armin wisselink lesson plan

Overseas Living Survey• Each two students will be given one

survey question about living in a different country

• For several minutes, each student should ask their question to as many of their classmates as possible

• Pairs will then be asked to summarize the answers that they heard in 30 seconds or less

Vocabulary Matching

• Every student will be given either a word or a definition

• WITHOUT consulting a dictionary, students with the words must find the classmate who has the correct definition to their word

• When you think you have a match, confirm with the teacher that you are correct

• Sit together in a group of two for the next assignment

adapt

to change to better fit a certain situation

custom

traditional and widely accepted way of behaving among a

certain group of people

dialect

a particular form of language that is specific to a certain region or

group of people

diversity

having a great deal of variety and difference

globalization

the process of increased communication between

countries and cultures, mostly due to enhanced technology

homesick

experiencing a longing for one’s home during a period of

absence from it

misunderstanding

a failure to understand something correctly

social norms

group help beliefs about how people should behave in a

certain situation

stereotype

a widely held, but fixed and oversimplified idea of a

particular type of person

values

principles or standards which guide one’s behavior

Chinese vs. American Cultural Differences

What do you think are some of the main differences between Chinese and Western culture?

Indirect vs. Direct Communication

Personal Space

Monocultural vs. Multicultural

Society vs. Individual

Harmony vs. Freedom

Stage 1 Honeymoon

Honeymoon/Tourist Stage• New culture seems new and exciting

• You idealize your new culture and may even consider it better than your own

• If you sometimes have problems, you quickly recover

• Can last anywhere from a few days to several months

Stage 2Shock

Shock Stage• All little problems seem much bigger

• You consider everything to be dirty or unhealthy

• You try to find people from your own country and spend a lot of time complaining about the new culture

• You miss your own culture and country a lot

Stage 3Adjustment

Adjustment Stage• You manage to combine the new

culture with your own beliefs

• You begin to learn the language and adapt to the habits of the new culture

• You make friends with people from the new culture

• You are able to laugh at your difficulties

Stage 4Acceptance

Acceptance Stage• You can now live with your new

culture

• You go through changes to better adapt to the new culture

• You do not totally change to the new culture, but you have developed a good understanding of your new culture

Stage 5Re-entry Shock

Re-entry Stage• You return home and everyone is

happy to see you

• The problem is that you have changed a lot and others have not

• People do not understand that you have changed

• People get tired of hearing you talk about your experiences abroad

Culture Shock Scenarios

• Take the 15 scenarios and put them into 5 groups of 3 based on the 5 stages of culture

shock:

1)Honeymoon Stage

2)Shock Stage

3)Adjustment Stage

4)Acceptance Stage

5)Re-Entry Shock Stage

Honeymoon Stage• John takes his camera with him wherever

he goes and takes pictures of everything, even street signs.

• John visits the Statue of Liberty and Times Square and is very excited to see these famous landmarks.

• John loves the variety of food available and wants to try all kinds of different food.

Shock Stage• John takes the bus and is extremely

embarrassed and frustrated when he doesn’t know where and how to pay and the driver cannot understand his question.

• Other than going to class, John spends all his time with his Chinese roommates, mostly complaining about all the annoying parts of American life.

• John often feels sick in his stomach and misses his mother’s dumplings.

Adjustment Stage• John still misses his mother’s cooking, but

has found some American food that he likes.

• John makes friends with some American boys and they often play basketball together.

• John orders some food on the phone for the first time, successfully completing his first English phone call.

Acceptance Stage• John has learned to keep a certain distance

between himself and others when they are talking.

• John has learned to drink cold water and doesn’t miss drinking hot water.

• John feels mostly comfortable with life in New York and can accomplish almost any task by himself.

Re-entry Shock Stage

• John’s friends in China throw a big party for him upon his return.

• John’s friends gradually get tired of his “America stories”.

• John fakes laughing at his friends’ same old jokes, but doesn’t find them funny anymore.

Assignment• In your groups, create a 2 minute role play based

on the your assigned stage of culture shock and the following situation:

Chris is a Chinese student who recently completed his undergraduate degree graduated

from Nankai University. He was accepted into Harvard University as a masters’ student. He has never been to America before and he struggles

to adapt to American life.

• Each member of your group must use at least 2 of the 10 vocabulary words learned earlier today