Designing and teaching a culture course in Korea : developing cultural awareness in the Korean university classroom submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Teaching Degree at the School for International Training Brattleboro, Vermont By Melanie van den Hoven, 2003 1 This project by Melanie van den Hoven is accepted in its present form. Date _______________________________ Project Advisor ___________________________________________ Project Reader ____________________________________________ Acknowledgments: Gayle Nelson 2 Abstract This Independent Professional Project outlines my process of becoming aware of the interrelationship of language and culture in the Korean University language classroom and the issues surrounding teaching culture in Korea at the turn of the millenium. My decisions, reflections and realizations made as an expatriate EFL teacher based in Seoul, Korea, which helped to address these concerns, are fully presented. This paper reflects on the “culture bumps” inherent in my living and teaching context, and the cultural adjustments made both in the classroom and out. It also explores the major theoretical influences that have been helpful in designing a Culture course for Korean university students. It then presents and evaluates the curriculum and lesson plans that were created and implemented. ERIC Descriptors Cultural Awareness Cultural Context Culture Intercultural Communication Instructional Materials Teacher Developed Materials Curriculum Development Intensive Language Courses 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER 1 – PERSONAL REFLECTIONS……………………………………………3 - My Teaching and Learning Context - Formative Experiences, Framing the Question CHAPTER 2 – TEACHING CULTURE……………………………………………….21 - Theoretical Influences - Guiding Principles CHAPTER 3 – CULTURE COURSE DESIGN………………………………………..49 - Assessing the Teaching and Learning Culture at Hankuk Aviation University - Organizing the Culture Course: the process - Determining Cultural Content, Sequencing and Goals CHAPTER 4 – PUTTING IT ALTOGETHER…………………………………………74 - Course Syllabus at a glance - Lesson plans - The Course in Action - Lingering Questions CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………..141 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………….147 - Appendix 1 – Personal writings - Appendix 2 – Teaching Materials - Appendix 3 – End of Unit Student Assignments - Appendix 4 – End of Course - Student Feedback REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………198 4 INTRODUCTION My experiments in teaching culture began in Fall 2000 by assigning presentations on Korean culture in an English conversation class. Students generated the topics and their language task was finding appropriate English expressions to describe the various aspects of Korean culture. The value of this kind of learning was immediately apparent: rapport between student and teacher blossomed; motivation and participation increased; and community learning was fostered. In January 2002, I expanded the cultural focus into a full course for an intensive English language program at Hankuk Aviation University in Koyang City, Korea. The development and subsequent implementation of this course, called “Discovering Self, Language and Culture”, brought together research from the field of Intercultural Communication and my own personal beliefs about teaching and learning culture. This paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 – Personal Reflections describes the teaching and learning context and shares formative experiences that record my growing awareness of both the pedagogical need and personal relevance in linking culture and language. Excerpts from written documents reveal the questions I had. Chapter 2 – Teaching Culture cites key intercultural and language theorists for their influence in understanding the theoretical and practical implications of culture learning. This section also offers six guiding principles that were important in developing a culture course. I feel that they will also be helpful to other EFL teachers interested in teaching 5 culture as part of their English as a Foreign Language courses. Chapter 3 – Culture Course Design shares my assessment of the needs of Hankuk Aviation University students and the specifications of the Winter Intensive Program. It also reveals the decision-making process that determined the content, sequencing, and goals of the course and the resulting syllabus. Chapter 4 – Putting It Altogether displays the lesson plans for the forty hour and discusses student responses to the lessons on cultural awareness. Also highlighted is the feedback gained from students about their learning. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the new questions I have in teaching Cross-cultural Communication courses at a graduate program in Seoul, and possible avenues to promote ongoing culture learning. Following the conclusion, the Appendices offer personal writings and student course materials for review. Central to the task of communicating effectively in English in our local and global contexts is the ability to respond sensitively when confronted by attitudes, behaviours and expectations of people from foreign cultures. My experiences thus far with culture learning and teaching have led me to believe that through awareness-building activities concerning one’s own personal and cultural identity in the language classroom and the extension of these insights toward other cultural groups, leads to the development of empathy for others. This leads to respect for the diversity of the world’s cultures and language, openness towards learning from people of other cultures and a greater ability to share, understand and interact. 6 CHAPTER 1 PERSONAL REFLECTIONS My Teaching and Learning Context In today’s increasingly complex and interdependent world, we are compelled to acknowledge the existence of other cultures, …whether we like it or not, most of us now experience this diversity on a daily basis. Tentzin Gyatzo, The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet Upon arrival in Suwon, Korea in 1996, English teachers were in high demand in language institutes in Korea, but it is my contention that the business of cultural training for these new teachers from other countries was not addressed. Though training was promised, what actually occurred was a non-delegated responsibility to learn-as-you-go. Bringing little real knowledge of the skills needed to respond to cultural difference, it seemed reasonable that given my cultural identity, as a Canadian female of Dutch and Indonesian descent and my recent immersion experiences gained in Paris, France and French Canada, I was ready for new intercultural challenges. Although one could consider it a hindrance, I personally felt my art education, with its emphasis on feminist and post-modern theories, contributed to the development of my analytical and intuitive skills, helpful for examining personal experiences of teaching overseas. Although I felt at the time more than ready to live and teach in a new country, it took several years to come to terms with the disorientation of that first Korean teaching experience. It challenged the way I understood the world and my own role in it. I felt broken and in need of repair. Negativity about my host culture was prominent. There 7 was fear where previously there had been confidence; my sense of myself had become scrambled. I realized that not only lacking the language skills, but also not understanding cultural behaviours and expectations had traumatized my daily interactions with colleagues and students. Furthermore, I resented being viewed and treated not as whom I saw myself but as a “foreigner”. Disconnected both from others’ perceptions of me and my own self-image, there seemed to be no escaping these conflicting worldviews. I deemed this first experience a failure. A decision to break my yearly contract and to leave Korea early, perhaps to return at later stage, was the first step towards reorienting myself. Indeed, the emotional and geographical distance allowed better decisions to be made concerning where and how I would live upon a later return. In the yearlong break, I studied French in Montreal, Canada and thoroughly enjoyed the learning experience. The experience of being a language student helped me brave the return to Korea as a language teacher the following year. Another important decision was securing employment in a university language centre program that provided both compatible values about education and sufficient opportunities to return to North America for personal professional development. I applied for the MAT program at the School for International Training, two years later in the spring of 2000. Its emphasis on teaching and intercultural training, I reasoned, could offer me much needed direction. In fact, a course called Culture and the Language Teacher, with Gayle Nelson, provided the intellectual frameworks from the field of Intercultural Communication that have started me on this new path of culture learning. My experiences needed to be re-framed. Culture shock or cultural adjustment, the “etic” and “emic” perspectives on culture, and Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of 8 Intercultural Sensitivity buzzed in both heart and mind. These new concepts provided a very necessary vantage point from which to reflect on my own intercultural experiences, and the strategies required to apply in my capacity as a teacher. It became apparent, thus, that in order to have effective intercultural relationships, much more is required than simply