Cultural Aspects of Learning TEFL

 Final paper entry: How teachers can incorporate cultural aspects into the language classroom/ and/ or how teachers can account for cultural differences in the language classroom.  Teaching culture in class and promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence During this course, we have seen how important it is to teach Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) as it helps us understand different cultures and communicate with people from all over the world. Truthfully, cultural aspects can be easily introduced to a language class, as language helps us connect and get to know a culture quite easily. However, a way we could immerse ourselves in culture could be through a ‘Cultural Week’, where students have to talk about a culture that is present in their lives (theirs, their parents’, a friend’s, etc.), languages biographies or, as the European Council suggests: an autobiography of intercultural encounters.  The European Council describes an autobiography of intercultur...

In this last entry, I would like to give my last personal thoughts on some questions that have been presented to us during the Cultural Aspects course. 1. Reflection on whether we are just language teachers and why or why not. (From Forum 1). Whether teachers are only language teachers or more is something that has been debated quite often. I believe that most people can agree on the fact that teaching a language is not only about introducing that language to a group of students. As we have seen from the previous entries (mostly the last one) we can easily assure that teachers are not only language teachers. A good teacher is able to include and instruct about different cultures, beliefs (staying, obviously, as impartial as possible and only stating the different ideas that exist), and more. We, as teachers, need to be aware of how in our class there might be people from different backgrounds. We also should promote diversity and have an environment free of stereotypes and judging. No...

 Forum 3. In this Forum, you can discuss any of the issues/concerns/problems that we discussed in THE LAST TWO SESSIONS. On WEEK THREE POWERPOINT , you will also see some questions about the internet as a resource and whether intercultural hybridity has implications for the role of native vs non-native speaker models. Interculturality and Milton J. Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) Interculturality is described by UNESCO as “the existence and equitable interaction of diverse cultures and the possibility of generating shared cultural expressions through dialogue and mutual respect.” When we talk about different cultures, there are two words that are key to effective communication between humans: understanding and acceptance. There are different stages of interculturality, which Bennett labels as the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS). These are the stages everybody can find themselves in when experiencing, learning, or getting int...

  Forum 2. Please reflect on the following statements and share your opinion:  "Stereotypes are usually negative" "We disregard stereotypes when we consider them offensive towards our own culture. If we consider stereotypes flattering, we accept them as true"  Stereotypes are defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong”. Therefore, is the first idea or thought we get from a group of people, culture, or anything we can actually imagine. It is believed that there are positive and negative stereotypes, though as the previous statement says: “Stereotypes are usually negative”. Even if it is not wrong, and in most scenarios stereotypes are negative, some people still believe in positive stereotypes. These types of stereotypes are the ones we believe are not harmful to our culture, race, or country. A positive stereotype refers to a subjectively favourable belief held about a...

Forum 1. In this first entry, we are going to talk about any cultural differences we have noticed or experienced on our trips or our teaching or when learning languages. What was the problem? Is it socially, historically, or imaginatively constructed? What does it tell us about that cultures view (if anything)?  Currently, I am studying Korean. I have been learning the language for almost a year or two. I watch a lot of TV shows, and programs and listen to music in the Korean language. Though I have not yet travelled there, I have seen significantly different cultural aspects from the Korean culture that clashes with my own culture. As a first example, we have honorifics. Though Spaniards respect elderly people, we do not use formalities as much. In Korea, even if someone is a year older or so, you have to use honorifics with them. In Spain, this is not as much of a deal, and honorifics are only used for jobs or when talking with old people. Likewise, you do not use honorifics with...

 Welcome to the second part of my blog. A few months ago, we talked about  EFL Acquisition in Multilingual Contexts . Now it is the turn to review the Cultural Aspects of Learning and Teaching English As a Foreign Language.  In this course (and blog!) we are going to learn about what is culture , and its theoretical approaches, we will talk about stereotypes, ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism,   we will learn about cross-cultural differences , culture in the classroom and approaches (and how we can teach and integrate culture in our lessons), as well as the verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication in English, that relate to culture. As a previous disclaimer, there is still a lot to learn as a student teacher. I love learning about new cultures, so every comment is welcomed. Likewise, this blog is part of a course named Cultural Aspects of Learning and Teaching English As a Foreign Language and each entry, except for this one, is related to a forum with d...