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Volume VII - 2002-03
Learning a Second Language through Culture
by Barbara Le Blanc and Joseph Dicks
Dr.Barbara Le Blanc is a
professor at the Department of Education at Université Sainte-Anne
in Nova Scotia,Canada. She is author of several articles on Acadian culture
and is presently collaborating with Dance Nova Scotia on a manual
for schools that will offer an historical and cultural look at Acadian dance.
Dr.Joseph Dicks
is a professor in the Second Language Education Centre at the University of
New Brunswick, Canada. His academic interests include teacher education, curriculum
development and program evaluation.
Introduction
This article describes a series of activities
that have been and are being used in English and French language classrooms.
Our experience with thousands of students showed that when they were engaged
in highly interactive, language-rich and enjoyable
activities, they became more motivated language learners. Students were encouraged
to become singers, dancers, storytellers, merchants, genealogists, geographers,
writers, actors, historians, archeologists and ethnologists. Students used
techniques in drama for education to reach into their imaginations to compare
the realities and possibilities of the past, present, and future. Throughout
this process learners were encouraged to interpret and analyze data. They
were engaged in highly creative approaches using a wide range of talents to
experience new realities.As a result, students developed an understanding,
appreciation and respect for the target culture and,consequently, used the
target language in a wide variety of communicative situations.
In this article, we examine
ways of discovering culture and learning language in the French second-language
classroom using imaginative student-centered activities focused on the Acadian
culture.Acadian is a term used to refer to the settlers who established the
first French colony in North America. The boundaries of this colony, called
Acadie,were often contested in a power play between England and France,
but generally included parts of what are today the Maritime Provinces and
the Gaspé region of Québec, both in Canada, as well as part
of the state of Maine in the USA. Today some three million descendants live
scattered throughout three major areas: the Atlantic Provinces and Québec
in Canada, the New England States and Louisiana in the USA, the island of
Belle-Isle-en-Mer,and the Ligne acadienne near Chatellerault in France. Although
the activities described in this article focused on the Acadian community,they
can be easily adapted to any cultural or language learning setting.
Background
The approach we are endorsing
was influenced by the disciplines of ethnology and education. Ethnologists
broadly define culture as the study of everyday life made up of components
based on value systems. These systems include ways of communicating, ways
of thinking, ways of knowing and ways of behaving. They also involve assumptions
about history, geography,and institutions. Finally they encompass the expression
of a variety of art forms, the performance of religious and secular rites
and rituals,and the recognition of signs and symbols. Culture in this context
is dynamic, diverse and complex, retaining traditional practices and beliefs,
while adapting to new situations and circumstances. Ethnological studies place
importance on the people, objects and experiences that help us understand
a target culture.Current educational theory and practice, influenced by such
psychologists as Piaget and Bruner, promotes a process of discovery involving
interaction between learners and their environment. In the present context
the second-language learner comes face to face with the way of life of the
target culture. In a project entitled The Magical Discovery of our Roots,
Baulu-MacWillie and Le Blanc (1992,1993) found that students' understanding
and appreciation of culture was an extremely important variable in first language
learning. In this article we will demonstrate the value of using culture to
teach a second language.
Instructional Procedures
We will now describe activities that were included
in three specific lesson plans. (For the complete lesson plans
please consult Research and Publications —>Curriculum
Projects —>Lesson Plans at www.unb.ca/slec.)
HISTORICAL TABLEAUX
Historical Tableaux permit students to create theatrical representations from still images of historical scenes and empathize with life situations of people in other times (Le Blanc,1993). In this lesson,the class was divided into teams of three or four persons. Each team received a reproduction of a painting representing eighteenth century Acadian life. The team discussed the work of art by answering such questions as: Who is in the painting? What are they doing? Where are they? What is happening in the scene? Each member of the team chose a character in the painting,and the groups wrote imaginary dialogues for scenes that they practiced and performed. The presentations were embellished by adding costumes and objects.The culminating activity involved creating images (drawings,collages,photos,etc.) to illustrate the dialogues they had written.
OBJECTS SPEAK TO US —ARCHEOLOGICAL DETECTIVES
In the lesson Objects Speak to Us—Archeological
Detectives, students examined objects, made hypotheses about their nature,
interpreted their cultural context and explained their functions. They compared
past objects with present day ones, communicated pertinent information both
orally and in written form, and recognized that artifacts reveal cultural
information about a group of people. This lesson began with each student bringing
a significant object to school. The class was divided into smaller groups
of three or four persons. Each person in the small group presented, identified
and described the chosen object. Students then described the basic work of
archeologists including what could be learned about a person from an object
found in an archeological dig.
The class then examined a box of objects called
Treasures from the Past. The box is divided into archeological strata:
20th century (e.g.a pop can),1830-1900 (e.g.a military uniform button),1760-1830
(e.g.a fragment of a plate of Chinese pottery),1680-1755 (e.g.a clay pipe),
1680 (e.g.a fragment of a jaw 's harp), before European arrival (e.g.an arrowhead),
before aboriginal arrival (no people, therefore no objects). They identified
and described the artifacts, determined their function and guessed the historical
period to which they belonged. Once the students were familiar with the idea
of archeological strata, each group participated in the game Archeological
Detectives. Each work team received four different artifacts, six bags
tagged 1 to 6 representing six archeological strata, as well as some visual
and written clues. Each of the artifacts came from one of the archeological
strata represented in the Treasures from the Past box shown to the students
earlier. The group used the clues and agreed upon the archeological stratum
for the artifacts. When they made a decision,they placed the artifacts in
the appropriately labeled bag (1,2,3,4,5,or 6). Each group compared its predictions
about the historical periods to those made by archeologists by looking at
a verification table with answers.Students discussed the difficulties and
challenges of being an archeologist.
Then, working in pairs,one student became a
journalist, the other an archeologist. The journalist asked the archeologist
questions such as: Can you describe an interesting object that you found?
What did one do with the object? What does it tell us about every day life?
To what period does it belong? Does the object exist today? If so,how is it
similar? How is it different? The journalist could choose to be from
any of the media —TV, radio, or newspaper. Finally, the students invented
a short story about an object. They could add drawings to help tell the story.
DANCE
In the lesson, Dance, the students
learned to perform traditional Acadian dances (Le Blanc,in press). They created
movements inspired by traditional and contemporary dance repertoire. They
described the dances orally or in written form and demonstrated physically
an understanding of the importance of group cohesion as well as lack of group
cohesion as represented in traditional and contemporary dances. They used
movements to help express feelings and describe interpersonal relationships.
The students began by discussing what the word “dance ” conjured
up in their mind. The students discussed what dances are popular today, who
were their favorite music groups, and what musical instruments are used in
the groups they like. They looked at a jaw 's harp —an ancient musical
instrument that is still used today.Students tried to guess the name of the
musical instrument and to what family of instruments it belongs. They talked
about contemporary musical instruments that it resembles. They tried to imagine
and explain the sound that it might make. Then they listened to a recording
of the sounds it makes. After the discussion, the students learned movements
for traditional Acadian dances such as —Les Moutons, Le reel —Quatre,
the Set Carré, La Patate Longue. The class then divided into groups
of 4,6 and 8 persons (even numbers if possible). Each group was responsible
for the creation of a dance,and each person in the group had to invent one
movement for a dance. Each movement followed the beat of the music and was
done to a count of eight.The group members decided in what order to do the
movements. They then presented their new dance, which could be accompanied
by music of their choice,hand clapping or silence. After each dance was performed,
other members of the class became journalists specializing in dance and gave
some positive comments about the performance.
A Student Centered,Interactive Approach
The activities described in the previous section
were adapted from The Magical Discovery of our Roots project referred
to earlier. That project was inspired to a large degree by the writings of
Piaget (1967)and Bruner (1966). Piaget explains that intelligence develops
as a result of interaction with environment. Bruner believes that it is better
to guide students to their own discovery rather than give them the concepts,the
principles or the formulas directly. In this approach, teachers present students
with a problem to solve, give a limited amount of information, guide them
through the process of inference,and allow them to arrive at their own solution
(Brooks &Brooks,1993).
The Magical Discovery of our Roots
project also incorporated interaction with and manipulation of objects, a
pedagogical strategy inspired by innovative work being done in the museum
world. Increasingly,museums have displayed objects within their socio-cultural
context providing the visitor with tools to better interpret and understand
the world (Hall,1987; Hennigar-Shuh, 1985). Activities have been created in
museums that promote this interaction between objects and individuals in order
to stimulate curiosity, questioning,wonder and discovery (Bettleheim,1984).
In this section we will describe how we have
adapted the activities of the original project to the second-language classroom
using an integrated framework involving three key components. The first component,
multidimensional curriculum (Leblanc,1990; Edwards, Kristmanson,
and Rehorick, 2000) identifies four syllabi that are particularly relevant
to the teaching and learning of language and culture in a second language
context. The communicative-experiential syllabus focuses on the lived
experiences of the learners as the driving force of this curriculum. Consequently,learners
actively participate in authentic communication where the emphasis is on the
message rather than on language form or structure. The language syllabus emphasizes
accurate language use in meaningful contexts. The learners' needs and the
communicative situation determine the linguistic forms taught. Teachers guide
learners to reflect on the form used,correct their errors, and express themselves
correctly. The general language syllabus places importance on the
personal development of learners. The three principle goals of this syllabus
are to increase sensitivity and objectivity towards languages,cultures,and
societies; to be an active participant in learning; and to improve understanding
of languages and cultures. The culture syllabus aims to heighten awareness
of other cultures, to prepare students to live as bilingual citizens, and
to widen cultural horizons.
Cooperative Learning
We have also included several basic elements of a second key component,cooperative learning (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1988; Slavin, 1995; Kagan, 1994). In this approach simultaneous interaction ensures that at any one time half the class is talking, eliminating the sequential, teacher-led mode of operation. Positive interdependence means that a gain for one student is associated with a gain for other students. Within groups, students have well-defined roles and responsibilities resulting in individual accountability and are evaluated based on their personal contribution. Activities are structured so that all students have the opportunity for equal participation. These basic principles of cooperative learning allow students to engage in activities that build upon their strengths while providing them with an opportunity to improve in areas where they are weak.
Multiple Intelligences
The activities created
for this project also encourage learners to use a third critical component,
Multiple Intelligences (Gardner,1983,1993). Gardner distinguishes
between the classical definition of intelligence (the ability to answer questions
on an IQ test) and his own definition of intelligence: “the capacity
to solve problems or create products that are important in a specific cultural
milieu or community ” (1983,p.15).Gardner proposes at least eight intelligences
(linguistic, logicomathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic).
Armstrong 's work (1994)on the pedagogical
applications of Multiple Intelligences is particularly relevant to this project.
Armstrong emphasizes four key principles related to multiple intelligences
that have implications for the classroom. First, every individual possesses
each type of intelligence (certain intelligences that are highly developed,others
that are somewhat developed, and others that are underdeveloped). Second,
most people are able to develop each intelligence to an adequate level of
competence. In the school context, this involves providing the learner with
the encouragement,enrichment,and instruction required. Third, the intelligences
complement one another and always are used in specific cultural contexts.
Fourth, there are several ways of being intelligent within each category.
For example,someone who cannot read could nonetheless be able to tell wonderful
stories using an incredibly rich vocabulary. While each of these intelligences
is not applicable to every activity described in this project,second-language
learners will have the opportunity to participate in certain activities that
reflect their stronger intelligences, and others that will allow them to work
on less developed intelligences.
Lesson Plan Format
We will now propose a lesson plan format as adapted for the second language classroom.This format includes basic information, multidimensional outcomes, and teaching/learning steps and procedures. The fully developed lesson plans are available on the website referred to above in Instructional Procedures.
Basic Information:
Field of Experience (theme):
Topic:
Material Required:
Timeframe:
Outcomes:
Communicative-experiential:
Language:
General Language Education:
Culture:
Teaching/Learning Steps and Procedures:
Personalization and Contextualization:
Main Activities:
Reflection/Reintegration:
The Basic Information category allows
the teacher to immediately identify the theme,topic materials, and suggested
timeframe for the lesson. Outcomes are stated for each of the multidimensional
syllabi,with the communicative-experiential outcome being the most important.
The Teaching/Learning Steps and Procedures involve several phases.
The personalization phase allows learners to consider their own experiences
and attitudes about the subject under consideration. The contextualization
phase offers key information about the communicative situation and the nature
of the text. Regarding the communicative situation, students should know who
is communicating with whom,for what reason, in what relationship (e.g.,mother-daughter,
boss-employee,friend-friend). The nature of the text should be made clear
by indicating certain key discourse characteristics (e.g.dialogue for role
play may have incomplete sentences and atypical punctuation; newspaper articles
follow standard who, what,where,when and why format). Teachers will also encourage
learners to use their knowledge of similar texts from their mother tongue.
Employed effectively,these two components —personalization and conceptualization
—permit learners to anticipate new information.
During the main activity phase, learners
participate in authentic tasks that satisfy their interests and needs.Three
main characteristics of these activities are that learners 1) use their imaginations
in active and varied role-play; 2) participate in theme-based contextualized
activities; and 3) have the opportunity to work alone and in teams.In the
final phase, reflection/reintegration, learners reflect on the activity and
re-examine their knowledge,behavior and attitudes through participating in
new situations and contexts, and by using different language skills.
Concluding Remarks
In concrete terms in the second-language classroom,this integrated framework engaged students in a variety of interesting and dynamic activities focused on aspects of their own culture and that of the target culture. The enjoyment experienced while participating in these activities resulted in more motivated second-language learners, who used their second language in a much wider, more interesting and imaginative series of communicative situations.
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Mireille Baulu-MacWillie of Université Sainte-Anne who worked on the initial project. Baulu-MacWillie and Le Blanc (1992,1993) collaborated in the development of an educational project entitled The Magical Discovery of Our Roots,which placed importance on the daily life,history and traditions of Acadians. We also wish to thank Denise Henson, archeologist at Parks Canada in Halifax, who developed the Archeological Detectives game and Doug Crowell, who built the Treasures from the Past Box.
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