Lesson Plan

Title/Topic: Culture Shock

Grade/Level: Low-advanced level international students in an intensive English program in America. Students are preparing themselves for a college work in America. 12 students in one class aged 20 22. They have been in America for a half year to one year at maximum.

Related Content Standards/Objectives: Strand 1: Cross Culture Concept 1: Diversity, Cultural Value and Norms, Negotiation, and Adaptation Performance Objective 1: Identify differences in behavior and speech style between different cultures Strand 2: Cross Culture Concept 2: Diversity, Cultural Value and Norms, Negotiation, and Adaptation Performance Objective 2: Identify the steps through which people are accustomed to a new culture that they are placed in

Related Technology Standards/Objectives: Strand 1: Creativity and Innovation Concept 1: Information and Knowledge Performance Objective 1: Search for information online to build up knowledge about a specific topic or issue Strand 2: Communication, Collaboration, and Cooperation Concept 2: Use of Educational Technology Performance Objective 2: Engage in a group project and demonstrate collaborative group work by making an equal individual contribution to the group project while using online collaborative work tools

Instructional Activity: Warming-up Activity (5-7 minutes) Warming-up activity allows a teacher to encourage students to focus on the lessons theme by giving background information and scaffolding students (Komiyama, 2009). I start the class with telling that I went to a potluck party the night before. I was a bit uncomfortable at the party, as one American didnt take off shoes in the house. I ask students how they think of having on shoes in a house. Students might put out different opinions about it, as they are from different cultures. After hearing students, I tell that in Korea, we take off shoes to enter a house. I write a word culture shock and ask students if they have heard about culture shock. Activity 1 (20 minutes) I put students in groups of 4 members (with different cultures and genders), assign a group no. to each group, and ask them to share their difficulties that they had in America because of differences in behavior and speech between America and their own culture. Group work is recommended in language teaching classes, as it lowers students anxiety and foster more chances that students talk in the target language (Folse, 2006).

 I give each group a laptop that I have prepared in advance and ask them to choose a student from each group who will take notes of the experiences discussed in the group. After a note-taker of each group is decided, I email to the note-takers a google docs in which I created a discussion board for the class. I tell note-takers to type the experiences of their groups in the section of his/her group no. Google Docs (Share My Culture Shock Experiences) https://docs.google.com/a/nau.edu/spreadsheets/d/1vi8TZZCaANwUycyF7md_e9eGKtjugE97Rp9lExHTog/edit#gid=0 (See Appendix A) When students are done with group discussion, I turn on the projector to show the google doc to the whole class so that the whole class can see the other groups experiences. I let another member of a group read the content in their group no. section on the google doc to attract students attention to the content. I circulate and help students when they need help while they are discussing. Activity 2 (30 minutes) Using a smart board, I show students a video titled Culture Shock: China from the website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xfk8pNZ4w (WestminsterSmoke TV, 2014) I ask students to answer why the Chinese interviewees in the video didnt feel comfortable with the American cultures they said about. What cultural differences between China and America were reflected on each interview? I have randomly one or two students answer. I let students count numbers from 1-4 and put students of the same no. in a group. I give them a box with 4 folded slips of paper on which one name of four different countries is written on each slip. One student from each group chooses one slip. I give a laptop to each group and each laptop has a website: http://www.pbs.org/ programs/ (PBS, 2014). I ask students search for 3-4 culture shock examples at the PBS website that people of their target country had in America and find out the underlying cultural differences between the target culture and America. I tell students that all members of each group should make a contribution to the group work; one operates the laptop to find information and related images, one makes a demonstration video using a video design tool Animoto and one present their findings to a whole class. Cooperative learning is encouraged to use in pedagogical settings, as it facilitate students mutual benefits in their learning by working together for shared goals (McGroarty & Calderon, 2005). I circulate, encourage students to contribute to the group work, and help students when they need help. I ask students to present after 15 minutes. Closing Activity Students will assess their work in the Culture Shock using a self-assessment rubric. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2432092& (Rubistar for Teachers, 2008) (See Appendix B) I will assess them by observing their activities (Activity 1 and 2) in terms of students participation and their contribution to the project. Support for Diverse Learners: The main instructional strategies adopted in the lesson are the cooperative learning and the information seeking instructional strategy. Bruner says that information seeking learning encourages students to ask questions and make their own answers, reasoning from practical examples and experience (as cited in Mills, 2006). In pedagogy instruction, cooperative learning strategy fosters students mutual learning while working together as a group for shared goals (McGroarty & Calderon, 2005). Also, students are required to make equal contribution to the group work. All students will be encouraged to talk in the target language.

 In this lesson, diverse technology and/or online language teaching/learning tools are used. Chapelle (2003) explains that technology has a great potential to facilitate language learning in that technology enhances input, interaction, and linguistic output. For example, technology can increase input by supplying additional explanation and repeated and modified input. For an assessment, this lesson allows students to do self-assessment using an online rubric, as selfassessment increases students judgment skills (Chapelle, 2003) and guides students to understand how they learn and identify learning strategies based on their learning styles (Learn NC, 2014). At the same time, self-assessment informs teachers how to choose activities that match the different learning styles of students. Resources: Computer Laptops SMART Board Culture Shock Writing Google Docs (Share my culture shock experiences): https://docs.google.com/a/nau.edu/spreadsheets/d/1vi8TZZCaANw UycyF7md_e9eG-KtjugE97Rp9lExHTog/edit#gid=0 Website for information searching: http://www.pbs.org/programs/ (PBS, 2014) Animoto (online video design tool): http://animoto.com/ (Animoto, 2014) Culture Shock Rubric: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric id=2432092&. (Rubistar for Teachers, 2008) References Chapelle, C. (2003). The potential of technology for language teaching, (pp. 35-68). In English language learning and technology, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co. Folse, K. S. (2006). The art of teaching speaking: Research and pedagogy for the ESL/EFL classroom. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Komiyama, R. (2009). CAR: A means for motivating students to read. English Teaching Forum, 47(3), 3237. Learn NC. (2014). Benefits of self-assessment. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www. learnnc.org/lp/editions/linguafolio/6324 McGroarty, M., & Caldern, M. (2005). Cooperative learning for second language learners: Models, applications, and challenges. In P. Richard-Amato & M.A. Snow (Eds.), Academic success for English language learners: Strategies for K-12 mainstream teachers (pp. 174194). White Plains, NY: Longman. Mills, S. C. (2006). Using the internet for active teaching and learning. Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (2014). Retrieved Apr 19, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/ programs/ Rubistar for Teachers (2008). Retrieved Apr 19, 2014, from http://rubistar.4teachers

.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2432092& WestminsterSmoke TV (2013, Apr 10). Culture Schock: China. Retrived April 19, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7xfk8pNZ4w