GRADE 12A: Culture Recounting events in the past

About this unit

This unit is designed to guide your planning and teaching of English lessons. It provides a link between the standards for English and your lesson plans. The teaching and learning activities in this unit should help you to plan the content, pace and level of difficulty of lessons. You should adapt the ideas in the unit to meet the needs of your class. You can also supplement the ideas with appropriate activities from your schools textbooks and other resources. In this unit, students explore the meaning of culture and exchange stories of cross-cultural experiences. They prepare advice for an international business traveller visiting Qatar and explore how stories can be told from different perspectives.

UNIT 12A.1 12 hours

Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: listening text of someone talking about an experience of breaking a cultural taboo; reading text about international business travel and culture; a video excerpt of someone living in a foreign culture; a reading extract from a novel about someone living in a foreign culture.

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: apply understanding of word parts, relationships, and context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and specialised vocabulary; understand and respond to narratives, anecdotes, stories, plays and films; recount and compare events and experiences using a full range of past tenses, and report what people say or believe; extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in a variety of genres in the text range identified for Grade 12 Foundation; understand how narratives are structured to create points of view; independently write, edit and revise texts of approximately 20 sentences in a coherent structure with paragraphs and varied sentence structure; use common word-processing software to independently plan, compose, edit and present, and save their own writing. Students who progress further will: understand how authors make language choices to imply moods, intentions, relationships and values. Students who make slower progress will: recognise the point of view from which a narrative is told, and how this affects its structure and the readers response.

Key structures and functions

Narrative tenses simple past, past continuous, past perfect, present perfect: Id been living in Thailand for about 6 months. I was out shopping and the woman in front of me dropped some money. One of the coins rolled towards me so I Discourse cohesion: Referring to colleagues in a business setting on a first-name basis is a typically American trait. But be wary when meeting with northern Europeans. Although their impeccable English tends to make Americans feel comfortable, they consider it improper to use first names without being invited to do so.

Vocabulary
Culture: to conform, accept, difference, a taboo, to break a taboo, respect, show respect, etc.

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Standards for the unit

12 hours
3 hours What is culture? 6 hours Understanding culture 3 hours Extensive reading 11A.2.1 Consolidate understanding of affixes and word roots from Grades 710, and extend ability to recognise, investigate, and spell root words with a wider range of affixes; generate new words and guess the meaning of unknown words from affixes, to extend vocabulary and support spelling 12A.1.2

Unit 12A.1
CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards
12A.1.1 Recognise, understand and use at least 4500 words for listening, speaking, reading and writing, extending and consolidating the active vocabulary words from Grades K9. Students regularly use these words throughout the year across the four skills, using topics and lexical sets to group them in meaningful, memorable contexts. Apply an understanding of word parts, word relationships and context clues to determine the meaning of specialised vocabulary and to understand grade-level vocabulary. 12A.1.3

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Recognise and investigate euphemism and connotation.

12A.1.4 12A.1.9 12A.3.1

Recognise and use words and phrases from other languages that have been adopted into the English language. Understand and use a range of idiomatic expressions from British and American English. Understand and respond to stories, plays and films: understand gist, dialogue, moods, relationships and intentions; plan and write a critical analysis.

12A.4.2

Interact in group, paired and more formal discussion: actively participate, contributing relevant opinions, examples and suggestions to the discussion; challenge ideas, cross-examine, get the interlocutor to justify their position, use flaws in the interlocutors argument to present a new case where appropriate; show independence by initiating new ideas.

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12 hours
11A.4.4

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Use a variety of interactive and language repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of at least 15 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies. 12A.4.3

CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Use a variety of interactive and language-repair strategies to initiate, maintain and conclude a conversation of at least 20 minutes involving a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic communication strategies: approximation use of an L2 word which shares the essential feature of the target word; rehearse and organise utterances before speaking; stop and restart utterances that are not clear, pause to rephrase; paraphrase use of an L2 phrase to describe a property, function, characteristic, duty, purpose or an example; appeal for assistance (either implicit or explicit); gesture use of facial expression or head shaking if there is a lack of understanding; mime use of gestures as well as verbal output to convey meaning; comprehension check use of a variety of expressions to check a partners understanding; clarification request a request for repetition or explanation; back-channel cues use of short utterances to show participation or understanding; self-repair self-correction of mistakes; confirmation check repetition of the interlocutors statement to check understanding; pausing use of pauses or pause-fillers for taking time to think. 12A.6.2 Read extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in a variety of genres in the text range identified for Grade 12 Advanced.

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

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12 hours
11A.6.4

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

Recognise features of discourse cohesion. 12A.6.4

CORE STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

Identify and interpret a wide range of features of discourse cohesion: reference; linking conjunctions which express identity to indicate sameness, opposition to indicate a contrast, addition to indicate continuation, cause and effect, indefinites to indicate a logical connection of an unspecified type, concession indicating a willingness to consider the other side, exemplification to indicate a shift from a more general or abstract idea to a more specific or concrete idea; ellipsis; substitution;

EXTENSION STANDARDS Grade 12A standards

11A.7.2

Recognise that a narrative can be presented from different perspectives: recognise how the same incidents in stories can be told from other points of view.

12A.7.1

Extend work on narratives from Grade 11 Advanced, to understand: how authors choose language to influence readers; how narratives are differently structured, noting how paragraphs and chapters are used separate, sequence and link the text; how the point of view in narratives varies and can be manipulated for effect.

12A.9.1

Independently compose texts of at least 25 sentences in a coherent structure with: connected paragraphs, as appropriate to the text; varied sentence structure, and choice of words and phrases for precision and effect; cohesion markers such as lexical repetition, reference, ellipsis and substitution, and use of pronouns for reference and cohesion.

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Activities
Objectives
3 hours What is culture? Students are able to: apply an understanding of word parts, word relationships and context clues to determine the meaning of specialised vocabulary; identify and use a range of features of discourse cohesion; understand and respond to narratives; use a range of narrative tenses to retell a story; recognise and use words and phrases from other languages that have been adopted into the English language.

Unit 12A.1
Possible teaching activities
In groups of 34, students write a definition of culture. They write the definition on a piece of poster paper and display and present to the whole class. Discuss similarities and differences. Compare with a dictionary or other definition. Students read an article about cultural taboos. They practise guessing unknown words using knowledge of word parts, word relationships, roots and affixes and context clues to determine meaning. They identify a wide range of features of discourse cohesion (e.g. reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion, linking conjunctions); see standard 12A.6.4 for examples. Discuss the origin of the word taboo. Elicit other words and phrases that have been adopted by the English language. Students listen to somebody describing a personal experience of breaking a taboo. They identify the main ideas and supporting details in the story. They discuss use of past tenses to set the scene and move the story along. They identify the speakers language-repair strategies (e.g. pausing, self-repair, and strategies used by the listener to show interest or check comprehension); see standard 12A.4.3 for more examples. Students work in groups of three. They discuss their own experiences of other cultures, either from their own overseas travels or from meeting other cultures within Qatar. They practise language-repair strategies. Students identify the origins of words and phrases from other languages that have been adopted into the English language (e.g. bungalow, sauna, checkmate) Recognise and use words and phrases from other languages that have been adopted into the English language.

Notes
Definitions of culture should include music, art, food, dress, entertainment, beliefs, etc. The following definition of culture from the writer Anais Nin may be interesting to write up for students to consider: We dont see things as they are; we see things as we are.

School resources
This column is blank for schools to note their own resources (e.g. textbooks, worksheets).

6 hours Understanding culture Students are able to: identify the purpose of a text; identify the organisational features of a text; compose a text using connected paragraphs, varied sentence structure, and discourse cohesion.

Students complete an online quiz on cultural differences. Discuss vocabulary. Discuss the questions and answers and the purpose of the quiz. Students read a text of 800+ words about international business travel and cultural taboos. Students complete an exercise to predict the content of the text. They then read the text and identify the main ideas and details. Students identify the organisation of the text, use of paragraphs, topic sentences, etc. They identify a wide range of features of discourse cohesion (e.g. reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion, linking conjunctions); see standard 12F.6.4 for examples. Students practise use of conjunctions by joining sentences or completing a gap-fill exercise.

An online quiz about cultural differences can be found at: www.hoggardinternational.com/index.ecs/37 A reading text on international business travel and culture entitled Cultural dos and taboos can be found at: http://money.cnn.com/1998/04/03/travelcenter/ travel_taboo

291 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.1 | Culture

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities

In groups, students brainstorm what an international business traveller needs to know about Qatari culture. Students share their ideas and categorise them under different headings (e.g. Food and eating, Dress, Gender differences). Individually, students write a text to give advice to business travellers travelling to Qatar. The text should be divided into paragraphs and have a clear introduction and conclusion. Remind students to use cohesion markers, such as lexical repetition, reference, ellipsis and substitution, and pronouns for reference and cohesion. Encourage them to use dictionaries and thesauruses to find alternative words and phrases to enhance their writing (e.g. meet/encounter/come across). Students watch part of a film about people living in a foreign culture (e.g. Witness, Lost in Translation, Out of Africa). Before viewing, they predict how they think the foreign culture will be portrayed. They note how the director creates settings and portrays the characters and the interactions between the people. They comment on choice of music, camera angles, lighting, editing choices, etc. Students plan and write a critical analysis of the film.

Notes

School resources

The film Witness, directed by Peter Weir, shows the clash between Amish culture and modern American culture and would be an excellent resource for this type of activity. Using film as a teaching resource is most effective if the film is shown in short extracts of 1015 minutes followed by relevant comprehension activities. Viewing of the film could be ongoing over a period of several weeks or a even a whole term. Prepare 23 case studies of people who have broken cultural taboos. If possible, examples should be from widely different cultures.

Students discuss the case studies in groups of 45 and decide how serious the situation is and what they think is an appropriate action or punishment. Groups take turns to report their discussions and compare their ideas with the rest of the class. 3 hours Extensive reading Students are able to: recognise that texts can be presented from different perspectives; experiment with changing the point of view in the extract. Students read extracts from an appropriately levelled text in the range identified for Grade 12 Advanced. The text should be about someone living in a foreign (or different) culture. Students identify, by reference to the text, the point of view from which the narrative is told, and how this affects its structure and the readers response. They investigate how authors make language choices to imply moods, relationships and values. Students take on the role of one of the main characters in the text (someone observing the foreign culture) and write an informal letter to a friend describing an event or experience in which cultural differences are evident. Students experiment with changing the point of view in the extract (e.g. by telling the same story from the perspective of a local character, that is, someone from within the culture).

The extract could be about someone living in a foreign culture or someone living in a culture different from their own (e.g. a poor person living with a rich family).

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Assessment
Possible assessment activities
Listening Students listen to someone recounting a cross-cultural experience. They demonstrate comprehension by responding to true/false statements or multiple-choice questions. In small groups, students discuss case studies of cross-cultural misunderstandings In small groups, students compare and contrast characters in a novel or film. Reading Students reorder the sentences in a mixed-up paragraph using features of discourse cohesion as clues. Students edit a text, adding or correcting features of discourse cohesion as appropriate.

Unit 12A.1
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

School resources

Speaking

Writing

293 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.1 | Culture

Education Institute 2005

294 | Qatar English scheme of work | Grade 12A | Unit 12A.1 | Culture

Education Institute 2005