also reflects culture like any type of beliefs of a group of people. These beliefs might even change within the same culture within different groups of people that form part of that culture. For example in Germany, representing one culture, you find many groups that have different beliefs and practices (types of food for example vary lots). Of course the diversity in the States is even much bigger because people of all sorts of ethnical, racial and religious backgrounds live there.

“Teachers must be taught the social skills needed to interact effectively with students from other racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds” (Cited from Diversity within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society written by James A. Banks, Peter Cookson, Geneva Gay, Willis D. Hawley, Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, Sonia Nieto, Janet Ward Schofield and Walter G. Stephan. Published in The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Nov., 2001), pp. 196-198, 200-203
(article consists of 7 pages). Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20440100).

“ This means that language is not only part of how we define culture, it also reflects culture.” (Culture in Second Language Teaching , ELIZABETH PETERSON AND BRONWYN COLTRANE, CENTER FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS.) That’s why we mustn’t forget that when we teach language, we teach culture at the same time, and that we should make that explicit to our students, getting them to know the target culture by exploring it and therefore become empathetic with the way people say, see, do things in that culture.

Only then we can assure that our students master the language within the concepts of culture, and not only are merely able to produce some grammatical correct structures. This will help any learner to become efficient because she/he will know when to say what to whom, how to react in different situations, to respect for example physical distance and so on, and being aware of that there are so many things we have to be careful with when moving within a culture that naturally isn’t our own.

But how can we teach all the different aspects of culture? Using authentically resources really helps a lot, as long as it isn’t taken out of context. To be appropriate, literature texts and other sources must carefully be chosen according to the age and proficiency level of the group.

I liked the suggested activities like discussing nonverbal behavior, role-plays to demonstrate correct/incorrect behavior in different situations, or including individuals from the target language in the lesson. Movies and films are great because they teach learners communication in real-life: nonverbal behavior, response-time and so on…

As teachers we should think about when planning a lesson how we can give the language that we are going to teach a cultural context, since language and culture are always enhanced.

Response paper 3: Lecture on intelligent learning environments

I actually attended the activity only for one hour, then left and wasn’t allowed to come in again because there were no seats left. I would also like to say that I live far away (way to Poas volcano) and I work, so it is extremely difficult for me to attend activities out of my schedules. Nevertheless I will make my best effort to attend extracurricular activities!

Intelligent learning environments

I agree with S. Castro that we learn trough experiences, and that learning that occurs in this way is most effective and least likely to be forgotten because it becomes meaningful to the learner. ” Learning theory and research have consistently concluded that learning opportunities providing a chance to "do" or experience the educational input, result in higher learning gains and retention.”( John G. Richardson, Extension Specialist-Educational Programs, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. Recovered on the 06/09/10 from http://www.joe.org/joe/1994august/a6.php)

We know that everyone learns in a different way, so if we teach our students to recognize their best way of learning, it will make their learning process not only more effective, but also a pleasant experience for them! I have found that adults seem to constantly compare their native language system with the system of the language they want to acquire. This can sometimes be helpful, but can also obstruct the process of language adaptation. One student just kept me asking “But why is it wrong to say: I have 21 years old?”

Children might generally be more shameless than adults, but not always. I think that little boys are more shameful than little girls; they don’t want to volunteer for activities where they have to stand in front of the class. But the truth is that I don’t have experience working with children, I work with adults and teenagers so can’t really disagree with Mrs. Castro in this point.

Can we increase our intelligence? Yes, I think the more we exercise our brain, the more capable it becomes.

Response paper 2: Lesson 2

I liked the lesson because it was interactive and taught us several mechanisms we can use to get the students attention, as well as different ways to form groups.

I enjoy this course because it makes you aware of that people see things in different ways, and since we are all becoming teachers we should be able to be empathetic with people from all types of cultures and backgrounds. What might be perfectly ok to say or do in your own culture might offend a student who comes from a different cultural background.

It is important to see that there is no right or wrong and that a group of students from different cultures will actually enrich the lesson and make it more interesting to everyone. But careful! I found that especially using humor in the classroom can backfire…

Response paper 1: Lesson 1

The first lesson met my expectations what the course is going to be about because since I had/have to adapt to the costarican culture it is interesting to see for me why I struggle sometimes within this never-ending process, even after over 7 years living in this country.

I was brought up in Germany and customs and beliefs my parents taught me as a child will always be part of my manner of interacting with people… And for example being straightforward is a positive attitude in Germany, but to Ticos I sometimes seem to be rather rude …

So what I am trying to say is that I think the lesson reflected on that adapting to another culture isn’t easy, and to some things you might not get used to ever. But on the other hand traveling to and living in foreign countries, as well as learning about other cultures, definitely makes you being aware of other habits and customs etc…, and will hopefully help to build up an open-minded professional.

Leonie

Hi! My name is Leonie, and I come from a different culture: Germany!
I am married to a Costarican and have been living here for over 7 years now. I live in Fraijanes (way to Poas volcano), and I love dogs! Sometimes it is still difficult for me to adapt to the culture in Costa Rica because it is so different from the culture I was brought up in.
Nevertheless I love Costa Rica and its people! ;-)