bridging the culture gap in the classroom hugh dellar the university of westminster / heinle cengage

Bridging the culture gap in the classroom

Hugh DellarThe University of Westminster /

Heinle Cengage

Work in groups. Discuss these questions.

1What does British culture mean to you?

2Do you try to teach ‘British culture’ in your classes? In what way?

3Is culture important in class in any broader sense~?

4Do you think language and culture are connected?

If so, how?

Such communication helps avoid unnecessary inconveniences and protects the arts and culture sector

Evolver is now firmly established as the region's most popular arts and culture guide

The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has announced that funding for free swims ends this summer

We have always placed great emphasis on company culture and core values

Our fixation on youth culture has left the elderly out in the cold

The subculture is poised to move above ground, with its impact on films, music, comics and fashion

The use of tobacco has long been a central part of French culture

You may find Polish women to be very frank and open because this is part of Polish culture

Some low culture of the past, such as jazz, through time and social change becomes high culture

Celebrity culture is fuelling sex and violence among children, it was claimed this week

Schools have to tackle a culture of yobbishness if teachers are to be kept in the profession

Spoilt footballers are breeding a culture of greed

It’s not that I don’t enjoy wine when I drink it. It’s just that it’s not part of my culture

It is overstating the case to suggest that cultural values allow us to predict individuals' moral attitudes

We are witnessing a profound cultural shift from mass communication to interactive digital media

Atwood, an ardent Canadian nationalist, has often spoken out against the cultural dominance of the USA

Culture is everywhere

Language without culture is like a finger without a body.

Culture and language are intimately related. They go hand in hand during the teaching-learning process.

Language and culture are not separate, but are acquired together, with each providing support for the development of the other.

The person who learns language without learning culture risks becoming a fluent fool.

Culture at conferences

Culture as product

Culture as process

1 Culture is NOT static. It’s changing all the time.

Some key points

2 Culture is all-embracing.

3 Unified national cultures are a myth.

4 As English is a global language, this is all even more complicated.

Does English mean English culture?

Work with a partner. Discuss to what degree each of these items is culturally rooted. By this, I mean the degree to which you would need to mention UK / US culture when explaining each.

She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.I can't stand being the centre of attention.I think I'm quite a level-headed sort of person.Compulsory military service should be abolished.I spent a lot of the holidays just roaming around the countryside, exploring.She has no qualms about giving her child a head start.That film has had a lot of hype.They fell on hard times.The kidnappers released him after his family agreed to pay a ransom of $100,000.He swore under oath that he'd spent the evening at home.Hold your breath and count to ten.I had an interview for the job, but I blew it.

Does English mean English culture?

Shoom span a Balearic mix of Detroit techno, New York garage and Chicago house.

Nationalist murals started springing up in areas like the Falls Road when IRA inmates of the Maze prison began a hunger strike.

The NUT has long been run by hardcore members of the Loony Left.

It was a pretty good talk, even if I say so myself!

Classroom implications

1 The days of facts and figures about the UK – the tourist board approach – are over.

2 Culture in the classroom has to be a two-way process.

3 It has to be global in perspective.

4 It has to be language focused.

5 It has to allow space for the personal.

Just because I’m English, it doesn’t mean I’m an alcoholic or a football hooligan.

Just because I’m a teacher, it doesn’t mean I’ve failed at everything else!

Just because I’m a man, it doesn’t mean I can’t cook cook or sew.

Just because . . . it doesn’t mean . . .

REAL ENGLISH FOR THE REAL WORLD

Work in groups. Discuss these questions.

1Has this session made you rethink any of your attitudes towards culture?

2Were there things mentioned that you already knew?

3Were there things mentioned that you disagreed with? If so, what? Why?

4What else would you still like to know about this topic?

Lexis, speaking and non-native speaker teachers

Hugh Dellar

Lexis, speaking and non-native speaker teachers

Hugh Dellar

Lexis is the key to fluency.

Lower levels:

Verb + noun collocationsI’m going shopping.You’ve made a mistake.Do you want to get something to eat?

Adjective + noun collocationsThe traffic was really heavy.That’s a difficult question.

Fixed expressionsHow’s it going?Not too badNot very often

Higher levels.

IdiomsIt’s on the tip of my tongue.It completely slipped my mind.

MetaphorsSorry. We’ve got a bit sidetracked.We’re wasting precious time here.I reached a bit of a crossroads in my life.

Fluent speakers don’t put their ideas together word by word.Instead, they remember and re-use.• multi-word units• collocations• expressions• whole sentences• whole conversations

If we want our students to do this, we need to make surethey spend plenty of time studying lexis, processing lexisand practising using lexis.

Work in groups. Discuss these questions.• What worries do you have about being a non-native teacher?

• How valid do you think these worries are?

• Do you think there are any advantages to being non-native? If so, what?

The first fearLexis is more culturally-rooted than grammar.

Do any of the lexical items below seem culturally-rooted to you? By this, I mean do they have to be explained by reference to specifically British cultural phenomenon.• I woke up late.• She’s had her nose pierced.• I can’t stand this song.• I’ve lost my appetite.• I’ll give you a lift there.• I’d give it a miss if I were you.• This place is a tip!• You shouldn’t have said that.• I felt like a fish out of water.• Beggars can’t be choosers.• They gave the plan the thumbs-up.• It’s all part of the Nick Hornbyisation of Lad-Lit.• It’s like the Shankill Road round there.• He was part of the old Loony Left.

The second fearMy English isn’t as good as a native speaker’s.

The third fearI might get caught out!

The fourth fearI’m not sure I can trust my intuition.

It’s w of my time.

The final fearMonolingual classes are really different from multilingual ones.

Tell the person next to you about . . .

• a song that means a lot to you.• a film that means a lot to you.a public figure you respect.• a public figure you DON’T respect.• a dish you love.• a place you love.• something you worry about.• something you’re really looking forward to.

Don’t worry!

• The more culturally-rooted a piece of lexis is, the less useful it is to EFL students.

• The vast majority of your English is the same as mine.

• The language I know that maybe you don’t has no place in the EFL classroom.

• You are better and more realistic role-models for your students. They can aspire to become as good as you.

• The fact you’ve learned English and also speak Russian means you’re more aware of potential pitfalls than a native speaker would be with your classes.

• Being caught out is part of being a teacher! It happens to all of us!

• Developing language awareness and thinking about how language works is also part of being a teacher.

• There’s no native speaker spying on your classes! You speak the best English in your class! Getting students closer to your English should be the goal.

• Lexis allows students to express their lives and personalities far more than a heavily grammar-dominated syllabus. This means the monolingual classroom is still allowed to be multicultural!

• You know loads about the cultural worlds your students live in. You can use this knowledge to hang English onto.

The many advantages of being a non-native speaker teacher.

1. You’re better role models for your students• you are the model of a good language learner• your students can aspire to become you• you share an L1 with your students• you know in your DNA the problems your learners will have• you can teach not only language, but also learning skills


2. You can localise new lexis for students

The food still leaves a bit to be desired – it tended to be quite stodgy and there wasn’t a huge amount of choice, but otherwise, I certainly had nothing to complain about.

The food there a bit The weather here leaves something to be desired.Your writing a lot

What else leaves a bit to be desired?

Public transport here leaves a lot to be desired. The trains are a……….! Half of them are falling to ………… . Plus, it’s a r…..-…..! The cheapest tube ……… is four pounds!


3. You can model – and root models in local cultureThe CUTTING EDGE exercise called Life Stories:leave home, start work, retire, move house, settle down, etc.

OK. For example, for me . . . I went to university between 1988 and 1991. I did my degree IN English Literature At Goldsmiths College in New Cross, in south London. It’s part of the University of London. Believe it or not, I graduated with a first-class degree, but to be honest, once I’d got my degree, I didn’t really have much idea about what I wanted to do. I never went to university with a career plan in mind. I just did a degree that I found interesting. In fact, after I graduated, I started working – and my first job was making sandwiches in a factory in Plumstead, right out in Zone 5 in south-east London: I worked a twelve-hour day, doing really dull and monotonous work! The money was awful . . . and all the other people there made fun of me and called me The Professor!


4 You can translate back and forthIt’s hardly the same thing!Hardly an instant solution then! It’s hardly surprising people are concerned about it.Hardly a day goes by without hearing one of these stories.I hardly know anyone who agrees with it.There’s hardly any funding available for research into it.


5. You can help students localise texts– What do you think is the same and what’s different here? – Does anything in the text remind you of any stories you have heard about?

bridging the culture gap in the classroom hugh dellar the university of westminster / heinle cengage

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