Teaching culture in the target language

REFRAMING PROFICIENCY, LITERACY
AND CULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM
Mark K. Warford, Ph.D.
William L. White, Ed.D.
Wendy W. Amato, M.Ed.
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Ave.,
Buffalo, NY 14222
[email protected]
716-878-4814
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Ave.,
Buffalo, NY 14222
[email protected]
716-878-4817
University of Virginia
Ruffner Hall
405 Emmet Street
Charlottesville, VA 22904
[email protected]
540-290-4159
WELCOME!
PLEASE MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE AND
COMPLETE QUESTION SET #1
IN YOUR WORKSHOP JOURNAL
1. OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING
Clarify and reconfigure concepts of proficiency,
literacy and culture in LOTE (Language Other Than
English) teaching and learning.
 Explore interconnections between proficiency,
literacy and culture that are essential to ultimate
attainment in a LOTE.
 Introduce the Sociocultural Lesson Plan Model,
which is centered on the integration of proficiency,
literacy and culture-oriented learning outcomes.
 Create an original Sociocultural Lesson Plan
 Discuss the creation of a learning community
dedicated to promoting more culture and literacyenriched language teaching practices.
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1. TRAINING SCHEDULE
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Greetings/Introductions
Pre-test: proficiency, literacy and LOTE
Group warm-up discussion: What is proficiency? …literacy?
…culture? …how do they connect?
Two models for promoting connections between
proficiency, literacy and culture in LOTE teaching
Sociocultural Lesson Plan Model (SLPM) demos
Workshop: Creating an original SLPM Lesson Plan
Presentation of plans
Begin a conversation about further refinement and
promotion of the approach advanced in this workshop
DEFINING TERMS
Proficiency
 At the height of the proficiency movement, over
70 distinct definitions of proficiency in another
language emerged (Schulz, 1986).
 Canale and Swain (1980):
 Grammatical competence (“What form of the verb?”)
 Discourse competence (“How do I close a letter to a
friend?”)
 Sociolinguistic competence (“How do I greet Sr. X?”)
 Strategic competence (“Can’t remember the exact
word. What’s another way to say that?”
DEFINING TERMS
Literacy
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“Defining literacy, like betting on the lottery, is a
risky business. Where oncemany years agoits
definition was simple and non-controversial, now a
wave of political, economic, and educational
theories have impinged on the definition, pulling it
in different directions. Literacy definitions have
become the battleground over competing social
theories, obscuring a common core of
understanding that crosses most interests.” –
Richard Venezky (1998)
DEFINING TERMS
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The focus on linguistic proficiency neglects the discourselevel of communicating capably across cultures. Evidence:
Good grammar computation not translating to basic
functions in the target culture (Pearson, 2006).
The discourse level centers on…
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Literacy…
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Conceptions of literacy: capital ‘L’, critical theoretical
stances (literacies), digital literacy
From basic writing systems to arts and letters, literacies
often carry centuries of sociocultural history and meaningmaking that are just as important as proficiency.
“…any organized and reasonably stable area of skill or
knowledge and its associated discursive practice(s).”
III. THE COMPOSITE TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION
MODEL (WHITE, 2008)
Based on the notion that the goal of language
use, whether interpretative or interactional, is
communication for COMPLETE comprehension.
 To achieve this goal learners need the ability
to…
 1. …decode messages at the surface level.
 2. …understand discourse markers and
extended discourse
 3. …comprehend the cultural subtexts upon
which the conversation is built
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III. THE COMPOSITE TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION
MODEL (WHITE, 2008)
Extends Grice’s (1975) Maxims of Conversation
(quantity, quality, relevance and manner) to
center attenion on a…
 Maxim of Cultural Appropriateness:
 1. Avoid transfer of personal cultural
practices/perspectives onto the C2.
 2. Do not assume that cultural values transfer
across linguistic borders.
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III. THE COMPOSITE TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION
MODEL (WHITE, 2008)
III. THE COMPOSITE TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION
MODEL (WHITE, 2008)
DEFINING TERMS
 So,
how do we connect proficiency and
literacy?
 Culture:
 “…a historically transmitted semiotic network
constructed by humans...which allows them to
develop, communicate and perpetuate their
knowledge, beliefs and attitudes about the world”
(Geertz, 1973, p. 89).
 “…a set—perhaps a system—or principles of
interpretation, together with the products of that
system” (Moerman, 1988, p. 4).
 …a combination of cognitive, sociolinguistic and
behavioral capacities (AATF, 1989)
DEFINING TERMS
Culture…
Vygotsky (1986): Animals can only react to
nature; human beings, thanks to our ability to
fashion tools, can transform nature by moving,
naming, shaping, and generalizing what’s
happening around us. Cultures are colored by
particular toolkits:
 1) physical tools: pencils, hammers, chopsticks…
and
 2) symbolic tools: spoken language, writing,
grammar, road signs, post-its, e-mails, texts,
spam…
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DEFINING TERMS
Culture
National
Standards (1999)
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Problem: What if a product can be a practice
(or vice-versa)?
DEFINING TERMS
Culture
 Instead
of the ‘3 P’s’ Pyramid, Tang (2006)
proposes ‘2 M’s’:
 Cultural mind
 Cultural manifestations (products and
practices)
DEFINING TERMS
Culture
 …something
that progresses through
several stages (Seelye, 1993)
*based on Seelye (1993), the AATF framework (1989), the
National Standards (1999) and Vygotsky (1986)
DEFINING TERMS
Culture
 At
is…
the center of
 proficiency and
 literacy development
SECOND SYMBOLIC CAPACITIES MODEL
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There are reasonably measurable symbolic
capacities that learners must attain,
representing the broadest possible range of
mediation within and across social systems.
Expansion from first to second symbolic
capacities produce a third set that connotes a
higher level of symbolic capability.
FIRST SYMBOLIC CAPACITIES
…PLUS SECOND SYMBOLIC CAPACITIES
= GREATER SYMBOLIC CAPABILITY
A WALK THROUGH THE SECOND SYMBOLIC
CAPACITIES MODEL
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Vygotsky’s (1986) water molecule metaphor for
development: we cannot study water by breaking it
down into its component elements (oxygen &
hydrogen atoms); water is the dynamic interaction
of these elements.
Activity
Activity
Activity
A WALK THROUGH THE SECOND SYMBOLIC
CAPACITIES MODEL
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Like water, symbolic capacity must be not be
approached atomistically; just as the bond oxygen
shares with its two hydrogen units forms a unique
molecule, symbolic capacity has to be understood in
terms of a central cultural core that is simultaneously
the origin as well as the beneficiary of mediational
activity in two key symbolic systems, proficiency and
literacy.
A WALK THROUGH THE SECOND SYMBOLIC
CAPACITIES MODEL
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Like water, literacy and proficiency are dynamically
interconnected. Like the electrons whose laps around
the three atoms keep the water molecule together,
mediational activity centered on the use of a myriad of
physical and psychological tools, is the thread that holds
symbolic capacity together.
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
Activity
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
 Kasper and Rose (2002) on five stages of L2
socio-pragmatic development (lags behind
linguistic development):
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1) prebasic competence, which is context-dependent and
lacks syntactical development,
2) a formulaic stage that involves use of the imperative,
3) an unpacking stage in which imperatives generalize to
more indirect forms of requests,
4) pragmatic expansion, a stage at which requests
repertoires increase in number and syntactic complexity,
and finally, a
5) fine-tuning stage marked by adjusting requests around
a diversity of goals, participants and settings.
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
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Huth and Taleghani-Nikazm’s (2006) five components of
socio-pragmatic L2 instruction:
1) Guided reflection on the nature of particular
conversational practices: the formulas, setting topics
2) Compare and contrast L1 and L2 interaction with
regard to particular turn-taking sequences: create
worksheets and transparencies that facilitate exploration
of key differences between L1 and L2 with regard to a
particular speech event.
3) Interpretation of authentic a/v sources accompanied
by transcripts
4) Opportunities to re-create and practice the particular
speech act represented (i.e. role plays)
5) Evaluation of the cultural perspectives that pervade
the conversational practice under study.
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
 Cultural
Gouin Series (Knop, 2008): Take a
C2 practice/event and stage it in 6-8
statements that…
 …are formulaic
 … avoid changes in time, person.
 …are enhanced by linguistic (emotive
quality, chunking, ‘motherese’) and
extralinguistic (props, clip art) cues
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
Como hacer el chilate:
 Se pone a tostar el maíz en un comal.
 Una vez tostado se muele,
 pero para hacerlo se moja
 …y se cuela.
 Usualmente se hace con un colador fino.
 Después de hecho esto se pone a cocer y
mientras hierve se le agrega la pimienta
gorda
y el jengibre
.
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE,
PROFICIENCY AND LITERACY
 Literacy
event exploration (Kramsch,
2003): Have students collect authentic texts (i.e.
blogs, vodcasts, newspapers, photos…). Foci for
graphic organizers, Venn diagrams, Q&A include:
 Events depicted
 Target audience
 Purpose
 Register (i.e. formal, informal); related to audience
 A stance or tone (serious, ironic, enthusiastic)
 Prior text (relationship to a particular discourse)
 Setting/perspective
ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs) with ForcedChoice Response Exercises
 Students are provided a detailed account of a
situation and asked to choose the most
appropriate response from a list.
 As a whole, the class can discuss the response
and provide rationale for the choice that was
made.
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ACTIVITIES FOR INTEGRATING CULTURE AND
PROFICIENCY
Context
Vous êtes dans la
bibliothèque à votre école.
Vous essayez de lire un livre,
mais un autre étudiant, que
vous ne connaissez, parle à
haute voix, avec sa copine.
Alors, vous vous sentez
obligé de lui dire de se taire.
Vous êtes chez votre patron.
Il vous sert de la viande,
mais vous êtes végétarien.
Possible Responses
Vous dites :
[ ] Rien
[ ] Taisez-vous s’il vous plait.
[ ] Un peu de silence, maintenant.
[ ] Fermez-la !
[ ] S’il vous plait. Je ne peux pas me concentrer. Alors,
s’il vous plait, parlez moins fort.
Vous dites:
[ ] Rien
[ ] Excusez-moi, mais je ne mange jamais de viande.
C’est horrible !
[ ] C’est dégoutant de manger de pauvres animaux.
[ ] J’ai mal au ventre. Il faut que je rentre chez moi.
[ ] Cela a l’aire somptueux, mais je suis végétarien.
Alors, je prends des légumes et un peu de salade.
Explanation
THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
I. Key features: The SMLP is centered on…
 …dialogic and cross-symbolic exploration of a
discursive practice (Young, 2009): filling out a form,
attending a dinner party, genre of writing, driving,
art, rap, folksong, subway map, blog, editorial…
 …the promotion of trans-cultural, trans-literate, and
translinguistic capability…
 Stages that move from exploration to reproduction
and critical awareness of similarities and
differences between first and second culture
(NSFLL 4.2) and language (NSFLL 4.1)
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THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
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I. Activation of schemata:
Lexically and morpho-syntactically simple top-down and
bottom-up leading questions about cultural conventions (in
L2) that pertain to the text students are about to explore.
The teacher then collects students’ comments, translating
them into L2 if offered by students in L1. These may serve
as hypotheses to test later in the lesson.
Top-down activation:
Bottom-up activation:
Leading questions about students’
(C1) experiences of the symbolic
capacity in question, preview text
(freeze frame, if video) generate and
record for further discussion some
hypotheses about content.
Address unfamiliar lexical,
idiomatic items that may
undermine comprehension of the
text vis-à-vis a glossary and or,
students to scan for and present
unfamiliar terms for clarification.
THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
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II. Text Interpretation: Combine bottom-up and topdown leading questions to process text
Top-down strategies (in L2):
Bottom-up strategies (in L2):
 What is the purpose of ____? Is it
to ____? etc.
 What is the emotional state of
person A/B?
 What are the interactants trying to
accomplish?
 Do they accomplish the task?
 What are the phases of this
discursive practice? (beginning,
middle, end?)
 What do you think _____ means?
 Is ______ a cognate or false
cognate?
 What do you think of when you
picture __?
 What does person A ask? How
does person B respond?
 What form of the verb does person
A/B use in addressing the
interlocutor?
THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
III. Sociocultural interpretation (top-down): Lead
learners through an examination of the points
raised in the activation stage. Sample leading
questions include:
 What similarities do you see between the way native
speakers approach ‘X’ and our approach to ‘X’ (for
examining L1 and C1 assumptions).
 Which of our assumptions about this text were
correct? …incorrect?
 What are the rules for carrying out this speech
event in the L2? (address relevant
 grammatical, lexical, discourse & socio-pragmatic
elements)
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THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
 IV.
Sociocultural presentation:
 Students develop an adaptation/
recreation of the presented text.
 Wendy’s demo
 Mark’s demo
THE SOCIOCULTURAL MODEL LESSON PLAN
V. Sociocultural debriefing:
 Teacher and students examine appropriateness
simulations against the elements identified at
Stage III (…and, if applicable, assumptions
generated at Stage I).
 May be some lingering transference of L1 and C1
to the L2 and C2 features imbued in text.
 Bill’s demo
 Wendy’s demo
 Mark’s demo
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TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE SMLP-FRIENDLY:
Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended:
 Create
or adapt authentic texts
 Embed videos, clip art and other
media
 Easy, expansive file-sharing
 Sample
TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE SMLP-FRIENDLY:
QuestGarden
 Format
can be adapted to lesson plan
model
 Offers nice design templates and
opportunities for feedback.
 Easy to embed pictures, clip art,
videos through links.
 Sample: Corrido webquest
FROM SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION TO
SECOND SYMBOLIC CAPACITIES
 Questions?
 Feedback
appreciated:
 [email protected]
 [email protected]
 [email protected]
Thanks
and enjoy the conference!

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