Three Interactive Activities that Focus on Intercultural Awareness

Brenda J. Ellingboe, Ph.D.Instructional SpecialistELS Language Center

St. Paul, MNbrendajean6@msn.com

MELEd ConferenceNovember 6-7, 2015

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What is the significance of these two items as they relate to intercultural awareness?

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“Three Interactive Activities that Focus on Intercultural Awareness”

• Session Description:There are many ways to energize a classroom and become more interculturally competent. First, “Who are you culturally?” is a reflective cultural self-awareness conversation. Second, staying in description is an eye-opening group activity. The debriefing includes theory and practical application. Third, peace-making is the focus of a team assignment.

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Outline

1) Human Being Introductions (in pairs) 2) DICE: Staying in Description (in pairs or small

groups)-- Stay in Description before going to I, C, E-- Debriefing (focusing on skill building)

3) Peace-making Ideas Assignment--2 Example PowerPoint shows from my students

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Human Being Introductions

• 1) Pair up. This works best in pairs, not triads.• 2) Person #1 will ask the questions and listen;

Person #2 will answer them. • 3) Reveal only what you wish to reveal. The

more in-depth your answers, the more cultural self-awareness practice you have.

• 4) I will tell you when it’s time to switch roles.

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Human Being Intro: Your Name1. What is your full name that you were given at birth?2. What is the meaning of your first, middle, and family name that

you were given at birth? What is the ethnic origin of your name?

3. How is your family name spelled? Has the spelling changed?4. Has the pronunciation of your family name changed over the

years? If so, how?5. Were you named after anyone? 6. Do you have a different name now? If so, what is it? 7. Do you know the meaning of your name? What is the ethnic

origin of your name?8. Do you like your name?9. Do you have any nicknames?

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Human Being Intro.: Your Birthplace1. Where were you born?2. Name all the places you have lived.3. When you were growing up, what languages did you hear

spoken or sung in your home? Your grandparents’ home? In a friend’s home? On the playground? In school?

4. Were there any significant vacation destinations during your childhood and teenage years that contributed to your worldview?5. Think about the places you lived in and the people you lived with during your formative years. What are some of the core values that you gained while living there that are part of who you are today? Please list three.

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Debriefing

• What are your reactions to the HB Intro?• How do you usually introduce yourself?• What is that introduction called?• With the HB Intro, did you go in-depth

quickly?• Did you know that you were unpeeling layers

of your cultural identity?

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Why did we do the H.B. Intro?• It focuses on CSA: Cultural Self-Awareness.• Everyone is a multicultural human being. • Who are you culturally? is an important question.• Getting to know yourself first is the recommended sequence

for intercultural relations courses (Milton Bennett, Intercultural Communication Institute, Better Together Than Apart lecture).

• It is the best treatment for ethnocentrism for people who minimize differences and maximize similarities.

• Ethnocentrism places one’s own culture in the center of the universe; everything else is inferior.

• See: http://www.intercultural.org

Rolling the DICE

The goal is to stay in DESCRIPTION a long time and not rush to

INTERPRETATION or EVALUATION.

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What does DICE stand for?

• D – Describe• I – Interpret• C – Cultural Context• E – Evaluate

It is an adaptation of DIE from the Intercultural Communication Institute, Portland, Oregon, http://www.intercultural.org

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What is the D step?

• The goal is to stay in DESCRIPTION a long time and not rush to INTERPRETATION.

• This means talking about the person or object as objectively as possible without adding opinions, commenting, guessing, interpreting, evaluating, or giving your personal reactions.

• Focus on what you know, not what you think might be going on behind the scenes.

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Why is DICE important?

• This is a valuable intercultural communication skill.

• Through practice, we learn not to stereotype people based on the limited information we have before us.

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Short Quiz: Is it Description or Interpretation?

Which one is DESCRIPTION: a or b?• 1a) She got angry.• 1b) Her voice got louder, and she started to pound her fists on

the table. • 2a) He called me six times but did not leave a message.• 2b) He is afraid to leave me a voicemail.

• 3a) He is trying to sell us something.• 3b) He entered the conference room, introduced himself, and

shook hands with each of us.

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Short quiz: Description or Interpretation?

Which one is DESCRIPTION: a or b?• 4a) Two adult men and one adult woman are standing

on a log that is floating on a body of water. One of the men is holding a child.

• 4b) A kidnapping is taking place.

• 5a) Someone is holding a petition with signatures on it.• 5b) Someone is holding sheets of paper with writing

on it.

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Now, try staying in description with a few photos. Talk

with a partner for 1 minute staying in description.• Describe people as objectively as possible• Describe any relevant objects.• What do you know for sure without guessing or assuming anything?• What do you and your partner agree on?For example: • 1) How many people are there in the picture? • 2) Are they adults or children? • 3) Are they sitting, standing, or doing something else? • 4) Does it take place indoors or outdoors? • 5) Are there any recognizable words or signs or symbols? • 6) Are there any objects that are easily recognizable?

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Describe the photo.

• 1.• 2.• 3.• 4.• 5.

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I, C, and E

• Now, Interpret what might be happening.• Then, generate questions for your Cultural

Informant.• Later on, evaluate the situation after getting

information from your C.I.

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Describe the photo.

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First, give us some sentences staying in description.

• 1.• 2.• 3.• 4.• 5.

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I, C, and E

• Second, give us a few sentences in Interpretation.

• Third, generate some questions for a cultural informant, guest speaker, our reading, or our video: This is the Cultural Context step.

• Finally, evaluate the significance of this day or event from that culture’s perspective.

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Describe this picture to your partner

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Describe the Photo:

• 1-• 2-• 3-• 4-

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Interpret what might be happening.Then, generate questions for a cultural informant.

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Photo Credits:

• Photo #1: November 11, 1989 – border guards

• Photo #2: People are standing on a section of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz, which was opened up on the morning of November 11th, 1989. (John Tlumacki, photographer)

• Photo #3: After the Wall was opened, a Berliner offered to shake hands with two border guards

Source: Deutsche Welle. Photos from the Fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989. Retrieved July 5, 2015 from: http://www.dw.com/en/the-fall-of-the-berlin-wall-november-9-1989/

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Debriefing the DICE

• Describe Practicing this skill will make you culturally competent.

• Interpret Try not to rush to this step first.• Cultural Context Think of questions for your

cultural informant.• Evaluate Evaluate the scene based on its

relevance for that cultural context.

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Describe an ObjectStay in description.

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The Costa Rican Oxcart

• Interpret how it might be used now or in the past

• Generate questions for a cultural informant for the Cultural Context step

• Evaluate the importance of the oxcart for the people of Costa Rica (using the information gained from the C step)

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Describe this student’s drawing of a scene from Chapter 4 of The Time Traveler (H.G. Wells)

Then, Interpret the drawing. Guess what might be happening in this scene.Next, focus on the Context. What questions do you have for the student artist?Finally, Evaluate the scene from the perspective of the author.

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THE ILLUSTRATOR

The Time Traveler – by Yanli Yang (China), level 109, RW Ishiguro

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Ideas for Promoting PeaceClass Assignment:

• This is a team-presentation and a team-created PowerPoint slide show. It counts as their second speaking evaluation of the four-week session.

Students were asked to:• Choose 1 or 2 partners.• Work together and exchange e-mail addresses. • Find a time to work together outside of class to

prepare a PowerPoint slide show complete with their own peacemaking ideas.

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Think of 6 things your team could do to promote peace:

Put one idea per slide with a picture or visual image of it. These items could be at any of these levels:• Intrapersonal: (within yourself)• Interpersonal: (with one to five others such as a small

group)• Organizational: Classroom, School, University Campus,

Club• Larger Society: Community, City, Country, World

(through Social Media)

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Each slide show must include at least:

• 6 ideas to promote peace • 1 song that you as a team agree on as your

PowerPoint theme song; projecting lyrics is suggested if you want the class to sing along

• 5 photos or symbols that represent peace to you• 1 peacemaker (person’s name, 5 facts, photo of

him/her) with sources cited• 3 quotations about peace from peacemakers or

others writing or singing about peace, with sources cited

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Promoting Peace 1 person at a time:

• We will invite our classmates to form 2 soccer teams, and each team will play each other.

• Through this sport, we will learn what it is like to play on a team with classmates from several other cultures.

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Promoting Peace 1 person at a time:

• Find a song about peace• Learn the words• Play the song• Teach others the song• Play it for our class• Give out the words and ask classmates to sing

along

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Promoting Peace 1 person at a time:

• Invite my classmates to my culture’s special holiday celebration here in Minnesota and explain:

• Why we celebrate it• How meaningful it is to us• Why knowing about it

contributes to peace

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Peace-making Example: Learn about Eid al-Fitr, the Feast of the Breaking

of the Fast in Tajikistan.Source: Wikipedia (2015)

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Example Slide shows (July 2015)

• All students are advanced level EAP (English for Academic Purposes) students, levels 110-112.

• All attended ELS Language Center in St. Paul in July 2015.• They had three 50-mn class periods to prepare plus their

own time outside of class to rehearse.• Each slide show counted as a speaking evaluation• 20 points for speaking (individual grade)• 5 points for accuracy of slide content, reference to

sources, grammar and spelling (team PowerPoint slide show grade)

PeaceBy Student A, Student B, and Student C - July 10, 2015

15 July 2015 Last updated at 07:26 BST from BBC NEWS

Do you think you live in a peaceful world?

What is peace ?

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Key Dates in Mahatma Gandhi’s life“In 1942 – Mahatma Gandhi started the “Quit India Movement” for complete Independence of India. He was arrested and imprisoned.In 1943 – Gandhi went on a hunger strike that lasted for 21 days.In 1946 – India became an independent country.In 1948 –Gandhi was killed at a prayer meeting in Delhi on Jan. 30th.”

Source: Key Dates in Mahatma Gandhi’s Life (2015). Retrieved July 3, 2015 from http://justlists.wordpress.com

We will Make many friend from other countriesJapanese fought against America, China ,Korea etc…but now, we are friends ..

Our Ideas for Peace:

We celebrate different culture holiday

• We celebrated many holidays in the U.S.• Thanks giving, Christmas, and New Years!

More Ideas for Peace: Singing a peace song together

• Last Friday, we sang “Imagine” together.• It was fun and thank you for Andrea from Italy!

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Promoting Peace 1 person at a time

We found out how to say and write “hello” in 7 different languages • Chinese• Japanese• Spanish• Russian• Italian• Arabic• Turkish

LET’S LISTEN A SONG ABOUT PEACE

Michael.Jackson_Earth Song

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In closing, I believe intercultural learning and peace-making go hand-in-hand.

“There is no civilization, from the very oldest to the very newest, from which we cannot learn.” Eleanor Roosevelt (1961)

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In conclusion

• “We are all on the same road toward intercultural competence, but we are just at different points along the way.” Brenda Ellingboe

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What is the significance of these two items as they relate to intercultural awareness?

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Recommended Instructional Design Sequence:

• 1) Start with the mirror; do Cultural Self-awareness activities: HB Intro.

• 2) Then, teach Cultural Frameworks such as Rolling the DICE

• 3) Third, learn about a specific culture or form of diversity in the world

Thank you,Brenda Ellingboebrendajean6@msn.com

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“The freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility”.By Student Y and Student Z – July 2015 – Language Studies class 

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 The dove with olive branch and the peace sign originally designed for the British nuclear disarmament movement after the Second World War.

Source: wikipedia.org .

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“He was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist.” (Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015, http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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He served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.(Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015, http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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“He was South Africa's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.” (Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015,

http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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“His government  focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalized racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation.” (Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015, http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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“Internationally, Mandela made a difference.” (Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015, http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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“He died at the age of 95 after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection.” (Nelson R. Mandela website, 2015, http://www.mandela.gov.za/index.html)

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Our Peace-making Ideas

* Make a website that discusses peace issues and provides you with the solutions that solve these issues.

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* Buy some flowers and attach a card with peace quotations written on it and then give these to people.

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* Print the word peace on some white t-shirts then give them to people.

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* Write an essay about peace and then translate it in different languages.

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* Make a YouTube channel that talks about global peace.

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• Ask your friends to donate money to a peace charity.

Thank you for listening.

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In conclusion

• “We are all on the same road toward intercultural competence, but we are just at different points along the way.” Brenda Ellingboe

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In closing, I believe intercultural learning and peace-making go hand-in-hand.

“There is no civilization, from the very oldest to the very newest, from which we cannot learn.” Eleanor Roosevelt (1961)

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What is the significance of these two items as they relate to intercultural awareness?

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Recommended Instructional Design Sequence:

• 1) Start with the mirror; do Cultural Self-awareness activities: HB Intro.

• 2) Then, teach Cultural Frameworks such as Rolling the DICE

• 3) Third, learn about a specific culture or form of diversity in the world

Thank you,Brenda Ellingboebrendajean6@msn.com