I teach ESL level 2 so my students' levels range from Low Beginners to High Beginners.I try to incorporate different students' cultural beliefs in every topic adressed during the speaking part of the class.For example, if we talk about greeting in the U.S.(formal and informal) ,I asked the students to talk about the way they greet each other in their culture. They also talk about food and going shopping in their countries in comparison to the U.S. I've seen other teachers implementing a pot luck so each culture bring different food to share.
I would like to learn how to tackle different students' opinions about the different cultures of the world
Comments
Patricia,
I like your idea about greetings in the students' culture. As a matter of fact, I am doing just that at the moment, as we just started a new term and I'll try it.
I often try to use my own diverse culture to tackle my students' culture. For exampe, if talking about shopping in the USA, I use a story that happened to me when I first moved to the USA from the UK. In the UK, we don't have anybody to bag the shopping, we do it ourselves. One of the first time I went shopping with my husband here, we bagged our items and the cashier 'thanked us' for bagging. The students find this very amusing and then talk about what they do in their own country. Those everyday tasks are what make them feel they are included in the new country.
Lea.