Welcome to #EarlyLang! Tonight’s topic is “Interculturality and Early Language Learners.” I’m Dorie and I”ll be your moderator tonight along with my comod @mundodepepita. If you don’t already know me, this topic is a passion of mine!!!
Interculturality, Intercultural Competence, Intercultural Communication… all very similar terms, which address how students *interact* with members of other cultures. Prior to the chat, we shared some definitions, and here they are again. #earlylang
What's the difference between Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Communication? Check it out!
And join us tonight at 8:00PM EST for an #earlylang chat on this topic! #langchat
But before we get into the deep stuff, let’s start w/ introductions. Tell us who you are, what you teach, and what is your favorite cultural unit to teach? #EarlyLang
What's the difference between Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Communication? Check it out!
And join us tonight at 8:00PM EST for an #earlylang chat on this topic! #langchat
Hello and welcome to tonight's #earlylang chat! I'm Julie, K-4 Spanish teacher in midcoast Maine, co-mod this evening. My favorite aspect of culture is el Ratoncito Pérez, the tooth mouse-so relevant & concrete for my students!
#Earlylang- Nathan, I teach French to pre-K through grade 5. I'm in northern NJ and we have well over a foot of snow, spotty electricity, and spottier internet.I may lose y'all! Fave cultural unit to teach is celebrations
I'm Dorie and I teach Spanish in grades 1-5 in Glastonbury CT. My favorite cultural unit is when we look at stereotypes found in housing from around the world. Adapted from my colleague @IteachHola's housing unit! #earlylang
Feel free to keep introducing yourselves if you arrive a little late, but soon we'll move on to Question 1. We use a Q1/A1 format. So when answering Question 1, please include A1 in your answer. And don’t forget to use our hashtag! #EarlyLang
Q1 Thinking about the definitions of Interculturality we shared, what are the specific attitudes, knowledge, and skills we want our students to acquire and develop? #EarlyLang
Travis, I'm in Coastal Louisiana. I teach French, 4th grade (and 1st and 2nd grade in nine-week segments). I would say my favorite cultural unit is teaching how many different regions in the world use French (with my region being one of them).
R1-my biggest goal, especially for my littlest learners, is to experience culture, rather than just learning about it, so they have a sense of what it is like to be a kiddo their age in Spanish speaking country, providing a window & perspective into children's culture #earlylang
A1. For me, the biggest one is open-mindedness. My only classroom rule is "I have an open mind" which I define as "I'm ready to learn new things and I'm ready to try new things". #earlylang
Hi I’m Jacque Van Houten, district Supervisor in Louisville Kentucky, and the leader of a ACTFL‘s intercultural communication I can statements task force. And I’m just getting ready to drive home so I’ll be checking in in about 10 minutes. #earlylang
I'm Travis. I'm in Coastal Louisiana and I teach 4th grade French (and 1st and 2nd grade in quarterly intervals). I would say my favorite cultural unit is teaching how many different regions in the world use French (including the one where I am located). #EarlyLang
A1- I want my students to have an appreciation of the number of places in Canada and in the world where French is spoken. I want to infect them with a travelbug to visit other places and find out how rewarding it is to know other languages! #earlylang
:) I've been trying to come up with a term in my mind for what I call this- I think 'cultural immersion' is the closest thing, like language immersion :) #earlylang
So glad you've joined us Jacque! For those of you who don't know, Jacque was @actfl president and lead the task force on creating the new ACTFL Can-Do statements for interculturality. If you like this kind of stuff, she's someone worth following! #earlylang
yes! so important! even when traditions/ activities are different in detail, they are still the same in concept-Tooth Fairy/Tooth Mouse- both are a lost tooth being taken & $ given in return #earlylang
A1: I want my students to see my target culture's people as people just like them - not people in costumes who do strange things - but people who do some interesting things #earlylang
I love this way of phrasing it... "rethink your initial reaction". It's natural to have initial reactions, but deeper reflection is so important. #earlylang
Don't forget to use A1, A2, etc with your answers to the questions (unlike me, clearly a bad model lol- a little plug for #charlaele1 every other Sat, another great chat!) #earlylang
Yes!! One thing I love about Intercultural Competence rather than just teaching "culture" is that I get to bring ALL cultures into my classroom, not just "Spanish" culture. #earlylang
A2 show the products, tell the story of the perspective behind the practice. Just about anything can be an #earlylang CI story! Well maybe not politics... 😆
A2: For me, thinking first about what is of interest & important to my students (& their age level) is key; if it isn't relevant & meaningful to them, it won't stick nor affect their attitudes & perspective #earlylang
A2 show the products, tell the story of the perspective behind the practice. Just about anything can be an #earlylang CI story! Well maybe not politics... 😆
I had a kid come up to me today w a book from my class library-Señora, this isn't in Spanish, what is it? Me: a Russian kids book :) she then had a grand time flipping through! :) #earlylang
A2- I try to use videos/photos of places, do art related to famous buildings or inspired by famous people from the culture (planning a Monet-inspired painting with Qtips soon) and look at festivals. Also music- a great door and connector to other cultures. #earlylang
A2 This is where I think #authres (authentic resources) plays a big part. Any time I can use a real picture, a real song, a real instagram photo I am inviting my students to be curious and open their mind to another culture. #earlylang
A2: Intentionality. think it's really important to plan to explicitly address interculturality and to think about it from the angle of children's culture #earlylang
I agree! If we're not intentional about addressing stereotypes or "that's weird" feelings, students can leave our class feeling justified in their stereotypes and feelings. IC must be intentional! #earlylang
A2: Intentionality. think it's really important to plan to explicitly address interculturality and to think about it from the angle of children's culture #earlylang
I find that the more kids interact w/, talk about, & experience culture, the more normal it becomes- & the term "weird" is often their best attempt at "different" when they are little & still refining their English skills #5yearsold#earlylang
I also like to use authentic resources when possible. I felt like I achieved my goal of helping students see similarities when one said of a Kids United music video, "They must be Americans who speak French, they seem too much like us." #earlylang
A3 for littles, keeping things very concrete & age relevant is key to 90-100% in the TL. Songs, games, realia, simple comparisons of concrete topics (Santa / 3 Kings for ex), food, dance, etc #earlylang
For my part, I think it's helpful to give ourselves permission to not teach everything about culture to novice learners if our goal is 90% in the TL. Luckily, we have a lot of time w them, so as their proficiency level grows, we can add to cultural info later #earlylang
A3 There are some things to develop IC that can be very linguistically simple. When dealing with stereotypes students saw a photo and had to vote if the person was a native Spanish Speaker or not. 100% TL, but very deep thinking on their part! #earlylang
A3 great article/ lesson plan inFDLM (français dans le monde) magasine about interculturality - we are individuals, we are all connected. That is my next unit to talk about selves and relations to others. Work in progress!! #earlylang
A3 by using pictures, videos and items that they can see for vocabulary in target language. I use Diagrams and write USA/Peru or USA/Mexico etc on the board or chart paper and we say similarities or differences #EarlyLang
A3: I find using pics in tasks that push their thinking but only require simple language responses to b useful, although, that doesn't always keep them in the TL. They often verbalize their thinking, but then I end up learning a lot abt what we need to address further! #earlylang
yes! so much can be shared even with simple words! & using prior knowledge/schema w non fiction can further aid the comprehension level- most biographies talk about birthdate, profession, where they lived-harness that! #earlylang
And students can develop IC outside of language class as well! It's important to partner with classroom teachers and teachers from other disciplines as much as possible! #earlylang
For my part, I think it's helpful to give ourselves permission to not teach everything about culture to novice learners if our goal is 90% in the TL. Luckily, we have a lot of time w them, so as their proficiency level grows, we can add to cultural info later #earlylang
Make sure to bookmark https://t.co/pGVBVAEwCs so you can vote for future topics, read chat summaries and more! #earlylang And don't forget to follow all in the chat so you can stay connected with your colleagues!
A3 I think it’s important to embed culture naturally In any language lesson, of course rather than to force fit it. What about counting gestures or table settings, or using authentic references like a tortilla instead of a pizza to teach fractions or percentages w/ #s#earlylang
Great reminder! Culture shouldn't be an afterthought, but should be a central part of our curriculum. In Glastonbury, all of our units are backwards designed to answer an essential question that has a cultural context. #earlylang
A3 I think it’s important to embed culture naturally In any language lesson, of course rather than to force fit it. What about counting gestures or table settings, or using authentic references like a tortilla instead of a pizza to teach fractions or percentages w/ #s#earlylang
This! Any component of realia, reference, etc can be harnessed in class, & w the rise of the internet, it is soooo much easier to access these resources as opposed to when I started teaching in 1993 #pre-internet #dinosaurage#earlylang
A4: The examples given for linking investigation and interaction will likely be useful for sparking ideas. I still need to do more thinking about how I am going to use them in my classes though #earlylang
A4 I write IC Can Dos up on the board along for the students to see. They are usually up there more often than the proficiency can dos because they are what really drive our lesson. Last week it was "I can ask a question before forming an opinion" #earlylang
Great point, Patty! The IC Can-Dos are a great way to advocate for our programs! Not only are we helping students acquire language, but they are developing Interculturality as well! #earlylang
A4 in my thinking any of the language can do use can/should be intercultural. They can be suggestions for assessments or examples for students to set their own goals, tapping into their own interest. #earlylang
A4 a student became more vocal and interested recently because they are hosting a French student. He wanted suddenly to learn why he could fit into their home but he was "different," - all in one lesson :)
#earlylang
A4 just like with LinguaFolio, the can-dos can be the tool that children use in student-led conferences to talk about their progress and celebrate what they can do with language and culture. #earlylang
A5 Research, research, research! For me, it's important to understand the theories of IC and models the Can-Dos were based on. Byram, @manuelawag, Bennett, Deardorff, Fantini are all great places to start #earlylang
Hey #earlylang ! Betsy, Spanish teacher grades 3-6. Just got home and now joining ya at the end from the west coast. I’ll be doing slow chat style ‘cuz I am also making dinner!
A5 I also believe strongly in the "little pieces of culture"-how you set up the calendar, how you write the date, gestures, idioms & sayings appropriate for classrm, how you write the numbers, etc- all convey a perspective & interaction w culture #earlylang
And, why ICC development certainly isn't linear, I've found Bennett's Developmental Model to be a good way for students to reflect on their own journey. #earlylang
A5: Books, pictures, video. I haven't used it in class yet, but the Dollar Street website sparks many ideas, as do the UN global goals for sustainable development...but I have more thinking, reflecting, and planning to do about what this will look like. #earlylang
I think this is the most challenging part to do in the TL, especially with little learners. Finding ways to meet the 90-100% goal while providing reflection time that littles can engage in w their limited native speaking skills is a great topic for more thought! #earlylang
And a shameless plug for a resource I co-edited with @manuelawag and Michael Byram, if you want concrete examples of bringing theory to practice, check out our new book! https://t.co/obALoyD14X#earlylang
It’s already time to wrap up! Let’s talk Reflection + Action or as we like to call it, REFLACTION! What are your plans to take this to the next step? #earlylang
