Teaching and learning materials

The main purpose of this activity, designed for students of Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) with Chinese as their mother tongue, is to instruct pupils about some social norms of behavior in Spanish society, which drastically differ from the social norms of behavior in Chinese-speaking countries. The activity in question forms part of a didactic series specifically developed with the cultural and linguistic specificities of Chinese students in mind and is, in fact, the second component of the full activity named "Enseñanza sociocultural a alumnos chinos" (the reference for the first part may be found on the link). It is advisable to engage in this activity only after having previously completed the first part of the lesson "Enseñanza sociocultural a alumnos chinos I".
The activity continues to examine sociocultural aspects of Spanish which are most likely to create problems of communicative comprehension as well as misunderstandings which Chinese students may be exposed to in their encounter with Spanish people.
The activity aims to acquaint and further sensitize students towards, cultural differences between Chinese and Spanish society
Personal reflection and comparative analysis are chosen as the principal basis of instruction. First, working individually, students are asked to discover the crucial differences between both cultures and try to consider Spanish cultural particularities not as “strange” but as specific of this distinct culture (models of working texts are available). Personal observations are then shared in small groups and are ordered in a special card (model is available), so that pupils understand that there are not only differences between social behavior in China and Spain, but also that within Spanish society itself there may be a substantial variation of acceptance of the same actions.
Finally, the activity expect students to analyse models of behaviour within Spanish society, and then to comment collectively on the possible answers.
The activity in question may be used with pupils of B1 and higher levels. The activity has the advantage of being feasible both with individuals as well as with groups of different sizes. As far as linguistic skills are concerned, pupils improve reading comprehension, oral expression and written expression, all of them directed toward the the sensitization of Chinese students to the peculiarities of the Spanish culture.

Approach: Intercultural

Type of material: xxxxxx

Source:
Activity created by Maximiano Cortés Moreno, available online:
http://cvc.cervantes.es/aula/didactired/anteriores/enero_07/01012007a.htm