Ethnographic interviews

The research that we've looked at so far indicates that ethnographic interviews have very positive effects on students' attitudes towards native Spanish speakers. My question for you is "Do you think students will always end up with warm fuzzies towards Latinos as a result of these kind of activities?" If not, why not? How long lasting and or how deep of a change in attitudes do you think that students experience? What are some dangers in this kind of project? Do the positives outweigh the negatives?
I look forward to your comments.

Tecnología, ¿interesante Y útil?

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¿Creen ustedes que la tecnología es solo interesante o también muy útil para la enseñanza de cultura en las clases de lengua?
¿Cómo podemos evitar que el uso de tecnología sea solo un gimmick?

Foreign Language Comic Strips: Not so comical

So yesterday I showed my first year spanish class the Mafalda comic strip where the dad opted for the santos instead of the pest control company when faced with an ant problem. They didn't get it.
I explained it to them and said "Don't worry deep down inside you think it's funny. Later you'll laugh." Then they laughed. . . . at me, which I guess is better than no laughing.

The question is, humor is hard in the foreign language especially at beginning levels, so should we use comic strips and if so how? Your wisdom is appreciated.

El porque del tango, la siesta y otros asuntos

Think back to a culture topic that's come up either in this class or another in your vast academic experience. With that in mind, what are some questions that you can pose to students that will force them to go beyond information and contemplate perspectives? For example, you've learned or it came up in a Spanish class that you are teaching that in Argentina they dance the tango, or in Spain they take naps and it's ok to be really late for some things. What are examples of questions that you can ask that can get your students to think about the perspectives behind those practices?

Contact with native speakers: the silver bullet of culture teaching?

Hola amigos,
Questions for the day, does contact with native speakers equate to increased cultural empathy in our students? What are the benefits and drawbacks to having students come into contact with native speakers? If you were to create guidelines for teachers who wanted put students into contact with native speakers for cultural purposes what would the most important thing be?

Freedom Project

Hola Clase,
I just wanted to get you thinking about the "course project" as it's defined int the syllabus. The assignment as outlined there says,
"This is your opportunity to create/do something that you feel would most help you to learn to teach culture in an engaging effective way, just make it good and worthwhile. We will spend some time in class brainstorming options. Everyone can scream freedom."

Here's some ideas that I had, take them or leave them;
--Take a syllabus from a Spanish or Portuguese course and add or revise the cultural aspects,
--Do in depth analysis of the culture teaching aspects of a couple of textbooks and make suggestions about what you think they did well and/or should have done
--Write a synthesis of some research on a specific topic related to teaching culture
--Make and eat alot of homemade chicken enchiladas
--Analyze a certain type of cultural test for validity and utility and see how/if it could be useful for teaching.
--Make and eat alot of homemade salsa
--Create a lesson plan/unit around a specific cultural event or place your students could visit.
--Create a really spiffy assignment or unit where students test a hypothesis that they have about a product, perspective or practice of the target culture.
--Go surfing or snorkeling for a week in Costa Rica
--Do an ethnographic interview of a native speaker and then write a reflection both on your interview and new insights on how you would ask students to go about such an assignment.
--Listen to Maná for three hours straight, alone in a dark room, then report on how it affected your world view, would this be a good activity for your students?
--Some of these are better than others.

Student-centered teaching, more motivating?

"In student-centered environments, there is a higher motivation to learn as students feel they have a real stake in their own learning." http://www4.asq.org/blogs/edu/2006/06/student_centered_vs_teacher_ce.html


This is one of the main claims of proponents of student-centered teaching. The topic of motivation is important to me because I see it as one of the foundational variables of learning. Not alot seems to happen if students are unmotivated. Do you believe that students in such classes are indeed more motivated? Why or why not?

Combinining lang and culture, Pipe dream or possibility?

Hi class,
Do you all think that in reality we can and should combine language and culture teaching or rather is it better to separate the two as suggested in the Moran article? If you're for the unity idea, why and can you give an example of where the language and culture are equal components of a lesson or unit? If you're against it then why?

Thoughts: different culture, different me

Hi all,
Forgive me for the self-reflective nature of this post. I hope it's valuable. Yesterday I was preparing for class reading in the chapter by Galloway about cultural "perspectives" things like sequential vs. synchronic ways of viewing time which vary across cultures and an Internalistic vs. Externalistic view of nature, I felt a strange kind of release or freedom. Perhaps I felt that way because I feel the pressure of time constraints that are inherent in the North American worldview and realized that a different way of viewing the world is possible. I've started to wonder if our students consciously or unconsciously recognize the need for that kind of experience and thus are drawn to the study of languages, as if on some level we realize that the way that we view the world is distorted or at least wanting or extreme in some area. That might be an explanation for why cultural "diversity" is valuable, in the sense that each culture or the world view of each culture, has benefits, not the least of which are psychological or emotional. I believe that's why some people struggle in the gospel, the untruths of a particular culture crowd out or distort the light of the gospel.

Why so complicated?

As we talked in class today I wondered why it has to be so complicated (no Avril Lavigne reference intended). What is it about teaching culture and language together that is SO hard that it seems (or at least according to the article it seemed) that no one has done it really well yet. Are we just being idealistic in hoping that it will actually come together, or are we going to be stumbling upon some concrete answers anytime soon? While I understand and accept that there are all kinds of complexities when it comes to language and when it comes to culture, what can we actually do to make valuable learning happen happen? When will it stop being the norm to say "I didn't learn anything in high school Spanish"? ARE there solutions? I believe that there must be, but WHY is it so complicated? Is it, perhaps, that the answers are right in front of us and we simply are blowing the complexities way out of proportion? I'm not sure. Any thoughts?

Why teach culture?

So here's the topic for the the discussion for Jan. 10, 08;
What were the most convincing arguments for teaching culture in the foreign or second language classroom?

Of course, you can also ask and discuss whatever pertinent topics that you want. Feel free to pose questions and even post images if you should feel inclined.

Thanks,
Dr. M