INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS
I also believe that cultural awareness is critical within the language classroom. When students learn about the culture as well as the language, they seem to develop a much deeper understanding of and appreciation for the language. Culture can also be brought into nearly every lesson, whether it's about food, sports, pass-times, etc. Also, according to Koester and Lustig, communication and culture are interrelated when it comes to learning a language. While learning a language, students should also develop an understanding of the culture that goes along with the language so that they can better understand why there are certain attitudes or behaviors within the target language. Cultural awareness is critical to truly understanding the language.
I had the opportunity to develop a short video in the MAFLT program describing how I would bring culture into the language classroom. This video describes how I would integrate sports from other countries into the lesson and allow the students to explore the target culture more. This type of lesson can be integrated into many different formats, including cuisine from other countries when the students are learning about foods, what school is like in other countries, and what shopping might look like or other businesses that are different than our own culture. This kind of activity allows students to think outside of the box while learning more about the language within that section. These are fun activities that the students can participate in to learn more about the differences between their own culture and the culture of the target language. It also allows them to communicate with each other in the target language to see what differences they were able to find. However, there are many other activities that can be added in to lessons to supplement the cultural awareness. Students need to be aware of the cultural differences because it will help them learn about and understand the language as a whole.