You + Me = Us
Modern Languages Unit
In this unit pupils come to an agreed explicit definition of ‘culture’ before thinking about how they would describe their culture to an ‘outsider’. This leads progressively into an exploration of the target culture within a specific context, aiming to build on pupils’ previous knowledge and understanding. Gradually pupils are encouraged to become increasingly productive and creative in their use of target language and skills, incorporating language learned previously in the unit and learning how to manipulate language to tackle communication challenges. This unit will conclude with an open-ended final ‘product’ which will allow pupils the opportunity to develop their meta-cognitive skills.
Key Questions:
- What is culture?
- How would I describe my culture to an outsider?
- How does my culture differ from other cultures?
- What do I know about other cultures?
- How can I make myself understood in a different language when talking about culture?
Developing Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities |
Developing pupils’ Knowledge, Understanding and Skills |
Listening actively and sharing opinions
|
Develops a range of linguistic skills by:
|
What is culture? |
|
Learning Intentions |
Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities |
…to brainstorm ideas on the meaning of ‘culture’. |
Pupils view a set of picture cards which display images relating either to the target language country or their own. Images could revolve around aspects of culture (for example, food, fashion, architecture, art, music, fashion, traditional events, special occasions). Pupils in groups choose one word in the TL which represents each picture (for example, music, building, clothes). Pupils group the pictures according to their words (for example, there might be a picture of a Spanish paella dish and Ulster fry for ‘food’). Brainstorm pupils’ words. Pupils justify their picture groupings using short TL sentences. Once completed, give it the title ‘Culture’ and pupils think of any other words they may identify with culture. Pupils could write the list down.
|
How would I describe my culture to an ‘outsider’? |
|
Learning Intentions |
Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities |
…to explore how they see their own culture. …to share opinions, reach agreement using negotiation, take personal responsibility for work with others. |
Carousel activity: Pupils could fill a shoebox with items which they consider to be typically ‘Northern Irish’ for their partner school. Set five or six A3 pages at various places in the room and give each page a key ‘culture’ word from the brainstormed list. A dictionary can be placed beside the sheets. Pupils work in groups and write on the pages what items they think should go into the box based around the key word. A sheet on ‘music’, for example, may include an ‘Ash’ CD. Each member of the team could be allocated a role: recorder, dictionary checker, timekeeper, facilitator, resource manager (Each group would have its own colour of pen so that their contribution could be easily identified afterwards.) After five minutes, pupils move on to the next sheet. They must tick if they agree with the suggestions written down by the previous group before writing their own down. This allows for discussion. |
How does my culture differ from other cultures? |
|
Learning Intentions |
Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities |
…to explore simple differences between the target language country/culture and our own culture.
|
Using the picture cards from the first activity, pupils in groups decide which pictures relate to the TL country and culture and which to their own. When going over the exercise, the teacher could ask pupils simple questions in the TL relating to the image in question. For example, do you like this food, what do you think of this house, would you like to live here, why, why not? The teacher could make explicit references to the simple differences identified ("our post-boxes are red, but what colour are the German post-boxes?") Pupils view a sheet of word or words in the target language which represents each picture. Pupils in their groups match the pictures with the correct word. |
…to work in groups to infer meaning in reading passages and discuss further cultural differences.
|
‘Mystery’ game. Pupils are given a set of ten or more statements in the TL which relate to a person’s daily routine. Pupils must work in groups to decide which country/culture the person is from. Example statements may include ‘I start school at 7:45 ’. This is therefore likely to be the TL country. Pupils must justify their responses in the TL, which may involve a move away from the first person to third person singular. |
…to share opinions, reach agreement using negotiation.
|
Taboo Game: using the picture cards, the pupils receive an envelope with four of the words in it. They have to make a simple description of the word they have been given in the target language without using the word itself. Dictionaries can be used. Their classmates must guess what it is from the description. |
…to experiment with ideas and questions, seek out questions to explore and problems to solve, experiment with different ideas and outcomes. |
Pupils should work in groups to devise a questionnaire for their partner school which asks for information on popular culture of young people in the TL country in question. Pupils must think about what makes an effective questionnaire (its outcome), the structure, the nature of answers (open-ended or circled options). Simple questions could include, for example, ‘do you go often to the cinema?’, ‘what type of films do you like?’ and ‘what is your favourite film?’ Pupils should be used to some similar questions from oral exams. Once ready, pupils could vote on which questionnaire they think is the most effective and justify their answer (peer assessment). The ‘winning’ questionnaire could be sent to the TL partner school to be filled out or could be placed on a common area on the internet for TL pupils to access, complete and return. Pupils will be returning to these questionnaires at the end of the unit. |
What do I know about other cultures? |
|
Learning Intentions |
Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities |
…to explore cultural differences in relation to a specific context: food and eating habits in the TL country and how they differ with the pupils’ own cultural experiences.
|
This can be tied in with the teaching of or revision of food items in the TL. Teachers could ensure that some less well known and traditional TL gastronomic items are included in the list of acquired vocabulary. Flashcards and PowerPoint presentations could be used to convey new vocabulary. A language assistant could be brought in to discuss the gastronomic culture of the TL country. |
…to work in groups and use inquiry-based skills to deduce grammatical rules generate possible solutions,
…to share opinions, reach agreement using negotiation. Working with Others |
Use a set of dominos for the teaching of grammatical aspects of food phrases (e.g. in French this could involve pupils matching ‘du’, ‘de la’ ‘de l’ and ‘des’ with a food item, or in German it may be matching the correct gender ‘einen’, ‘eine’, ‘ein’). Pupils could be given a table with food words under the correct grammatical heading to help them. Pupils should then, after playing the game, use a dictionary to check the genders of the food words. They should then, in groups, deduce when you use ‘du’, ‘de la’ ‘des’, etc. |
…to use memory skills to foster accuracy in the construction of phrases relating to food.
…to develop routines of turn-taking, share and co-operate.
|
Three identical sheets are placed at the front of the room. The sheet will contain a set of eight sentences relating to what a particular person eats and drinks on each day of the week. Some sentences will use ‘I eat’ and ‘I drink’ and others will use ‘I like’. Each person in each group will take it in turns to come up for thirty seconds and look at the sheet. Each person has three turns. The aim is for pupils to work as a team and write out the sheet as accurately as possible. This should be followed with an exploration of what worked well for each team and problems which they encountered.
|
…to create small drama/role-play scenarios in a restaurant and supermarket. …to value other people’s ideas to stimulate own thinking. |
Pupils could use the phrases they have acquired from the above activity and their food vocabulary as a springboard for creating small role-play presentations on eating in a restaurant or café. This activity also allows for exploration of small culturally-conditioned behaviours, such as how to tip in the TL country, which is in many cases different from our own system. The supermarket scenario will allow pupils the opportunity to explore currency in the TL currency. They could, in preparation, use the internet to find out the pricing of food items and how much it converts to in British pounds. |
… to explore recipes relating to special occasions in the TL culture. …to sequence, generate possible solutions, examine options, justify opinions. |
Pupils could be given a recipe which details how to make a particular item for a special occasion in the target language country. The recipe instructions could be out of sequence and pupils must work in groups to place them in the right order. Teachers could then use an ‘odd one out’ game to encourage pupils to think about the language of recipes and to justify opinions on their choice of odd one out. |
…to investigate and develop an understanding of a special occasion in the TL country. …to listen actively, share opinions, reach agreement using negotiation. |
Pupils could practise vocabulary relating to traditional events in the TL country by accessing the relevant page on www.linguascope.com Pupils could view a particular scene from a special occasion in the TL country. This could be a typical Christmas, Easter, Karneval in Germany , Bastille day in France , etc… The picture may not necessarily be based in the TL ‘home’ country such as Germany , France and Spain , but may relate to a Francophone country such as Guadeloupe. This would allow for an exploration of countries where the TL is spoken and the culture of such countries. Pupils could use the ‘fact or opinion’ game in order to elicit responses about the picture. Pupils are presented with a set of sentences about the picture, some of which may be facts and others opinions. Some may be either fact or opinion, depending on the perception of the pupil. Pupils must justify their answers using simple sentences in the TL. Pupils could work in groups and use the Internet to research and manage information relating to a special occasion in the TL country. They could then fill in an A4 page with simple specific information on their chosen event, such as where, when, who, as well as some details about what occurs. |
How can I make myself understood in a different language when talking about culture? |
|
Learning Intentions |
Possible Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities |
… to productively talk and write about their experience of cultural awareness throughout the unit.
…to set personal targets and review them, organise and plan a task, learn ways to manage time, seek advice, compare their approach with others. |
Pupils could write to tourist information bureaux to ask for information about events and traditions which are specific to their are a. The teacher could tie in some explicit exploration of cultural aspects of the language, such as the use of the polite form or formal beginnings and endings to letters in different countries. Pupils could work on a short drama piece to convey to their peers what they have learned about their chosen event. They could use some language learnt previously, such as in the ‘fact or opinion’ game. Additionally, the language assistant could be used to bring an authentic cultural link into the classroom. The ‘best’ piece chosen by pupils themselves could be performed at a special ‘culture’ assembly at the end of the thematic unit. |
Working with Others
|
Restaurant Challenge: See challenge resource. Pupils work in groups of 6-8 on a task-based challenge which requests three clear products – a website, a Publisher document and a menu. Opportunity to assess Using ICT and Communication |
Using the results of the questionnaire survey carried out earlier in the unit pupils could be asked in their groups to create a short presentation which compares the results from the TL pupils with results from their own class. This would allow them to develop skills in analysing statistics in a simple manner in the TL and revise numbers. This activity should be in the TL. |
|
…to give and respond to feedback, take personal responsibility for work with others, respect the views and opinions of others. Working with Others
|
Again, using the questionnaire results as a base, pupils could in groups choose a particular aspect of the topics explored (such as sporting lifestyle, music, fashion, food, leisure activities) and research the topic with the aim of creating a presentation of findings for their peers. This may involve a link with other subject strands such as Physical Education, Art and Music. Pupils must research and manage information and decide which information is useful. Pupils may also want to research an aspect of cultural history which is relevant, such as famous German composers and their influence. Or pupils looking at sporting lifestyle, for example, may wish to look at some German football clubs, where they are situated, etc… Pupils should also link in their own opinions and compare findings with popular culture in their own culture. Presentation format could be: CD-Rom, website, PowerPoint, digital video/video, Publisher booklet, etc… Pupils must work together in groups to agree their aims, objectives, design, lay-out and content. This could be in the native language. |
|
Pupils might wish to arrange a video-conference session with their partner class in the TL country to present findings and to get feedback. This could ideally be arranged towards the end of the thematic unit, so that pupils would have an opportunity to discuss all that they have learned over the course of the unit. Opportunity to assess Using ICT and/or Communication |
| Links with Key Elements | Links with Learning for Life and Work |
Cultural Understanding Mutual Understanding Citizenship |
Local & Global Citizenship |
Development of Learning Outcomes |
|
|
|