Report to the Teagle Foundation on the Undergraduate Major in
Culture in the Language Classroom: Student perspectives Andreea … · Andreea Mascan, Ph.D....
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1. Aspects of the target culture are an important part of the language classroom. 2. Wanting to learn about the target culture played an important role in my decision to study a foreign language. 4. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when the textbook has a section on culture. 3. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when the instructor talks about it. 5. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when I interact with my peers. 6. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when we talk about original texts/music/ visual material from the target culture. 7. Learning about language happens online (on the Internet, via social media, websites, chat). 8. Taking a language class has improved my intercultural competence. 9. Learning a new language has helped me better navigate everyday situations where culture plays a role. Background “The recent interest in ecological theories of language has prompted researchers to view the use of another symbolic system as a semiotic, historically grounded, personal experience. As a sign system, language elicits subjective responses in the speakers themselves: emotions, memories, fantasies, projections, identifications.” Kramsch, C. J. (2009). The multilingual subject: What foreign language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Survey Results Culture in the Language Classroom: Student perspectives Andreea Mascan, Ph.D. Candidate Graduate Research and Teaching and Teagle Fellow, Cornell University Delete me & place your LOGO in this area. This research was supported by the Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence, the Teagle Foundation and the German Studies Department at Cornell Explore: How students think of, experience, and relate to cultural aspects of language in the German language classroom. Whether students see learning a language (German) as an opportunity to learn ways to negotiate culturally coded content/meaning If students talk about culture in the classroom strictly in terms of target (German) culture. 30 minute meetings with each student informant, which entailed: - Likert scale questionnaire - Semi-structured interviews, analyzed with thematic coding The questionnaire was given just before the interview. It served as a starting point for student reflection on some of the topics picked up later in the course of the interview. Themes Important Influence of: • Family/heritage • Personal experience in German speaking countries with German speaking friends • History/media Student discussing the influence of German colonial presence in the history of her hometown: Us and them/ Paradigm of cultural difference • When talking about cultural aspects discussed in the classroom students often used generalizations and dichotomies. Student recounting an instance in a first semester language class where the instructor responded to a question on dating in Germany: The Internet • Half of the students interviewed had online contact with German speakers and these conversations often fueled their interest in the language and culture. Some were involved in the gaming culture online. “Where I was born has lot of German influence. So I came from China and it was a city that was a German colony during WWII and it seems like it wasn’t a nice experience for the city but after the war people did a lot of reflection and turns out that the German influence in the city really changed its appearance and some inner cultural core. I’m not sure if that makes sense. I just think Germany although it seems very far, it’s just influenced the environment where I was born. “ “Everyone at first was a bit shocked. I mean, we were joking about it that there wasn’t really a concept: ‘What, did they just get married? And just start from there? Or do they never get married? Or what exactly happens?’ It just seemed very foreign to people. They couldn’t imagine that there wasn’t a similar dynamic there as there is here.” -Conducting the survey on a larger group of students would yield results that might be more generalizable. However, I believe that pairing the survey with the interview allowed for more in-depth insights and foregrounded misalignments in the ways students thought they were expected to reflect on certain topics and their actual impressions (see perspectives on the role of the Internet survey and interview). -The survey participants seemed not to be susceptible to terminological differences between “target culture” and “culture” more generally. 12 participants: 9 out of the 12 were enrolled in a beginners class (first and second semester); 1 in an intermediate; and 2 in an advanced German language class. 3 first-year students, 3 sophomores, 4 juniors, 1 senior, 1 graduate student What language(s) do the interviewees use: English, Korean, Mandarin, German, Spanish, French, Spanish International experience: • International student: 2 • Born in German speaking countries: 1 • Born abroad: 2 • Family/ friends abroad :9 • Study abroad: 2 • Travel/ Vacation abroad: 8 • Internet: 4 These survey results suggest that: Most participants do not think of classroom conversations with peers as opportunities for learning about culture. Most participants saw working with original material in the target language as the main opportunity for learning about the target culture A majority of participants agreed that taking a language class improved their intercultural competence, however, when asked whether it helped them navigate everyday situations where culture played a role, 5 out of 12 were neutral or disagreed.
Transcript of Culture in the Language Classroom: Student perspectives Andreea … · Andreea Mascan, Ph.D....
1. Aspects of the target culture are an important part of the language classroom.
2. Wanting to learn about the target culture played an important role in my decision to study a foreign language.
4. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when the textbook has a section on culture.
3. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when the instructor talks about it.
5. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when I interact with my peers.
6. Learning about culture in the language classroom happens when we talk about original texts/music/visual material from the target culture.
7. Learning about language happens online (on the Internet, via social media, websites, chat).
8. Taking a language class has improved my intercultural competence.
9. Learning a new language has helped me better navigate everyday situations where culture plays a role.
Background
“The recent interest in ecological theories of language has prompted researchers to view the use of another symbolic system as a semiotic, historically grounded, personal experience. As a sign system, language elicits subjective responses in the speakers themselves: emotions, memories, fantasies, projections, identifications.” Kramsch, C. J. (2009). The multilingual subject: What foreign language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Survey Results
Culture in the Language Classroom: Student perspectives Andreea Mascan, Ph.D. Candidate
Graduate Research and Teaching and Teagle Fellow, Cornell University
Delete me & place your
LOGO in this area.
This research was supported by the Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence, the Teagle Foundation and the German Studies Department at Cornell
Explore: u How students think of, experience, and relate to
cultural aspects of language in the German language classroom.
u Whether students see learning a language (German) as an opportunity to learn ways to negotiate culturally coded content/meaning
u If students talk about culture in the classroom strictly in terms of target (German) culture.
30 minute meetings with each student informant, which entailed: - Likert scale questionnaire - Semi-structured interviews, analyzed with
thematic coding The questionnaire was given just before the interview. It served as a starting point for student reflection on some of the topics picked up later in the course of the interview.
Themes
Important Influence of: • Family/heritage • Personal experience in German speaking
countries with German speaking friends • History/media
Student discussing the influence of German colonial presence in the history of her hometown: Us and them/ Paradigm of cultural difference • When talking about cultural aspects
discussed in the classroom students often used generalizations and dichotomies.
Student recounting an instance in a first semester language class where the instructor responded to a question on dating in Germany: The Internet • Half of the students interviewed had online
contact with German speakers and these conversations often fueled their interest in the language and culture. Some were involved in the gaming culture online.
“Where I was born has lot of German influence. So I came from China and it was a city that was a German colony during WWII and it seems like it wasn’t a nice experience for the city but after the war people did a lot of reflection and turns out that the German influence in the city really changed its appearance and some inner cultural core. I’m not sure if that makes sense. I just think Germany although it seems very far, it’s just influenced the environment where I was born. “
“Everyone at first was a bit shocked. I mean, we were joking about it that there wasn’t really a concept: ‘What, did they just get married? And just start from there? Or do they never get married? Or what exactly happens?’ It just seemed very foreign to people. They couldn’t imagine that there wasn’t a similar dynamic there as there is here.”
-Conducting the survey on a larger group of students would yield results that might be more generalizable. However, I believe that pairing the survey with the interview allowed for more in-depth insights and foregrounded misalignments in the ways students thought they were expected to reflect on certain topics and their actual impressions (see perspectives on the role of the Internet survey and interview). -The survey participants seemed not to be susceptible to terminological differences between “target culture” and “culture” more generally.
u 12 participants: u 9 out of the 12 were enrolled in a beginners class (first and second semester); 1 in an intermediate; and 2 in an advanced German language class. u 3 first-year students, 3 sophomores, 4 juniors, 1 senior, 1 graduate student u What language(s) do the interviewees use:
English, Korean, Mandarin, German, Spanish, French, Spanish
u International experience: • International student: 2 • Born in German speaking countries: 1 • Born abroad: 2 • Family/ friends abroad :9 • Study abroad: 2 • Travel/ Vacation abroad: 8 • Internet: 4
These survey results suggest that: u Most participants do not think of classroom
conversations with peers as opportunities for learning about culture.
u Most participants saw working with original material in the target language as the main opportunity for learning about the target culture
u A majority of participants agreed that taking a language class improved their intercultural competence, however, when asked whether it helped them navigate everyday situations where culture played a role, 5 out of 12 were neutral or disagreed.
