Question: Why is teaching American culture important?
Answer: Culture is closely linked to language learning, and understanding culture can assist recent immigrants with transition into their new environment.
https://usahello.org/life-in-usa/culture/american-values/
Study.com has a great segment on teaching culture. You will need to create an account to see the full course: https://study.com/academy/lesson/teaching-american-culture-to-esl-students.html
Here’s an exercise from from the U.S. State Department’s Open English program: https://moocs.openenglishprograms.org/courses/173/quizzes/1139/take
Topic: Birthday traditions
Objectives: By the end of the activity, students will be able to talk about different ways to celebrate birthdays all over the world.
Students’ level: Intermediate
Step 1: Students form groups of 3 and discuss how they celebrate their birthdays, sharing their own family traditions.
Step 2: Each group receives a birthday tradition (Sweet 16, Bar Mitzvah, Quinceañera) that they have to research and prepare a presentation about (if there is a computer lab, students can work on it in class, or they can do it at home).
Step 3: Each group prepares a presentation using Powerpoint, Prezi, or boards .
Step 4: Each group presents in class.
Step 5: After the presentation, students can ask questions.
- Which level of culture does your activity address?
Level of culture: Source culture, target culture, international target culture.