Tag: culture

Bringing Students to Culture and Empathy Through The Fourth P: People!

I was unable to attend ACTFL 2024, but lucky me, language teacher colleagues are nothing if not generous! After making the move over to Bluesky, I’ve been on the lookout for #langchat colleagues, and people I’ve met over the years on social media. I was able to reconnect with Dorie Conlon, whose work I really respect and admire, and saw this tweet about a session she attended by Cécile Lainé (another source of inspiration):

This post really struck me. Many who teach for proficiency acknowledge that language is too abstract and complex to teach explicitly, but we also work in a model of culture that focuses on three abstract nouns: Products, Practices, and Perspectives. The way culture emerges is with people, their actions, and their use of language, rather than by stepping outside of it. This is much like the acquisition of a language, which happens with communication and use, rather than by observing a languages features from outside of it.

Behind all these Ps are People! Through the experiences of individuals, we can see culture and the 3 Ps in action, and also develop empathy for others who are different from us. A “different” culture is easy to write off as “strange” to the Novice eye, but it’s possible to find commonalities with any individual human, learn from their experiences, and see cultures through their lives. Individual lived experiences are more memorable anyways, versus just learning “cultural tidbits” as they are strewn randomly through textbooks and class “Culture Days.”

I find it very important for my students to learn about historically marginalized communities to build their critical thinking and empathy. If students are only presented elements of culture and people that confirm their prior beliefs, which are often informed by cultural stereotypes, I have done nothing to build their ability to communicate competently with members of other cultures. The interactions of minoritized individuals with majority cultures reveal a fuller picture of those cultures, as well. I look to the ACTFL Intercultural Communication Benchmarks, which at the Superior level read as such for the “Investigate” strand:

“In my own and other cultures I can suspend judgment while critically examining products, practices, and perspectives.”

Furthermore, the “Interact” strand at the Superior level reads:

“I can interact in complex situations to ensure a shared understanding of culture.”

These are obviously skills that we are not expecting immediately from Novice learners. But in order to get to consistent “suspension of judgment” and “sharing understanding of culture,” students need practice being confronted with difference and engaging with the thinking of others. This supports working towards the Social Justice Standards of Learning for Justice, across all the four major strands, and builds their capacity for empathy.

So, I’m inspired. Here are some individuals I have shared with my classes, starting with level 1, and the activities I use to help students think more critically and empathetically about culture. The biographies are easy to share with students in the earliest stages of their language learning, and are easy to “level up” for higher levels by drawing in information and media from other sources. I think it’s important to follow up with reflection activities that help think more deeply about the individuals presented, and how their identities might affect their interactions within the Target Cultures.

Even if you aren’t a German teacher, maybe you will find some value in my thinking and planning for these experiences with German speakers!

Conchita Wurst

Student reactions to just seeing Conchita often quickly reveal their underlying assumptions and feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. Students have sometimes been confused about the difference between a drag queen and a trans woman. Meeting Conchita, who presents both feminine and masculine personas, challenges students’ understandings of gender and sexuality.

I like to show Conchita’s Eurovision-winning performance to let her undeniable talent shine. Students are blown away by her artistry and the theatricality of the performance. The key question I ask students after getting to know Conchita and her talent is: “What do you think the reaction to Conchita was like?” If given time and space to think, students often speculate about potential backlash from groups connected to European countries competing in Eurovision, and what cultural factors might influence that backlash. Conchita’s Wikipedia page provides a lengthy catalogue of the vitriol that she faced, as well as her defiant and proud responses. All this, because she dares to put on a dress, put on some makeup, and sing.

Leo Neugebauer

I’m a huge Olympics fan, and was so excited to hear about a Black German Olympian who also studies at one my alma maters, UT-Austin! Even better – he has a YouTube channel where he makes content in German AND English! Introducing my students to Leo Neugebauer helps to challenge the notion that “German = white.” “What it means to be German” is a cultural discourse that has evolved drastically over the last few decades, and we get our first steps into that discourse by meeting Germans with identities that don’t match our preconceived notions.

After reading Leo’s biography, my classes and I defined the ten disciplines of the decathlon (which was a learning moment for me), and decided which we would ourselves ideally compete in. (I would probably do one of the running events!) Then, we watched his video “CULTURE SHOCK in America!” and discussed our reactions, which was a lot of fun. While I was absent one day, I had my students rewatch the video and write a 2+-sentence reflection on each of his culture shocks. I included the following questions:

  • Does what he says surprise you? Why?
  • Do you think there is truth to what he says? 
  • What do you think it says about Germany and German culture that these things stood out to him?

For me, the last question is key to help students build their inquiry into “what German culture is.” After we analyze whether or not his “culture shocks” align with our own local cultures, we can form hypotheses about how the shocks reflect Leo’s own cultural expectations. This opens us to testing those hypotheses in future meetings with German cultures.

Taliso Engel

My Olympics obsession also introduced me to many German-speaking Paralympians, including swimming phenom Taliso Engel. I have been working towards including more disabled people in my teaching, and learning about Taliso Engel helped me learn so much more about the Paralympics, the various classifications involved for different disabilities, and the athleticism required to be a top-tier competitor.

After reading Taliso’s biography, I found a couple videos that detailed Taliso’s training and reasons for getting into swimming. The first video on the slideshow above also shows an approximation of what he can see, which helps provide some nuances to students’ understandings of vision impairments. Then, we can stand up and play “Either / Or,” showing our preferences by moving to the side of the room corresponding to the image of our preference. These “either/or” questions are asked to the Paralympians in the final video, which provides students another opportunity to get to know German athletes with disabilities. Connecting their own preferences to those of disabled athletes helps build empathy and understanding.

Bonus: Heiko Burak

I don’t have a biography written of hard-of-hearing German Sign Language teacher Heiko Burak, but I found his videos very clear and easy for students to understand. For Disability History and Awareness Month in October, I showed my students the video above to learn 10 essential German signs. This gave us a good opportunity to talk about the various sign languages around the world (Austria and Switzerland don’t use deutsche Gebärdensprache – they have different sign languages!), as well as compare to what we know about ASL. (I’m currently learning ASL, and have a few students who know some sign, as well.) Finally, students learned and practiced all 10 signs, which was really cool to see. Some have even continued to use the signs in conversation in class, well over a month later, which is even cooler. The German sign for “no” got a lot of love from my class, which will make sense if you watch the video.

But Ben, I don’t teach German!

Pech für dich. 🙂 But really, I encourage you to be on the lookout for people from your Target Cultures to humanize student learning and build empathy. Ask your teacher communities if they are familiar with inspirational and interesting members of the Target Cultures, and expand the lens of who gets included in your classes. Do you know speakers of your Target Language that are People of Color? Members of the LGBTQ+ community? Disabled? We need language classes that center the lives of the historically marginalized so that our students can treat others with dignity, and create a more peaceful coexistence.

How do you bring students to “the fourth P”? Comment below!

The ABC-Quiz: Cultural Learning Through Movement

In the summer of 2022, I was lucky to attend a seminar put on by the Goethe Institut titled “Sprache, Landeskunde, und kulturelles Lernen” that explored the concept of integrative Landeskunde in language instruction. That is, exploring how to teach our students not only facts about our Target Cultures, but also skills of intercultural communicative competence and discourse about cultural phenomena – all through the Target Language. It was an absolute blast to take the course entirely in German with German teachers from four continents, and the ABC-Quiz stuck out to me as a fun way to get students thinking, moving, and engaging with cultural concepts.

Why should you do it? Because our dear kids need a bit more movement in their school day, even if it is just a little bit of standing up and walking around! Plus, they tend to get competitive about finding the “right” answers, which ups the engagement factor as they think about cultural Products, Practices, and Perspectives.

When do I use the ABC-Quiz?

The ABC-Quiz is primarily an input-oriented activity as students read and process questions about cultural phenomena in the Target Cultures, voting with their feet as to what they believe to be the correct answer, and it can be inserted into a unit just about anywhere – either to introduce a topic and relevant vocabulary, or to extend learning about a given topic.

If you use an ABC-Quiz early in a unit, you will definitely want to preview new vocab in some meaningful context, or build in that contextualization into the Quiz itself.

In this example slideshow that I can use very early in my German 1 course, new academic vocabulary is bolded, and contextualized given students’ knowledge about the world. Even if they maybe think that “Hauptstadt” means “largest city” at first, they quickly learn that it means “capital,” and can then use that knowledge immediately for the next prompt to guess / state Germany’s capital. The number ranges in the population and number of states questions also give clues as to what is being talked about before students are asked to guess facts about Germany, based first on their learning the new vocabulary in German as relates to the home country (in my case, the USA).

Otherwise, the vocabulary in this example is very limited to basically “is,” “has,” and then names of countries! With more language proficiency, students will obviously be able to read and contextualize more information and new vocabulary.

How do I do it? – Logistics

The main principle of this activity is that students are given a multiple choice question, and move to a designated part of the classroom to indicate what they believe to be the correct answer. You can simply use scrap paper, writing “A” “B” and “C” in large print on three separate sheets, and then lay those sheets across the front of your classroom to designate three areas. Perhaps you already have a “Four Corners” procedure with country names, cardinal directions, or some other indicators in your classroom that you can use in the same way.

You will also need to prepare either some slides, or, much more challengingly, an oral text with multiple choice questions about your Target Cultures. This can range from geographical facts, like in the example above, to questions about the Products and Practices of your Target Cultures. See below for more inspiration in this regard!

How do I do it? – Procedure

  1. Explain to your students that you will be asking them questions to see what they already know about the Target Cultures (and maybe also their Home Cultures!).
  2. Tell learners that they will answer the questions you ask by moving to what they believe to be the correct answer, and indicate the areas for A, B, and C (or whatever other system you use in your room).
  3. Start with a question that could be fairly easy to answer, and model wondering aloud about any new vocabulary that might show up. Referring to the example above, maybe you say, with special emphasis on the italicized words, “[In the L2] The capital…of the United States is…Los Angeles…New York…or Washington DC.? Hmm…the capital. What does capital mean? I wonder…What do you think? Go to A, B, or C, and we’ll learn together!”
  4. Reveal the answer to the question, and celebrate all students’ answers. Reread the complete sentence with the correct answer in it, and do a comprehension check on any new vocabulary (or maybe even the meaning of the whole sentence) by asking, for example, “[In L2] What does capital mean in English?” Celebrate the answers you get for that!
  5. You can easily reinforce new vocabulary by asking follow up questions using the newly-learned word, indicating with a gesture when students can give a choral response (or if maybe they should just shout it out). “[In L2] Ah, so Washington, DC is the capital of the United States! Is [our city] the capital of [our state]? What is the capital of [our state]? What is the capital of France?” All along the way, restate the correct answers, using the new vocabulary, in complete sentences.
  6. Continue on asking content questions, having students move, showing the correct answer, and extending the input with further questioning. If you want to make sure any new academic vocabulary really sticks, you might limit yourself to 3-5 new terms that you use in a variety of contexts throughout the activity.

What do I do with it now that we’ve finished?

Because you may be introducing new information to students through this activity, it is recommended that you follow up with some sort of review activity. Maybe you do a Write and Discuss with your students about what they learned, or just engage in some oral questioning.

In the example slideshow above, I provide students a gap-fill reading that reviews all the information students learned in a short paragraph that uses connecting words like “and” and “but.” It is simple enough for a Novice learner to understand, and all they have to provide in that example is place names and numbers! You could confirm correct answers as a class by reading the completed paragraph aloud, and then have students complete a Volleyball Translation in pairs. Gap fill paragraphs like this could easily have larger gaps or more complex clauses for students with higher proficiency, like “When entering a restaurant in Germany, it is polite to…” or “Something that is similar to my culture is that…”

This activity is a great way to discuss cultural Products and Practices, so written reflection or discussion about the underlying Perspectives is also a natural place to go after an activity like this. I like ACTFL’s reflection question that is included in the Intercultural Can Do reflections: “What new insights about yourself and others have you gained from thinking about this?”

Pro Tips!

  1. Extend the learning! To drive up the amount of input and thinking in the activity, make a discussion out of every answer. Use new target vocabulary to ask personalized and knowledge questions, and share experiences with any cultural phenomena come up.
  2. Follow up! A gap-fill text, multiple choice questions, whatever – just make sure that students have to recall the information they learned. It can get exciting to move around and try to “win” during activities like this, so it helps to have a paper-to-pencil component that confirms what was learned and what might need reinforcement.
  3. Go beyond facts and products! For illustrative purposes, my examples above use geographic facts about Germany, but we could train our students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence even further by discussing social situations and phenomena that students may discover in the Target Cultures. (This would be the Practices P of the 3 Ps!) Let the image below provide some inspiration for possible topics for an ABC-Quiz:

What do you think? Do you have ideas for an ABC-Quiz you could do with your students? Comment below and send me any questions you might have!