Culture Shock PDF

TESOL Resource Center – Resource Templates and Guidelines
Lesson Plan Template + ++ +++++
Title
Culture Shock
Author
Walton Burns
Proficiency level
_____ Beginning ___X__ Intermediate _____ Advanced
Skills
___X_ Speaking Related subskills discussion, giving opinions
Content area
Comparative culture, life skills
Objectives
This lesson is planned as an introduction to a longer unit on cultural differences and

understanding what culture is for a discussion club.
Main objectives:
to introduce the idea of culture as it affects behavior
to give students practice in fluent discussion
to give students practice in expressing opinions
Duration
60 minutes
Materials and technology
“In my culture it's normal...” attached below
Procedure
1. Warm Up
Write the proverb, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”
1
Ask students what they think it means. Take suggestions until students start to slow down or
have guessed the meaning. Confirm that it means when you live in another country or culture,
you should follow the rules of that country or culture. Ask a few students if they agree or
disagree and why.
Now introduce the discussion questions by asking students about how they greet people in
their culture. Encourage them to be specific about what behaviors they use. Do they shake
hands? Kiss on the cheek? Bow?
If students don't introduce the idea themselves, ask them in what situations they might greet
people differently. How do they greet a friend? A family member? A boss? An old person?
2. Pair Work
Now break the students into small groups and hand out the discussion questions. This lesson
works best if the groups are multicultural so students are learning from each other. Ask them
to discuss in their group these behaviors and whether they think they are normal, rude,
polite, impolite or strange (i.e. they rarely happen). Remind them to think about context. Are
their situations where they always do these things or never do them?
3. Wrap Up
Once the groups have discussed the questions, ask the class as a whole what the most
interesting things they have learned from each other are. Ask if there are any points that they
disagreed on strongly and why that might be. Are there regional differences perhaps?
Extension or Follow up
As a follow-up, you can use lessons from the Peace Corps workbook, Building Bridges
Students can also do a survey of their friends and family to find out what kind of behavior
they view as marking someone as a rude or impolite person and what kinds of behavior they
find shows that someone is a polite person.
References
Building Bridges: http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/bridges/
Useful links
Building Bridges: http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/bridges/
2
In My Culture It’s Normal
In my country it is normal/polite/impolite/rude/strange:
1. To shake hands when we meet someone for the first time.
2. To kiss on both cheeks when we greet or say goodbye to a friend
3. To take someone out to dinner (pay for dinner) for his birthday or when he gets a promotion
4. To be a little late to meet friends
5. To be a little minutes late to work or to business meetings
6. To spit in public
7. To call most people by their first names
8. To ask people their ethnicity or nationality when you meet them for the first time
9. To sing in public
10. For women in the family to make important decisions like which school to send children to, how to spend
money, etc…
11. For men to cook, clean or do other household work
12. To interrupt people when talking
13. To give gifts to teachers, doctors, government officials, bosses for students to wear suits or dresses or
formal clothing
14. To invite people to your home
15. To ask guests to leave when it gets late or if you are busy
16. To serve guests only drinks and chips or small snacks
17. To disagree with older people or people who are more powerful than you
18. To give up your seat for older people or women
19. To get promoted to a much higher position than your family or friends

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What are some cultural differences in greetings that were discussed?

What are some cultural differences in greetings that were discussed?

What behaviors does the author say can be seen as rude or polite depending on context?

What behaviors does the author say can be seen as rude or polite depending on context?

TESOL Resource Center – Resource Templates and Guidelines

Lesson Plan Template + ++ +++++

_____ Beginning ___X__ Intermediate _____ Advanced

___X_ Speaking Related subskills discussion, giving opinions

Comparative culture, life skills

This lesson is planned as an introduction to a longer unit on cultural differences and

Materials and technology

“In my culture it's normal...” attached below

In My Culture It’s Normal

1. To shake hands when we meet someone for the first time.

2. To kiss on both cheeks when we greet or say goodbye to a friend

4. To be a little late to meet friends

5. To be a little minutes late to work or to business meetings

7. To call most people by their first names

11. For men to cook, clean or do other household work

12. To interrupt people when talking

14. To invite people to your home

16. To serve guests only drinks and chips or small snacks

18. To give up your seat for older people or women

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___ Beginning _X Intermediate ___ Advanced