Hello Michael,

I am not kidding, with a dart thrown against a map of the world in class.

There are resons. First it keeps me freash ans on my toes. Second the responces from grades 5 through college all appear to be motivated to find out something I may have missed. Third I believe it makes me a better global citizen.

What to emphasize we decide as as a class.

But always how their social world came about and the philosophical foundations which created their socially constructed social world. 

Douglas

Douglas -- Interesting.  You make it a learning community with information researched and reported by everyone in the group, not just the teacher.  Good student-centered active learning!

Michael,

Remember what Freire argued, teachers are learners and the youth are teachers.

Being a Critical Social Theorist I believe we can begin to break this silent war between teachers and "students" if as Foucault states we change the discourse.  I try not to use "student" or "my class" it implies a distance I believe between my connection with Peter or Barbara. A "something almost inhuman" a Frommian "Psedu-Humam"  Also partly because I grew up with Chech and Chong, and the old nag sounding teacher yelling "class, class, and if your my age you know the rest.

Douglas

The easiest approach is to concentrate on the least diverse of the countries that you have mentioned,i.e. the united kingdom which has a clearly defined cultural map. It is true that the U.K has components beside England, that London is nearly a cosmopolitan city,and that there are immigrants in the U.K but the cultural identity of   this country is still largely preserved. As every one of us observed, the U.K has not integrated well inside the EU because of political factors but also because of well-established traditions that are deeply rooted. So when EFL is taught, the English culture could be easily incorporated to give a sense of the original center  from which the language spread to other parts of the world.

The best policy is not to choose any country or culture. If you know of other cultures you can enrich your classes with those differences.

Dr. Matar,

I am sorry and with all due respect my disagreement from last night to this morning has not changed. The part I do agree with is "It is easier" and "when teaching EFL English culture could be easily incorporated" all is true. Yet I ask, does being easier necessarly make it better? I would argue it creates a top down learning model, namely the teacher "handing out information" which is later memorized and the safty box has increased. To me, it makes no differance in the amout of knowledge regarding said culture it is the struggle in teasing out the subtle but very real cultural and linguestic diferences that becomes criticl education.  As you well know sometimes giving no answer and pointing out possible hints or guiding young adults to a discovery is far more rewarding and educational than easily incorporated ever can.

Just my thoughts,

Douglas

I really appreciate everyone's comments.  As I think about your replies, it seems to me that first we need to consider the outcome goals for the class.  What knowledge and abilities do the students need?  Working in international business?  Being ready to study abroad?  Simply being ready to be a good international citizen? Answers to these questions may inform the curriculum decision about cultural elements.

Dear Dr. Douglas Daugherty,

An easier approach in the teaching-learning process has proved success for the targeted younger generation but I agree with you that it is not necessarily the better one. I do not think that a sender-receiver method of teaching is appropriate because it will be within the "easy come, easy go" & the information will evaporate from the memory within days if not hours. A combination of language-culture education has to be accompanied by a variety of activities with very little use of the marker pen & the board. Sometimes, "funny" situations can contribute to education more than a number of lengthy "dull" lectures. For me, the teacher is the "maestro" & the students are the "musicians" and by coordinated performance, a very good orchestra is produced.

Cortazzi and Jin (1999) categorize three types of cultural information that can be represented in language lessons: the target culture, the source culture and the international culture .

The new status of English as an international language (EIL) poses major challenges to the hegemony of British and American native-speaker cultural norms in English-language teaching (ELT) practices (Modiano, 2001). cultural teaching should incorporate learners’ diverse racial and cultural backgrounds and empower them to identify different voices and perspectives. so, target culture, source culture and international culture should be integrated.