Culture activity

This week we needed to work in a group to come up with a cultural activity. Here's what Katie and I came up with:

Activity: Breaking down cultural stereotypes via LiveMocha

Objective: 

introduce students to "American" culture by asking them to talk to native English speakers from around the country

Context: 

intermediate/advanced students in an EFL setting in South Korea; class held in a computer lab

Previous class periods: 

Students have researched American culture through Google, Youtube, film, etc.

Steps:

1. Write categories on board: holidays, clothing, music, transportation, entertainment

2. Split class into six groups, assign each group a category, and have that group come up with several questions to ask about American culture (relating to their category and what they have researched)

• Example questions (usually containing stereotypes):
• Why do Americans like sauces so much?
• Why is food the center of every holiday?

3. Come together as a class and decide on a question for each category. All students will ask native speakers the same questions.

4. Interview stage: use Live Mocha to find native speakers of American English

• have students create a Live Mocha account
• show students how to go to “People” and “chat” to find American English speakers from different regions who are online at that point in time

5. Students each ask three people (at least) the same six questions (one per category) using the chat feature of Live Mocha

• Report back to their groups and then class a whole 
• Compare/contrast what they found
• Discuss what they think American culture is, demonstrating that it is varied and multidimensional