5 ways to center culture in your world languages curriculum
Language learning is a journey, so I invite you to take a trip with me today. Let’s explore a path that would allow students to experience culture as an integral part of their language-learning process. Included in this trip are five activities from my classroom to illustrate how you can shift from treating culture as an add-on to embracing it as a central part of life-long language learning.
When packing the car for this trip, consider where the fuel goes. There’s gas for the vehicle in the tank, which the car needs in order to move. Then, there’s the fuel for the people in the car: snacks and drinks if we’re going to avoid crankiness, getting lost, and whatever happens to you when you’re low on fuel. So, why would we place the snack bag or the cooler in the trunk where it is difficult to reach?
This leads me to one of our key challenges in teaching world languages. Where does the culture learning go—the trunk or the front seat?
In our 21st century global society, our students deserve an education that prepares them to be global citizens who will respectfully and confidently navigate it. As world language teachers, we hold a unique position to guide our students along this path until they are ready to take the driver’s seat.
Learning to respect and embrace differences among communities requires conversations about culture at every leg of the language-learning journey. By maintaining a cultural context, we are providing students with renewable fuel they may use for years to come.
How can we expect our students to change the world for the better if they do not have the chance to deeply explore places and faces that are different from their own?
To teach our students that culture and language go hand-in-hand, consider these five ways to move culture to the front seat, or perhaps even to the driver’s seat, on this journey towards greater global competency.
1. Location, location, location!
If you are wondering how to get the key into the ignition and get started, I recommend choosing a focus location or two. Whether for a month or a semester, your class knows it will be exploring Southern France, Beijing, or Ecuador. Zooming in on one area gives students something tangible to sink their teeth into. Let the location drive your choices for novels, creative expression, videos, discussions, guests, and virtual field trips.
For example, with culture driving our class experience, rather than teaching a unit on weather expressions, I taught students how to track the weather in Chile for a week in journals with corresponding phrases and symbols. They compared Chile’s weather patterns with those in their own town. They found it intriguing that a weather map of Chile often has the country cut in half due to its length!
Let me be clear on one point. Don’t limit yourself to the focus area when other parts of the world arise naturally in class or in readings, songs, or interviews. For example, when the opportunity arose for my third year middle school Spanish students to be pen pals with students in Cuenca, Ecuador, I did not turn it down because, well, they had already focused on Ecuador two years ago!
2. Pen/Zoom Pals
Communicating with a real person who is near their age is a great motivator for students to learn the target language.
Novice learners share greetings, basic likes and dislikes. Intermediate learners share what they look forward to doing again after the pandemic and favorite spots in their communities, including photos and bilingual captions in a slideshow.
I have observed the most success when students practice speaking in advance with partners in class and when I let go of perfection. Some of the sweetest moments were when adorable pets or interrupting younger siblings popped into view during the Zoom conversation. (Yes, big sibling disdain looks the same in any part of the world!) Many of my third-year middle school students shared that communicating with their Ecuador pals was the most meaningful learning they engaged in all year.
3. Virtual field trips
Virtually explore a special place that you are excited to share with your students!
Resources that provide 360-degree views or video tours of landmarks, cities, and views around the world include Airpano, Carnegie Learning’s iCulture, Voces, and YouTube. Ask in the target language:
Once novice learners get on board with the pattern of these questions, they can take turns leading the class on the next virtual trip. Bonus tip: After one or two video tours by native speakers, my novice learners saw the value of listening to the audio in the target language with English subtitles.
Intermediate learners may want to pitch the location to a group of students who act as tourists or a community service group.
4. Class Experts
Have students, or small groups of students, become experts on one of the countries, regions, or cities that you would like them to visit virtually.
Equip them to be the experts at different points throughout the school year by providing photos, videos, cultural fact sheets, fake currency, and webquests to help them dive deep into the culture and enjoy the adventure. Then, watch their faces light up when their location appears in a class story, video, or conversation.
At that point, invite them to share their thoughts on that area’s music, food, art, and sports. Ask them to chime in with their discoveries of volcanoes, museums, and other landmarks. Could they teach the class how to dance the bachata or cook a soufflé? Could they lead the class on an imaginary online shopping spree, a tour of the Louvre, or a rainforest adventure? Whether in-person or by video, students now have many ways to flip the classroom and show what they know.
5. Sustainable Development Goals
Deepen your students’ knowledge of the communities they are becoming experts on by shifting their role from tour guide to leaders for change. Empower them with the knowledge of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030 and invite to zoom in to a community where the target language is spoken.
Questions they can explore:
Individually and in small groups, my students have responded by creating slideshows or posters, writing children’s books, and conducting experiments.
Whether you are just beginning to incorporate more culture into your planning or you are already letting culture lead the way, my hope is that you will gain at least one take-away from this culture trip for world language teachers. I'd be happy to answer your questions or share resources, so leave a comment with the Language Is Limitless Facebook group, where world language educators collaborate!
In Part 2, I offer even more ideas for putting culture in the front seat, not the trunk, in your classes. Stay tuned!
Nicole Hartung teaches middle school Spanish at Winchester Thurston School, an independent school in Pittsburgh, PA. She has worked with children of all ages since 1995 in both academic and faith-based settings. Nicole has taught Spanish levels pre-K through high school. She is an alum of the University of Pittsburgh, and studied abroad in Seville, Spain, when pesetas were still the currency. Nicole built a pen pal program for her students and students in Cuenca, Ecuador. She strives to inspire life-long learning in her students through meaningful work and global connections. Nicole has published the CI Spanish reader "Sebas en el patio."
Explore more related to this authorHow can we expect our students to change the world for the better if they do not have the chance to deeply explore places and faces that are different from their own?
Nicole Hartung, Spanish Teacher, Winchester Thurston School
