Based on the Cultura surveys. Adapted from Furstenberg and Levet 2001, we set up 3 types of anonymous survey in google forms to be completed in the mother tongue of the students. They were encouraged to complete these without spending too much time thinking about their answers so that we could collect their instinctive reactions. The results would then be analysed by students who were learning that language and use the information as a basis for discussion about their assumptions of the cultural norms of the country whose language they were studying.
Institution reporting the task:
University of Warwick home page
Language of task instructions:
Other
Target Group:
Any
Level:
Any
References and acknowledgements:
None
Type:
Information exchange
Estimated Duration:
1 session
Topic:
intercultural awareness, stereotypes
Tags:
| intercultural learning |
|---|
| stereotypes |
Acknowledgements:
Cultura project,Furstenberg and Levet 2001
Language Configurations:
Intercomprehension
Language(s) that the task can be used in:
Any
Dominant language production:
Writing/reading asynchronous
Target Competences:
Intercultural skills
Specific pedagogical objectives:
Development of students analytical skills
Suggested Communication Tools:
| Asynchronous text |
|---|
| Collaborative tools |
| Real time textchat |
| Moodle-like |
Suggested Resources:
None
Instructions:
The surveys are translated by native speaker tutors so as to ensure that they read well to the students who reply in their mother tongue. Where international students are completing whilst based in Uk or France, they have to declare that they are not mother tongue speakers of that language. All surveys are completed anonymously and the collected data is then shared with learners of that language. For example English speakers complete their survey in English and the results are shared with learners of Englsih to provoke discussions and surface any stereotypes or unexpected differences from their previously held beliefs about speakers of this language.
This approach was also used in the #MexCo virtual exchange which I worked on with Coventry University.
The surveys used dealt with:
word association
sentence completion
situation reactions.
The live survey links were made available through the shared portal (EWC moodle platform) using the conditional feature to ensure that only students based in England could access the surveys in English and French the surveys in French.
Learner Texts:
None
Document related to the task:
Criteria for Completion:
None
Comments and suggestions:
None
Author/copyright:
None