Week 4

From Culture in Second Language Teaching by Elizabeth Peterson and Bronwyn Coltrane

Finding a way to transmit cultural understanding when teaching students of second languages is an exciting challenge. The difficulty lies in helping them realise the nuances that arise from the deep differences in language expression. Why a certain sentence structure or a specific personal pronoun is appropriate in one context and not another is not easy to teach, without expanding their cultural background. The teaching aids that include role plays, culture capsules, film, and literary texts are very useful. I have had the chance to use these more interactive methods when trying to convey understanding that cannot easily be taught through grammar study only. This use of authentic materials forces us and our students to become true anthropologists. It will gradually increase our level of empathy for the customs of the target culture and give us more insight to be able to teach the language better.