Bringing Students’ Culture into an ESL/EFL Classroom Sandanona Conference Moodiela Mathobela 3:30-4:15 PM May 26, 2009

Ice Breakers Q: Which is the most self-centered letter of the alphabet? A: "i" (I) Q: Which letter is always trying to find reasons? "y" (Why?") Submitted by: Melina Gasser- Argentina Q: Which letter is not me? A: U. Submitted by: Hamed Mohamed Q: What letter can do the work in one day that you can do in two days? A: W (Double u- Double you) Q: What has a neck, but no head? A: A bottle. Q: Why did the man throw a bucket of water out the window? A: He wanted to see the waterfall. Q: Why did the man throw the butter out the window? A: He wanted to see the butterfly.

What is Culture? Definitions of Culture Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social contexts Pat Moran (2001:24)

Definitions of Culture Continue… “Culture is integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations”. Goode et al. (2000, cited in Peterson and Coltrane 2003:1) As such, this implies that language is not just a tool to define culture but also a reflection of it.

Six Blind Men and an Elephant continue… One day, six blind men happened to meet each other and gossiped a long time about many things. Suddenly one of them recalled, " I heard that an elephant is a queer animal. Too bad we're blind and can't see it." "Ah, yes, truly too bad we don't have the good fortune to see the strange animal," another one sighed. The third one, quite annoyed, joined in and said, "See? Forget it! Just to feel it would be great." "Well, that's true. If only there were some way of touching the elephant, we'd be able to know," they all agreed. It so happened that a merchant with a herd of elephants was passing, and overheard their conversation. "You fellows, do you really want to feel an elephant? Then follow me; I will show you," he said. The six men were surprised and happy. Taking one another's hand, they quickly formed a line and followed while the merchant led the way. Each one began to contemplate how he would feel the animal, and tried to figure how he would form an image.

Six blind men and an Elephant continue… In a few minutes he led the first blind man to feel the elephant. The First approached the Elephant, and happening to fall against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl: "God bless me! but the Elephant Is very like a wall!“ The Second, feeling of the tusk, cried, -"Ho! what have we here. So very round and smooth and sharp? To me 'tis mighty clear this wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!“ The third approached the animal, and happening to take the squirming trunk within his hands, thus boldly up and spoke: "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a snake!“ The Fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee. "What most this wondrous beast is like, "'This is clear enough the Elephant Is very like a tree!“ The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said: "Even the blindest man can tell what this resembles most; deny the fact who can, this marvel of an Elephant Is very like a fan!“ The Sixth no sooner had begun about the beast to grope, then, seizing on the swinging tail that fell within his scope, "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a rope!" And so these men of Hindustan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong, though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!

Six Blind Men and an Elephant Continue…

Implications for an ESL/EFL Classroom Teacher and students are cultural beings They bring cultural diversity in the classroom including linguistic performance and competence Culture is context-based and meaning negotiated Imposing our own values without making an attempt to understand our students' values is imperialistic and arrogant. We must remember that intercultural understanding runs both ways.

Intercultural Competence It is pivotal to consider that culture can be studied from a plethora of viewpoints: Student’s own culture Target language culture (ESL/EFL) Interculture (Aarup, 1995). Undoubtedly, it is important for ESL/EFL teachers to incorporate students’ culture as a source of material The study of the target language culture is typical in language teaching both implicit and explicit, and its effectiveness depends on students’ attitudes towards the foreign culture, topics covered in the classroom, and design of pedagogical activities Within the communicative environment of the classroom, we teachers tend to center our attention on linguistic aspects, brushing cultural issues aside We teachers have a responsibility if not an obligation to provide a contrastive analysis between the students’ own culture and the target language culture

Intercultural Competence Continue… The benefits of doing such an analysis are to create interest in and respect for both cultures, to learn about another culture, and to help students know how they can behave properly in intercultural situations, in order to avoid misunderstanding and even reduce the effects of cultural shock These benefits are applicable to monolingual, bilingual and multicultural ESL/EFL classrooms One of the natural qualities of human beings is curiosity. This desire leads us to be eager to know about things and to learn as much as possible about them We teachers can take advantage not only of Nobrow culture (High arts and popular culture) (Keller, 2000) but also of interculture This implies a double effort, as well as a double reward, as students can show what they know and even learn things about their own culture in order to contrast it with the target one

Bibliography Aarup, A “Defining Intercultural Competence for the Adult Learner “. Intercultural Competence. Vol. II. Aalborg University Press. Keller, J What High Culture? What Low Culture?. Chicago Tribune 14/03/00. Moran, P.R Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Conclusion In this age of globalization and massive cultural imperialism, it is imperative that ESL/EFL teachers should take a lead in gaining the trust and confidence of their students to avoid the undercurrent of resistance If ESL/EFL students’ culture persist to be ignored and swept under the carpet in favor of the target language culture, this could lead to a typical ticking time bomb of ‘love- hate’ relationship with the learning and teaching process of ESL/EFL classrooms Ke a leboga Dankie Siyabonga Siyabulela Thank you! Ro livhuwa Hi khensile Kea leboha Siyathokoza