Unit 1: Introduction: Bridging Language and Culture through Instruction
Introduction
This unit introduces participants to the fundamental concepts of how culture influences language and vice versa. It focuses on broadening teachers' perspectives on integrating cultural insights into language teaching, which is crucial for fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Mandarin among learners.
Case Study
Here, you are invited to answers these question as Chinese language educators and second learners as well. It is okay if you are not very clear to the questions asked. You will get to revisite, revise and improve your answers after this unit and as you work on the project!
Background: An international exchange program involves students from multiple countries attending a summer language school in Beijing to improve their Mandarin skills, focusing particularly on practical language use in social situations.
Scenario: During a cultural excursion, a local vendor tries to compliment an American student by using the situation-bound utterance (SBU), "您真会挑啊!" intending to express admiration for the vendor's skill in selecting goods. However, the phrase, which can also imply that the person is picky or too discerning, causes confusion and a slight offense.
Driving questions: How can language learners develop cultural sensitivity and awareness to navigate the nuances of the Chinese language effectively, and what strategies can educators employ to facilitate this understanding in a multicultural learning environment?
To Learn as Learner
- Watch- What is Cultural Awareness?
- Listen- What is Culture? (by Dr. Vivian Jackson from NCCC)
| Definition/Framework | Author |
| “Culture is a set of meanings, behavioral norms, and values used by members of a particular society, as they construct their unique view of the world.” | Alarcon, Foulks, & Vakkur (1998) |
| “Culture is conceived as a set of denotative (what is or beliefs), connotative (what should be, or attitudes, norms and values), and pragmatic (how things are done or procedural roles) knowledge, shared by a group of individuals who have a common history and who participate in a social structure.” | Basabe, Paez, Valencia, González, Rimé, & Diener (2002) |
| “The term culture refers to social reality. It can be defined as a complex collection of components that a group of people share to help them adapt to their social and physical world.” | Yamamoto, Silva, Ferrari, & Nukariya (1997) |
| “Culture is a shared pattern of belief, feeling, and knowledge that ultimately guide everyone’s conduct and definition of reality.” | Griffith & González (1994) |
| “Culture is a shared organization of ideas that includes the intellectual, moral and aesthetic standards prevalent in a community and the meanings of communicative actions.” | LeVine (1984) |
| “Culture is a person’s/group’s beliefs, their interactions with the world, and how they are affected by the environment in which they exist.” | Lotrecchiano (2005) |
| “Culture is an integrated pattern of human behavior which includes but is not limited to—thought, communication, languages, beliefs, values, practices, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting, roles, relationships, and expected behaviors of an ethnic group or social groups whose members are uniquely identifiable by that pattern of human behavior.” | National Center for Cultural Competence (2001) |
| “Culture is a system of collectively held values, beliefs, and practices of a group which guides decisions and actions in patterned and recurrent ways. It encompasses the organization of thinking, feeling, believing, valuing and behaving collectively that differentiates one group from another. Values and beliefs often function on an unconscious level.” | Sockalingam (2004) |
- Read and Compare: Cultural and Linguistic Competence
- Read and Connect-Important Cultural Traditions and Customs in China and How They Relate to the Mandarin Chinese Language
- Read and Think- Jiang, W. (2000). The relationship between culture and language. ELT journal, 54(4), 328-334.
- Read and delve(Optional)-1. Dong, H. (2020). A history of the Chinese language. Routledge. 2. Shuming, L. (2021). Fundamentals of Chinese culture. Amsterdam University Press.
- Share- Propose an instance where a misunderstanding of cultural context led to confusion in language use, either in your teaching or personal experience. What was the misunderstanding, and how was it resolved?"
To Do as Instructor
Discuss- (after learning)How can language learners develop cultural sensitivity and awareness to navigate the nuances of the Chinese language effectively, and what strategies can educators employ to facilitate this understanding in a multicultural learning environment?
Apply- Choose one cultural aspect discussed in the video or readings (e.g., family hierarchy, formal vs. informal address). Propose a classroom activity that would help students understand this aspect through language learning and try to use it in your teaching practice, if possible.
Reflect-Based on the readings, identify one cultural concept that could challenge your students. Reflect and develop a brief strategy on how you would teach this concept in class. Keep these thoughtful ideas down in a refelctive journal. Optional: If you apply a classroom activity to help your students’ understanding and producing language through culture, whether succeed or not, please take it down
To Create as Designer
Throughout this mini-course, you will design an effective curriculum to enhance cultural awareness in classrooms to promote effective teaching Chiense as a second language. In this unit, you will follow instructional design model ADDIE (Larson & Lockee, 2020). In your introduction you must do the first step as A(Analysis):
- Needs Assessment: Survey Chinese language teachers (and learners of Chinese as a second language) to identify what aspects of cultural awareness are currently underrepresented or misunderstood in their teaching(learning) practices.
- Learner Analysis: Assess the background, experience, and cultural understanding of potential course participants to tailor the curriculum effectively.
- Objective/Outcome Analysis: Define specific, measurable learning outcomes for the curriculum, such as "Teachers will be able to integrate at least three culturally diverse examples into their language lessons."
| Phase | Key activities |
| 1. Analyze | Problem identification
Training needs analysis Identify top-level learning goal Determine target audience Identify stakeholder needs Map required resources |
| 2. Design | Create a learning intervention outline
High-level mapping of learning intervention Mapping of evaluation methods Development of a communication strategy Alignment with stakeholders |
| 3. Develop | Determine the delivery method
Production of the learning product Determine the instructional strategies, media, and methods Quality evaluation Development and evaluation of assessments & tooling Deployment of learning technology Development of a communication strategy |
| 4. Implement | Participation in side programs
Training delivery & participation Changes in the physical environment Implementation of communication plan Execution of formal evaluation |
| 5. Evaluate | Integral part of each step
Evaluation Continuous learning Propose points of improvements Evaluation of the business case |
Five Stages of ADDIE model for Instructional Design
AI as a Tutor: Providing Direct Instruction
In this AI-tutoring session, you can ask chatGPT any doubts or thoughts on related themes of cultural awareness and language development by:
- Can you explain X in details/in a simpler way/ in another language....?
- Why do you think X works this way...?
- How can I understand X from the perspective of ... teacher/learner?
- Can you restate/summarize/retrieve the main idea of X for me?
- Can you help me explain X to my students/supervisor/peers who are ... year old/have ... years of teaching experience?
- ....(Keep on your Socratic questioning! Please remember: Ai-tutor can adjust its interactions to your learning level and dynamically adapt explanations and questions based on your understanding as it changes during the tutoring session. More importantly, it can work 24/7 without any complaining. )
References:
Larson, M. B., & Lockee, B. B. (2019). Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design. Routledge.
Mollick, E., & Mollick, L. (2023). Assigning AI: Seven approaches for students, with prompts. arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.10052
National Center for Cultural Competence https://nccc.georgetown.edu/
How to Better use AI as a Teacher https://www.moreusefulthings.com/resources
AI for Educators https://spencerauthor.com/ai-education/
Course Home Page: Ying Kong's Mini Course