50120 skanowanie0027 (22)

2.    Providing cultural information

The aim of this approach is to draw students' attention to cultural comparisons, by short “slices of life” e.g. playing a popular song, or news, demonstrating how to set the table.

3.    Problem solving activities

The leamer is presented with a culturally significant, problematic situation, and his task is to solve it. The activity often produces a high level of participation and motivation, as the participants are personally involved.

4.    Behavioural and interactive aspects

Dramatization, role-play, and simulation involve improvising actions between simulated characters. It may be a set of commands constituting an action seąuence, e.g. appropriate behaviour in a restaurant: entering, ordering meals, eating, paying the bill and leaving.

5.    Cognitive approaches

This approach is especially designed for those students who want to learn about the culture through readings, lectures, discussions, and dcbutcs.

6.    Real life exposure to the target culture

Contact experiences mean something morę than just culture learning. 'I'hey involve direct contacts that reąuire intercultural behavioural skills. The real life contacts may take various forms, e.g. pen pals, visit to a language elass by native speaker, or visit to other countries and regions.

7.    The role of literaturę

Although the techniąues described so far highlight the importance of learning a true-tp-life language, the contact with the humanistic culture should be cultivated as well. It is believed that different lilerary genres have the power to evoke a ąuality of empathy and to develop the kind of understanding that is needed if we want to enter into the thoughts, motives, and feelings of the foreign language speakers.

8.    Additional devices and real-world resources

Successlul teachers usually supplement course books with various mntcriftll tluit mustJ however, meet certain reąuirements. They must be balanced, high ąuality resources that will motivate students to engage in further learning. These materials may include popular songs, proverbs, limericks, idioms and sayings, news, etc.

Used sources

Kramsch, C. 1996. Contact and Culture in Language Teaching. (Mord University Press.

Valders, J.M. 1995. Culture Bound. Cambridge University Press.

Tomalin, J. & Stempelski, S. 1993. Cultural Awareness. (Mord University Press. Stern, H.H. 1992. Issues and Options in Language Teaching. (Mord University Press.

Robinson, G. 1988. Cross-cultural Understanding. New York: Prentice-Hall.