Activity 5.

Analyzing culture's influence in

relationships

Aim of the activity:

Students will watch the film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in order to identify how culture can influence
relationships.

Students will focus on their previous learning on Hofstede theory:

 Individualism vs collectivism.

 Power distance that influences relationships.

 The uncertainty avoidance: It expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel
uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. 

 Masculinity versus femininity (expression of the ambition)

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Before watching

1. Read the following plot of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and fill in the gaps with the words below:

convince expects looking for more

introduce conservative quitting

Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is a 30 years old girl from a 1.......................... Greek family, and
works as waitress in her family's restaurant, Dancing Zorba's, in Chicago. At thirty, she is the only
girl in her family, deemed as a “failure” for not getting married by the right age. Her family 2.
….................... her to "marry a Greek, make Greek babies, and feed everyone until the day she
dies".

But Toula is 3.…....................... in life, she often finds herself very lonely in her big Greek family.

She wants to join computer classes for making herself a better professional and 4…........................
her waitress job. Her mother convinces her father Gus (Michael Constantine) to let her take some

computer classes at college. She changes herself by replacing thick glasses with contact lenses,
wears her hair curly, and begins to use makeup.

She, her mother, and her aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), then, 5…..................... her father to allow
her to work at her aunt's travel agency. Toula feels much better in her new job. One day she
notices Ian (John Corbett) hanging around looking at her through the window. They finally
6.......................... themselves and begin dating.

Toula keeps the relationship secret from her family until some weeks later when his father finds
out. His father gets wild knowing that his daughter is dating with a non-Greek boy and starts
searching a suitable “Greek”groom for her.

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 2. After reading the text, can you guess and tick the cultural dimensions the film may talk about?
 Individualism vs. Collectivism:
Individualist societies are those in which the
interests of the individual prevail over the interests
of the group.
Collectivist societies are those in which the interests
of the group prevail over the interests of the
individual
 Power distance:
Power distance  is about the way in which people in
different societies handle inequality. It "can [...] be
defined as the extent to which the less powerful
members of institutions and organizations within a
country expect and accept that power is distributed
unequally
 Affectivity
Cultures differ in the degree to which their members
show or hide their emotions. Members of affective
cultures tend to display their emotions fairly openly;
in neutral cultures, people tend not to disclose their
emotions, but control and smother them, in this
way hiding what they are feeling or thinking.
 Masculinity vs. Femininity
"A society is called masculine when emotional
gender roles are clearly distinct: men are supposed
to be assertive, tough, and focused on material
success, whereas women are supposed to be more
modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of
life.
A society is called feminine when emotional gender
roles overlap: both men and women are supposed
to be modest, tender, and concerned with the
quality of life" 
 Proxemics:
Proxemics is concerned with the human perception
and use of space and distance. It makes a distinction
between public and private space, and identifies the
distance zones in human interaction.
 Traditionalism:
Traditionalism  refers to the persistence of
traditional value systems in a society despite
economic and political changes (under the influence
of modernization).
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While watching

Your teacher will tell you which of the following role you have to follow while watching the film!

Follow the instructions of your role.

1) The Designer.

2) The Soundtrack Analyzer.

3) The Vocabulary Enricher.

4) The Questioner.

5) The non-verbal communication analyzer.

6) The Checker.

Prepare everything you need for watching and developing your role! (see role photocopies)

After watching

Prepare everything you need to develop your role in the group discussion! (see role photocopies)

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Activity evaluation!

1) What role did you develop? (Mark with a circle)

The Designer The The The The non-verbal The Checker

Soundtrack Vocabulary Questioner communication
Analyzer Enricher analyzer

2) Who were your team mates?

The Designer The The The The non-verbal The Checker

Soundtrack Vocabulary Questioner communication
Analyzer Enricher analyzer

Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name:

3) Value your own work in this activity! What grade do you think you deserve? Why?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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4) Value your team mates’ work in this activity! What grade do you think they deserve? Why?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Name:

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5) What did you most like of this activity?

6) What do you think could be improved in this activity? How should teachers improve it?

7) Do you have other remarks?

Thank you for your help in the improvement

of the activity!