Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the adult classroom

Culture is not usually at the heart of EFL teachers’ concerns. This talk aims at showing how your coursebook can serve as the perfect springboard to dive into cultural issues, an essential and integral aspect of language. I will show examples of how topics usually found in course books can be given a cultural focus and be transformed into opportunities for worthwhile discussion and learning about intercultural issues. The use of authentic materials will also be referred to as a means to engage learners in meaningful tasks that promote cultural awareness and respect. I will go over the process of adapting such course book materials, coming up with authentic cultural links and using the power of the world wide web to find and organize authentic materials that can bring these links to life and provide a meaningful opportunity for discussion and learning. This process will be made transparent and systematized for easy implementation by any teacher.

Cultural Awareness and Diversity in the adult classroom from Vicky Saumell

Presented at Teacher Development Conference in Cusco, Peru on October 26th, 2012.