1 Cultural Input in Oral English Teaching in Call Environments Zhihong Lu ( 卢志鸿 ), Shenghua Huang, Xiaoyan Li Zhihong Lu (email: [email protected])

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Cultural Input in Oral English Teaching in Call Environments

Zhihong Lu ( 卢志鸿 ), Shenghua Huang, Xiaoyan Li

Zhihong Lu (email: [email protected])Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

Course page: http://collegeenglish.sl.bupt.cn

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1. Importance of Cultural Input (in an audio-video speaking class (AVSC) based on the perspective of social identity and cultural code)

Cultural Input in Oral English Teaching in Call Environments

2. Features in CALL Environments

3. Conducting Cultural Input in AVSC

4. Limitations

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Background College English teaching reform in China (since 2004)

College English Curriculum Requirements (2007) comprehensive communicative language abilities

The extensive use of modern information technology

Changes in college English teaching:Emphasis: language knowledge (past)

communicative language ability and autonomous learning ability teaching focuses on the learners

teaching mode shifts from teacher-centered to student-centered

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● teacher-centered pattern:


Foreign language education has limited the teaching of culture to the transmission of information about the people of the target country, and about their general attitudes and world views (Kramsch, 1999).

In a traditional teaching environment, the teacher focuses more on explaining grammar and linguistic knowledge, whereas ignoring the cultural input.

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● student-centered teaching: multi-dimensional models


Put culture teaching as the fifth dimension, which is closely related to listening, reading, writing and speaking (Damen, 2004).

Communicative language teaching & interactive teaching model

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The Importance of Cultural Input in an (AVSC)

1. Needs to Stimulate the Awareness of Culture Code

culture code: The unconscious meaning we apply to any given thing —— a car, a type of food, a relationship, even a country —— via the culture in which we are raised (Rapaille, C. 2007) .

key to improving learners’ awareness of culture code: necessary cultural information awareness of cultural differences

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2. Needs to Raise the Awareness of Social Identity

Identity is generated, confirmed, and transformed in the process of interactions between groups and individuals (Stempleski & Tomalin: 1990)& Barth(1969) Cultural Input necessary to raise the learners’ awareness of social identity effective in breaking the boundaries resulted from different social identities

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3. Needs to Build up a Virtual Speech Community

Speech Community:

the whole set of people who communicate with each other, either directly or indirectly, via the common language.

Hockett (1958)

Education throughout life is based upon four pillars: “learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and

learning to be”. Report to The International Commission on Education for the 21st Cent

ury UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), 1996 (http://www.unesco.org/delors/fourpil.htm)

The importance of building up a virtual speech community

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Features in CALL Environments

● two shifts: In CALL environments, the focus of ESL teaching has been shifted from strengthening language ability to developing comprehensive language competence and practical skills The teaching model is changing from teacher-centered pattern to student-centered multi-dimensional patterns

● four key factors: course book, teacher, audio-video devices, students

Interaction of 4 factors and conduction of interactive patterns

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at the teacher’s terminal


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Teaching environment

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● Adapt to the need for the interaction among students, or between the teacher and students.

● Provide more functional devices for the teacher in conducting in-class speaking activities.

● Help the teacher build up a vivid learning environment, stimulating students’ interests to speak in the target language.

● Easy access to the Internet, which opens a large knowledge pool for students.

● Resources can be saved either in disks or shown on the computer screen.

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Learning English Through Culture: Viewing, Listening, Speaking

First edition

Second edition

The course books

Conducting Cultural Input in AVSC

Cultural Learning: the Smart Way to Study English

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Joel Lintner, Zhihong Lu, Loren Steele

Authors

Loren Steele

Joel Lintner

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• “Student-centered” autonomous Learning

• Individualized teaching• Learners’ cultural input• Awareness of cultural differences and

the importance of cultural learning

The course books stressed on:


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Bachman’s CLA Framework


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Examples from the Course Book

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Unit

Topic Unit Topic

1 Arriving in the US 6 Entertainment

2 Campus Life 7 Outdoor Recreational Activities

3 Library / Bookstore

8 Holidays

4 Food 9 Sports

5 Shopping 10 Vacation Arrangements

Contents of the book (CD-ROM)


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Examples from the CD-ROM

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Interactive patterns


S

S-S

Ss-SsS-Ss

S-T

T-S-S

T-ST-Ss

Interactive Patterns

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In-class activities: learning guided by the teacher

After-class practice: autonomous learning (through attached CD-ROM)

Interaction

Various in-class communicative activities

After-class preparation, practice with machine


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In-Class Activities

Goals achieved by conducing in-class activities:● present a cultural broad view for students.● help students to practice the target language through the

cultural learning and the context.● put students in a virtual social context through various kinds of

cultural input approaches.● by dividing the students randomly or by set of rules, the

teacher intentionally trained the students’ ability to communicate with different speakers.


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Integrate cultural learning and the language practice into CALL environments

Build up a virtual speech community, in whichlearners can easily locate themselves.


In-Class Activities

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Table 1. Students’ comments on teacher’s role in AVSC

Question: What do you think is a teacher’s job in audio-video speaking class? (Multi-answer)

Results Items

Total (%)

Teach language knowledge.12.09

Provide more cultural information but less language knowledge.41.76

Focus more on organizing various speaking activities rather than teaching. 23.08

Focus more on developing students’ communicative language ability. 70.33


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Table 2. Students’ Comments on the Course Book and the CD-ROM

Question: Compared with other course books of the same kind, what features doesLearning English Through Culture: Viewing, Listening, Speaking have? (Multi-answer)

Results Items Total (%)

It’s more practical and operational. 31.87

It possesses rich cultural and language knowledge, and unique cultural perception. 42.31

It has authentic language and close-to- life contents. 47.25

It has no distinctive features. 10.44


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Conducting Oral Presentation ● no fixed topic

● culture related

● in target language

● PPT, role plays, voiceover, etc

The presentation will naturally make full use of the The presentation will naturally make full use of the devices in the CALL environments.devices in the CALL environments.


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Oral

Presentation


● effective way to exchange cultural knowledge● a chance to improve communicative language ability● interact with peers and the teacher by making full use of the

materials

Role Play● communicate in a virtual speech community by

target language ● provide learners with opportunities to master

practical language skills

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Table 3. Students’ attitudes towards oral presentation

Question: Do you agree on having one or two students doing oral presentations for each class?

Results Items Total (%)

Strongly agree.41.21

Agree.49.45

Neither agree nor disagree.6.04

Disagree. 3.30


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● create more chances for students to communicate in the target language

● cultural information provider ● cultivate students’ awareness of cultural differences in communication ● enhance learners’ communicative ability

that is in accordance to Bachman’s CLA theory

Teacher’s Role

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AVSC in CALL environments

Aims:

● to develop students’ competence in understanding input both of linguistic knowledge and cultural information

● cultivate students’ spoken ability in target language ● enhance students’ communicative language ability

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AVSC in CALL environmentsCultural input emphasis reflected from:

● the course book and the attached CD-ROM ● the teacher’s guidance ● the communication among peers through all kinds of speaking activities such as, pair work,

group discussions, oral presentations, etc. ● authentic language● in-depth cultural information

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● proper selection of the cultural input for easy learning environment● information redundancy due to learning facilities

Limitations

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1 Cultural Input in Oral English Teaching in Call Environments Zhihong Lu ( 卢志鸿 ), Shenghua Huang, Xiaoyan Li Zhihong Lu (email: [email protected])

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