A uggested training program for developing intercultural awareness competence of educational and...

A Suggested Training Program for Developing Intercultural Awareness Competence of Educational and

Basic-Educational English Language Majors Current trends in the field of teaching foreign languages

call for integrating culture teaching with the teaching of

language and literature. The idea is not completely new; the

communicative approach has previously mentioned the

importance of teaching culture. The communicative competence

has mentioned four dimensions of communicative competence:

grammatical or linguistic competence, discourse competence,

strategic competence, and socio-linguistic competence. Educators have given due care to the first three

competencies and little or no consideration to the socio-

linguistic competence which refers to one's understanding of

social context in which communication takes place

(Thanasoulas:2002). Understanding a language involves not only knowledge of

grammar, syntax, phonology…etc.but also certain features and

characteristics of the foreign culture. Cakir (2006) claims

that in order to be able to communicate inter-culturally, one

should be able to communicate culturally which leads one to

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encounter factors of cultural differences. Such kinds of

differences exist in every language such as tone, body

movement, facial expressions, silence, and appropriate topics

for conversation…etc. Thus, language is part of culture and

culture is part of language . Because every nation has its unique cultural norms,

communication problems may occur among speakers who do not

share the norms of the others' culture. In order to avoid

such misunderstanding, it is crucial to integrate the

target culture within the syllabus of the target language

in the EFL classrooms. Therefore, foreign language

educators are now expected to promote the acquisition of

intercultural competence in their learners. This leads the discussion to another perspective; that of

teacher preparation: Are the Egyptian pre-service teachers

prepared for this mission? How much do they know about the

target culture?

The present study is directed to the pre-service teachers

who need support in the field of culture teaching to be

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well prepared and to gain the competence of integrating

cultural aspects in their teaching after graduation .

Context of the problem: Foreign language education is intercultural. Teaching

language means connecting learners to a world that is

culturally different from their own. Therefore, the

objective of language teaching is no longer defined in

terms of acquisition of linguistic competence only.

Teachers are now expected to teach intercultural

communicative competence. For teachers, in order to be able to integrate foreign

cultural norms in their teaching, they should have the

information and experience needed in the field of

intercultural competence. Thus, a professional teacher who

has both the linguistic and the cultural competencies is

needed .

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Hence, the researcher of the present study directed the

research for teacher preparation in Faculties of Education,

namely, Women's College. Women's College has two educational sections, Basic-

Education Section that graduates teachers for basic

education stage, and the Educational Section that graduates

teachers of preparatory and secondary stages. Both sections

have English specialization. The researcher conducted the

present study on both sections . First, the researcher surveyed the subjects being taught

to both sections and it was found that they study

linguistic subjects, literary subjects, translation,

history of language and history of literature, beside

educational subjects. None of these subjects encountered

cultural norms . It is important to denote that the subject entitled

"History of Literature" discusses what is known as "Big C"

topics that deal with literary movements, intellectual

movements, artistic achievements, music, literature…etc.

while cultural norms known as "small c" such as customs,

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traditions, verbal and non-verbal communication, pets,

sports…etc are greatly neglected . Second, an English intercultural background survey was

conducted on a sample of fourth year 34 student-teachers

from both sections (17 from each). The survey covered the

following 7 questions:

1 .In your definition culture is ……………

2 .In your opinion, what are the 3 important elements in

learning culture?

3 .What is the first image or word that comes to your mind

when you hear "British culture" why do you think so?

4 -What is the first image or word that comes to your mind

when you hear "Egyptian culture" why do you think so ?

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5-Write three important things you know about British

culture and write three adjectives describing them.

6 -Write three important things you know about Egyptian

culture and write three adjectives describing them.

7-Are there any cultural topics or issues you want the

instructor to include in the workshops?

Analyzing Basic-Education and Educational section students'

answers, it was found that:

1-concerning question 1, the following table (1) shows

students' definition of "culture:"

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Educational

Section

Basic-EducationClassification

41.17%41.16%Correct definition17.64%29.41%Overlapping answer17.64%5.9%Vague answer23.52%23.52%Wrong answer

(Table 1: Definition

of culture)

- The table shows that only 40% of the students could

provide the correct answer which is "the knowledge of the

conventions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of

another country ". This percentage is very disappointing

because they are students of English language and

literature at their graduation year and still more than 50%

of students in both sections could not define the term

"culture" correctly. In basic-education section 29.41% of

students provided overlapping definitions where they

mentioned customs and traditions together with historical

development of nations, language development, and the law

governing each country. Educational section students

provided 17.64% overlapping answers. Also, students

provided vague answers for examples they said ''culture is

the way of thinking and the methods people are convinced to

follow by their society''. Others said ''culture is

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something that distinguishes people from one society from

others'', but they did not mention from which perspectives

they differ from each other. What was astonishing was that

both sections provided the same percentage of wrong answers

23.52%. The researcher expected better answers from the

educational section students as they study language and

literature in depth rather than the basic-education

section. Wrong answers included definitions like "culture

includes some information which we should know because we

can benefit from them", or "the development which human

being achieves" …etc.

2- Concerning the second question dealing with the most

important three elements of culture, the results were as

follows:

classification Basic-education Educational

sectionRelevant elements

(festivals, behavior,

life style, education…

etc.)

23.53% 29.41%

Irrelevant

elements(principles,

strengths and

41.18% 41.17%

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weaknesses…etc)Elements related to

language, history and

civilization

23.52% 29.41%

Elements related to

literature, queens and

kings, important

characters and important

events

11.76%

(Table 2: elements

of culture)

Table 2 shows that 23.53% of basic-education students and

29.41% of educational section students provided relevant

elements that are highly related to the term "culture".

More than 41% of the students from both sections provided

completely irrelevant answers. For example, some mentioned

the points of weakness and strength of the culture to get

benefited from. Others mentioned the principles of the

country…etc. 23.52% of the basic-education students and

29.41% of educational section students mentioned elements

related to the study of language, history and civilization.

This view point reflects the usual traditional concept of

culture which denotes what is known as "Big C" that deals

with intellectual movements, literary trends, great

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achievements…etc. Finally, 11.76% of the basic-education

students mentioned elements related to literature, queens

and kings, great characters and important events.

3- Dealing with the third question asking about the first

image or word that comes to their mind when hearing

"British culture", table 3 clarifies the following:

classification Basic-education Educational sectionLiterature and

civilization

5.88% 17.64%

Knowledge of

places

11.76% 11.76%

Positive image 25.94% 30.19%Negative image 41.76% 27.76%No answer 17.76% 17.64% (Table 3: the first image or word about

British culture)

The first image or word that came to the minds of 5.88%

of basic-education students and 17.64% of educational

section students were images of British literature they

used to study and the civilization of the nation which

denotes one more time the traditional view of culture.

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11.76% of basic-education students and educational section

students mentioned places they know in England either they

read about from the books they study or have seen on the

T.V. It is recognized that this knowledge of places is one

of the important elements of culture, but unfortunately few

students mentioned them. 52.94% of basic-education students

and 41.17% of educational section students provided

positive images about British culture like being serious,

punctual, educated…etc. while 11.76% of both sections

provided negative images like arrogant, morally free,

prejudice against Arabs…etc. 17.76% of both sections did

not answer the question. It is recognized that students

provided the images they think that they represent the

British people but they did not answer the second part of

the question (why do you think so?). This indicates that

they do not know exactly why they have these images and on

which bases.

4- Table 4 presents students first image when they hear

"Egyptian culture" as follows:

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classification Basic-education Educational sectionLiterature and

civilization

29.41% 26.32%

Knowledge of places11.76% 11.76%Positive image 29.41% 35.52%Negative image 23.53% 20.52%No answer or

irrelevant

5.88% 5.88%

( Table 4: the first image or word about Egyptian

culture) Table 4 shows that 29.41% of basic-education students and

26.32% of educational section students' visualized Egyptian

culture as great civilization and great works of

literature. 11.76% of both sections provided images of

places one can visit most of which are historical. 29.41%

of basic-education students provided positive images about

Egyptian culture, while 35.52% of educational section

students provided positive images (kind, helpful,

religious...etc.). 23.53% of basic-education section

provided negative images, and 20.52% of educational section

provided negative images (lazy, do not respect time …etc.).

5.88% of students from both sections did not provide

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answers or provided irrelevant answers. Also, in answering

this question students did not justify their choice of

words or images. It is noted that the images or words used

in answering both question 3 and question 4 represent

stereotypical images about both cultures.

5 -Question 5 asks students to write three things they know

about British culture and write three adjectives explaining

them. Table 5 summarizes the results of their answers as

follows :Educational

section

Basic-educationclassification

52.94%47.19%Passing judgments35.29%11.76%Off-point11.76%41.19%No answer

( Table 5: knowledge of British culture)Table 5 shows that 47.19% of basic-education students and

52.94% of educational section students did not write about

things they know about British culture, but they only wrote

the adjectives that pass judgments on the British culture

(free, hardworkers, punctual, or arrogant, unaffectionate…13

etc.) 11.76% of basic-education students and 35.29% of

educational section students provided Irrelevant answers or

off-point answers. 41.19% of basic-education students did

not answer the question, some of them wrote "I have never

visited England", or they just left the question

unanswered. While 11.76% of the educational section

students did not answer the question. In this question

students were supposed to explain three cultural things

such as (people in England do not kiss each other……they are

reserved)

6- Table 6 summarizes students' answers on question 6 that

asks students to write three things they know about

Egyptian culture and adjectives describing them.

Educational

section

Basic-educationclassification

58.82%70.55%Passing judgments35.29%11.76%Off-point5.88%17.64%No answer

( Question 6: knowledge of Egyptian culture)Table 6 shows that 70.55% of basic-education students and

58.82% of educational section students passed judgments on

their own culture based on justifications to some extent;

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this is due to their own experiences of their own culture.

11.76% of basic-education students and 35.29% of

educational section students provided irrelevant answers or

off-point answers for example some said "habits,

traditions,7000 years of civilization, believe in prophet

Mohammed). 17.64% of basic-education students and 5.88% of

educational section students did not answer the question.

It is expected that those who did not answer the question

or provided irrelevant answers are those who do not know

exactly what is meant by "culture ."

7 -As for question 7 that was asking students to suggest

cultural topics to be presented in the workshop, table 7

presents students' suggestions:Educational

Section

Basic-EducationClassification

---------------

--------

11.76%Historical, political and language

development

70.05%58.82%Education, food, weeding, festivals…

etc.

18.19%17.64%Irrelevant suggestions

11.76%11.76%No answer

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( Table 7: students' suggestions for the workshop)Table 7 shows that 11.76% of basic-education students

suggested historical topics as well as political issues,

while the educational section students did not suggest any

political or historical issues. Of course these topics are

beyond the concept of culture the present research is

dealing with .

58.82% of basic-education students and 70.05% of educational

section students suggested topics related to life style,

education, food, sports…etc. which are the subject of the

present research. 17.64% of basic-education students and

18.19% 0f educational section students provided irrelevant

suggestions for example; students said ( the relationship

between Arabs and the west, the role of Islam in our life,

writing C.V., studying their culture is not acceptable but

we should study what they actually do…etc.) 11.76% of

students from both sections did not answer the question. From the previous survey it was concluded that students of

both sections lack the needed information about the British

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culture; the only information they have acquired is

historical, literary and information about history of

language. The definition they adopted about culture is a

definition that concentrates on history, great art,

intellectual and social movements, the achievements of the

age …etc. While culture includes also people's every day's

life style, customs, traditions, marriage …etc. Also, they

pass judgments on the foreign culture based on

stereotypical images. They need not only information about

the foreign culture but they also need to understand the

cultural differences that make certain people behave in

certain way without passing judgments on their behaviour

based on Egyptian believes, religion and traditions .

Problem of the research : The present research tackles the problem facing English

language majors in basic-education section and educational

section in Women's College, Ain Shams University which is

lacking the intercultural competence that enables them to

understand, sympathies with, and interact with the other;

namely the British culture, without passing judgments on

their behavior, and at the same time appreciate their own

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culture. Thus, the purpose of the study is to develop

English majors' intercultural awareness competence in both

basic-education section and educational section, Women's

College, Ain Shams University, using some cultural

awareness techniques .The study seeks to provide answers to the following main

question:What is the effectiveness of a training program using some

cultural awareness techniques in developing English language

majors' (basic education section and educational section)

intercultural awareness competence?

From this main question the following sub-questions emerge:

1- What is the theoretical base for using some cultural

awareness techniques for developing English majors'

intercultural awareness competence?

2- What are the features of the training program?

3- How far will the training program help to increase

students' interest and desire to study English culture?

4- How does the training program help students gain insight

into particular aspects of both Egyptian and English

cultures?

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Hypotheses of the Research : The study seeks to verify the following hypotheses:

1-There will be statistically significant differences between

the mean scores of the English basic-education students'

overall pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour of the

post test.

2- There will be statistically significant differences

between the mean scores of the English basic-education

students' pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour of the

post test in the following cultural norms:

a) nationality b)food and

etiquettes c)verbal communication

d) non-verbal communication e)social-communication f)

work system

g) sports and holidays h) legends, superstitions

and festivals i)education

j) wedding k) pets and animals

l) vocabulary and idioms

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between the mean scores of the English educational section

students' overall pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour

of the post test.


between the mean scores of the English educational section

students' pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour of the

post test in the following cultural norms:




work system





Variables of the Study:1-Independent Variable:

The independent variable is the training program using

cultural awareness techniques with fourth year one group

English language majors basic-education section and one group

educational section students.

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2- Dependent Variable:

The dependent variable is the two experimental groups of

English language majors' intercultural awareness competence

while practicing cultural awareness techniques.

Delimitations of the Research:

The study is delimited to:

1-Fourth year English language majors, education section,

Women's College, Ain Shams University, for the academic year

2010-2011 representing the first experimental group.

2-Fourth year English language majors, basic-education

section, Women's College, Ain Shams University, for the

academic year 2010-2011representing the second experimental

group.

3-Intercultural training program covering topics related to

both British and Egyptian culture. The topics covered were

(nationality, food and etiquette, work system, non-verbal

communication, verbal communication, social communication,

sports and holidays, legends, superstitions and festivals,

education, weeding, pets and animals, vocabulary and idioms).

4-The techniques used were: cultural capsules, cultural

clusters, culture bump, visuals/ media (real pictures for

places, some British symbols, and flag, reports and essays),

listening to mini-interviews between British people,

evaluative adjectives situations, mini-drama and role play.

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Design of the Study : The design of the present study is the one-group pre-post

experimental design. The results will be treated both

statistically through quantitative data, and also through

qualitative analysis.

Tools of the Study:a- A pre-post cultural awareness test.

b- End of the program questionnaire investigating students'

reaction to the program.

c- Researcher's analysis of students' negotiations during the

application of the program's techniques.

Significance of the study : The present study tackles a problem that is rarely

mentioned in the field of teaching English as a foreign

language, especially in teacher-preparation field in

Faculties of Education which is students' incompetency in

intercultural awareness competence. New trends in the field

of language teaching stress the importance of integrating the

teaching of culture with the teaching of the language. It is

not sufficiently enough to concentrate on language accuracy

away from the context in which it is spoken. Also, gaining

information about the history of the language and the

civilization of the nation do not reflect peoples' life,

customs and traditions. Literature may present part of this

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cultural information in certain period of time mostly in the

past centuries; even modern writings are not enough to

reflect peoples' every day life from different perspectives.

Language and culture are inseparable; therefore, the

researcher presents the training workshops to develop English

majors' intercultural awareness competence through some

cultural techniques.

Definition of terms : Culture:

Seelye (1984), Byram (1994), Frantzen(1998) define

"culture" as "a broad concept that embraces all aspects of

human life. It includes everything people learn to do. Of its

several meanings, two are of major importance to teachers:

Hearthstone or "little c": culture as everything in human

life (also called BBV: Beliefs, Behaviours, and Values).

Olympian or "big-C": the best in human life restricted to

the elitists (also called MLA: Music, Literature, monuments,

political figures and Art of the country) "

The National Center for Cultural Competence defines culture

as an "integrated pattern of human behaviour that includes

thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs,

values, customs, courtesies, rituals manners of interacting

and roles, relationships and expected behaviours of a racial,

ethnic, religious or social groups; and the ability to

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transmit the above to succeeding generations" (Goode,

Sockalingam, Brown,& Jones, 2000)

The operational definition of culture:

The present study is concerned only with "little-c" so,

"culture" is every thing related to the life style, customs,

traditions, food, education…etc. of the British people,

namely England.

Cultural Awareness:

Tomlinson (2001:5) believes that cultural awareness involves

a "gradually developing inner sense of the equality of

cultures, an increased understanding of your own and other

people's cultures, and a positive interest in how cultures

both connect and differ. Such awareness can broaden the mind,

increase tolerance and facilitates international

communication".

Intercultural Awareness Competence:

Chavez(2002) defined the intercultural competence as " the

willingness to engage with the foreign culture, self-

awareness and the ability to look upon oneself from the

outside, the ability to see the world through the others'

eyes, to cope with uncertainty, the ability to act as a

cultural mediator, the ability to evaluate others' points of

view, the ability to consciously use culture learning skills

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and to read the cultural context, and the understanding that

individuals cannot be reduced to their collective

identities."

The Operational Definition of the Intercultural Awareness

Competence:

In this study intercultural competence refers to English

majors' willingness to engage with the British culture;

namely the English culture, self-awareness of their Egyptian

culture and to act as a cultural mediator between the English

culture and the Egyptian culture. It also refers to the

ability to understand the cultural differences between the

English and the Egyptian, respect, and accept these

differences. Besides, English majors' ability to find a

common ground for negotiation, ability to evaluate others'

culture as well as their own. This competence should be

developed in this study through using different techniques

(culture capsules, culture clusters, culture bump, evaluative

adjectives, comparative readings from news papers, listening

the interviews, and real pictures of places, flags, slogans…

etc." and through discussing cultural topics related to

everyday life in both countries such as (identities, food and

etiquettes, work system, non-verbal communication, verbal

communication, social communication, sports and holidays,

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legends, traditions an festivals, education, weeding, pets

and animals, and vocabulary and idioms).

Review of literature : Culture has been defined in a variety of ways in a variety

of disciplines. Persons working in humanities and fine arts

use the term to apply to enlightenment or excellence in taste

which has been acquired by exposure to and/ or training in

the arts. The term is generally applied as an adjective form,

and one may thus speak of a person being "cultured" if he or

she appreciates opera, ballet, and good art, literature, and

music.

Anthropologists and sociologists have defined culture

somewhat more broadly and differently. In a general sense,

they use the word to apply to behaviour and beliefs which

seem typical of a group or class. This definition includes

typical food, clothing, values, activities, manners,

practices, etc. of a group.

Another definition of culture is sometimes held by lay

persons, persons not particularly the specifically dedicated

to the study of the arts or of groups of people. These people

think culture refers to the things that people from other

places do which seem unusual and curious. This definition is

based on stereotypes, most of which are quite exaggerated and

not very true, (Henrichen: 1998). For Thanasoulas (2001)

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culture and communication are inseparable because culture not

only dictates who talks to whom, about what, and how the

communication proceeds, it also helps to determine how people

encode messages, the meanings they have for messages, and the

conditions and circumstances under which various messages may

or may not be sent, noticed, or interpreted…culture… “is the

foundation of communication.”

In foreign language education, culture has drawn a sharp

line between two main types of culture: "Capital/ Big C"

culture " the culture of literary classics and works of art"

and "lower case/ small c" culture (habits, customs,

traditions, folklore, and lifestyle).(Herron, Cole, Corrie

&Dubreel :winter 1999).

Goodenough (1981) has provided a framework within which to

identify the nature of culture, be it home culture or target

culture. Goodenough (1981:62) summarized the content of

culture briefly quoted as follows:

The ways in which people have organized their experience of

the real world so as to give it structure as a phenomenal

world of forms, their percepts and concepts.

The way in which people have organized their experience of

their phenomenal world so as to give it structure as system

of cause and effect relationships, that is, propositions and

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beliefs by which they explain events and accomplish their

purposes.

The way in which people have organized their experience so

as to structure their phenomenal world in hierarchies of

preferences, namely, their value or sentiment system.

The way in which people have organized their experience of

their past efforts to accomplish recurring purposes into

operational procedures for accomplishing these purposes in

the future, that is, a set of “grammatical” principles of

action and a series of recipes for accomplishing particular

ends.

Tolmain and Stempleski (1993:7-8), modifying Seelye’s

(1988) provided seven goals for teaching culture. According

to them the teaching of culture is of and in itself a means

of accomplishing these goals:

To help students to develop an understanding of the fact

that all people exhibit culturally-conditioned behaviours.

To help students to develop an understanding that the

social variables such as sex, age, social class, and place of

residence influence the ways in which people speak and

behave.

To help students to become more aware of conventional

behavior in common situations in the target language.

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To help students to increase their awareness of the

cultural connotations of words and phrases in the target

language.

To help the students to develop the ability to evaluate and

refine generalizations about the target culture, in terms of

supporting evidence.

To help the students to develop the necessary skills to

locate and organize information about the target culture.

To stimulate the students’ intellectual curiosity about the

target culture, to encourage empathy towards its people.

It has to be born in mind that the need in culture arises

for more than mere imparting of knowledge: culture must be

taught implicitly and explicitly. In this sense, it has

become a necessity to shed light and highlight three crucial

elements as suggested by Herron, Cole, Corrie &Dubreel:

winter 1999.

To raise awareness of one's identity and of the existence

of difference

To enhance understanding of self and others

To foster appreciation of "otherness"

Tolmain, B. & Mashhar, H. (2004) provided the main objectives

of a cultural awareness approach are to help learners to:

Discover assumptions, values and attitudes beneath

utterances and behaviours in other cultures.

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Discover assumptions, values and attitudes beneath

utterances and behaviours in their own cultures.

Assess situations and recognize possible interpretations

without jumping to evaluate conclusions

Notice implicit conflicts and analyze the causes

Identify options for conflict solutions

Develop cultural sensitivity

Develop empathy with other cultures

Acquire language from motivated exposure to language in use

and from purposeful opportunities to use it.

Develop the ability to use language appropriately and

effectively in a variety of cultural contexts.

With the realization that more and more emphasis is being

placed on the learner as the focus of the teaching and

learning enterprise, particularly as the learner-centered

approach has become a vogue of the time, intercultural

competence has become the target of foreign language

teaching.

Intercultural competence has recently become the objective

of foreign language learning. In the words of Meyer (1991)

and Jensen (1995), intercultural competence entails the

individual's ability to behave in an adequate manner that

abides by the norms and expectations of the target culture.

According to Jensen (1995), intercultural competence

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comprises the ability to behave appropriately in

intercultural situations, the affective and cognitive

capacity to establish and maintain intercultural

relationships and the ability to stabilize one's self-identity

while meditating between cultures (Jensen, 1995:41)

Meyer (1991) draws a distinction between three levels of

intercultural competence echoed in terms of levels of

positioning:

1- Intra-cultural (mono-cultural level) where the learners

positions himself/herself inside his/her own culture and

views the world from within it;

2- Inter-cultural(intercultural level)where the learner

positions him/herself between his/her own culture (C1) and

the target one (C2) and experiences the world from the

perspectives of the two;

3- Supra-cultural (transcultural level) where the learner

positions him/herself above the two cultures (C1 & C2).

A more updated version of the intercultural competence

approach is offered by Byram (1997a, 1997b) and compasses

five saviors:

Savoirs: acquisition of knowledge

Savoir-apprendre/fair: skills of discovery and interaction

Savoir-etre: attitudes and values (relativizing self and

valuing others)

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Savoir-compromdre: skills of interpreting and relating

Savoir-s'engager: critical cultural awareness.

These savoirs show that intercultural competence does not

mean gaining cognitive knowledge and just memorizing the

information presented, but the skills of discovery and

interaction with the other culture should be included. Also,

these savoirs encourage everyone to discover the self and to

value the others' attitudes and values. Intercultural

competence also should reach the higher levels of thinking

which are interpreting and critical thinking.

Consequently, intercultural teachers see language use as

involving much more than information exchange. Language is

also seen as the main instrument by which people construct

and maintain their senses of personal and social identity; it

is the means by which they make and break friendships, and

other relationships; in short, it is the tool with which

people assert our place in the world.(Richards:2009)

Theoretically, incorporating culture study in the language

classroom can be understood as important and necessary;

practically, however, many problems arise when implementing

culture teaching in the foreign language classroom, for

example, teachers' limited foreign experiences, lack of time,

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and fear of over teaching values and attitudes. With the

intention of reducing language teachers' fear and providing

support for the culture teaching, researchers suggested

important approaches to teaching culture: for

example(Baker:2003) presented cultural comparisons approach

where he believed that culture has traditionally often been

taught through transmission of facts about the culture being

taught. He believed that instead of just being concerned with

the facts of one culture the emphasis should move towards

culture based on cross-cultural understanding, involving

comparisons and contrasts with a learner's native culture and

the culture of the language they are studying. Also (Tsou, W:

2005) presented task-oriented approach and anthropology-

process approach.

The task-oriented approach is characterized by cooperative

learning tasks in which students work together in pairs or in

small groups for activities such as culture discussions,

culture bump, utilizing authentic materials…etc. On the other

hand, those who advocate anthropology- process approach

believe that an exclusive focus on material and activities

reflects a misconception about the nature of culture and lead

people to regard language learning and culture learning as

distinct components. Instead of presenting selected target

33

cultural topics to be studied in class, teachers should first

ask how much students already know about either their home

culture or the second culture. In other words, the focus of

this approach is for learning to use their target language

and anthropological techniques to test hypotheses about the

target language

However, an integration of the comparisons approach,

anthropology-process approach and task-oriented approach

would be used together to create culture lessons for a

successful study. Thus, the current study combined the comparisons approach,

the task-oriented approach and anthropology-process approach.

From an anthropological orientation and comparisons approach,

the current study defined culture instruction as the process

of comparing and contrasting cultures through seeking

similarities first and then differences between learners'

native and target culture.

According to (Pesola: 1991- 332), similar symbolic

association with new culture can assist children in feeling a

personal connectedness with an additional cultural group. By

contrast, emphasis on exotic differences between groups of

34

people encourage the tendency to develop negative stereotypes

about these perceived as different from the child's group.

Thus, in order to reduce stereotyping and enhance the

positive feeling about learning a different culture,

similarities between cultures would often be presented first.

Drawing upon tasks/ activities utilizing examples from

students' daily lives, the target culture would gradually be

introduced to the learners. When students compare and

contrast the target culture and their native culture, they

become aware of the existing differences, and could further

understand the target culture as well as their own culture.

Such an anthropology process of comparing and contrasting

would be carried out in activities presented in the task –

oriented approach such as use of culture assimilators, mini-

dramas, culture capsules, cultoons, culture bump and

authentic materials etc.

Culture Awareness Techniques:

1- Culture capsules, (Lang:1998):

Culture capsules are one of the best-established and best-

known methods for teaching culture. Essentially a culture

capsule is a brief description of some aspects of the target

language culture (e.g. what is customarily eaten for meal and

when those meals are eaten, marriage customs, etc.) followed

35

by, or incorporated with contrasting information from the

students' native language culture. The contrasting

information can be provided by the teacher, but it is usually

more effective to have the students themselves point out the

contrasts.

Culture capsules are usually done orally with teacher

giving brief lecture on the chosen cultural point and then

leading a discussion about the similarities and differences

between cultures. The teacher could provide all the

information at once or could pause after the information in

each paragraph and ask students about the similarities and

the differences they see. Some visual information, such as

handouts or overhead transparencies or pictures, supporting

the lecture can also be used.

2- Culture clusters, (Lang:1998):

A culture cluster is a group of three or more illustrated

culture capsules on related themes or topics (about the

target life)+ one 30 minute classroom simulation/ skit that

integrates the information contained in the capsules (the

teacher acts as narrator to guide the students).

It is worth noting that both culture capsules and culture

clusters are good methods for giving students knowledge and

36

some intellectual knowledge about the cultural aspects being

explained, but they generally do not cause emotional empathy.

3-Critical Incidents/ Problem Solving, (Herichsen: (1998):

Critical incidents are another method for teaching culture.

Critical incidents are descriptions of incidents or

situations which demand that a participant in the interaction

make some kind of decision. Most of the situations could

happen to any individual; they do not require that there be

intercultural interaction.

Generally, procedure with a critical incident is to have

students read the incident independently and make individual

decisions about what they would do. Then the students are

grouped into small groups to discuss their decisions and why

they made them the way they did. Then all the groups discuss

their decisions and the reasons behind them. Finally,

students have to be given the opportunity to compare and

contrast their decisions with those of native decisions of

the target culture. The native speaker information would have

to be gathered by the teacher from reading or from contact

with expertise.

37

Critical incidents are very good for arousing affect about

the cultural issues. Discussions about what native English

speakers would do also promote intellectual understanding of

the issue and give learners basic knowledge about the target

language.

4- Media/ Visuals, ( Herichsen: (1998):

Magazine pictures, slide presentations, and/or videos are

among the kinds of media/ visual presentations which can be

used to teach culture. Usually, with this method, the teacher

presents series of pictures or slides or a video with

explanation of what is going on and what it means in terms of

the target culture. Many aspects of culture, such as

appropriate dress for activities, kinds of activities

students participate in or the weekend, public

transportation, etc. can be effectively presented with such

visuals.

5- Proverbs:

Discussion of common proverbs in the target language could

focus on how the proverbs are different from or similar to

proverbs in the students' native language and how differences

might underscore historical and cultural background. Using

proverbs as a way to explore culture also provides a way to

analyze the stereotypes about and misconceptions of the

culture, as well as a way for students to explore the values

38

that are often represented in the proverbs of their native

culture.

6- Cultural Bump, Archer,C. (1986):

In this technique, students read a short account of an

intercultural incident that is a situation where someone from

another culture finds himself/herself in a strange or

uncomfortable situation when interacting with someone from a

different culture. The account is followed by two multiple

choice questions offering interpretations of the behaviour of

the two people involved. Students discuss in pairs and in

whole group the factors underlying this behaviour. Students

may recognize that more than one answer to the questions was

necessary, that there were various interpretations of the

behaviour described, including individual and contextual

reasons as well as cultural ones. Finally, the appropriate

response could be presented by the teacher explaining why the

chosen answer is more appropriate depending on the cultural

norm concerning the target culture.

7- Evaluative Adjectives, Archer,C. (1986):

This technique uses brief description of behaviour, for

example a bus-stop queue, accompanied by a few adjectives/

expressions, e.g.' proof of discipline', reflecting

perceptions of that behaviour. Students are invited in groups

39

to choose adjectives/ expressions given or write their own to

express cultural perceptions in their own or another culture.

In group work and whole group work, students may relate

personal experiences. This particular personal account

stimulates discussions of relative perceptions of specific

cultural norm.

8- Mini-Drama: (Henrichsen, 1998) and (Lang,1998) :

With mini-drama, scripts are handed out and students are

assigned to act out the parts. After the performance, the

teacher asks students (not necessarily the ones performing in

the drama) what the actions and words of the characters in

the drama mean and lead them to make judgments about the

characters in the drama.

Mini-dramas are generally written to foster sympathy for

the non-native of the culture the “wrong” that is done to

him/her by a member of the target culture. At the end of the

mini-drama, some ‘knowing’ figure, usually the teacher

explains what is really happening and why the target culture

member was not really doing wrong. After the ‘knowing’ figure

has made his/her speech, students are asked to re-interpret

what they have seen in view of the information which the

‘knowing’ figure provided.

40

Generally, mini-drama should promote emotional feeling of

the kind that really happens in intercultural

misunderstanding.

The present research made use of five techniques only

which are: culture capsules, culture clusters, culture bump,

proverbs, media/ visuals, and adjectives/expressions

evaluation.

Design of the study :

The pre-post quasi one group design was used or conductingthis experiment. In this design, the researcher used two

experimental groups from fourth year English department

basic-education section and educational section, Women’s

College, Ain Shams University. The pre-culture awareness test

was administered to both groups before the experiment. Then,

both groups received the training program for developing

students’ intercultural awareness competence. Finally, the

post-test was administered to the two experimental groups and

the differences between the pre-tests and post-tests were

calculated by means of t-tests.

Subjects:

The subjects of the study included two experimental groups,

the first group consisted of 23 English department basic-

41

education students which represent the whole section, and the

second experimental group also consisted of 23English

department educational section, Women’s College, Ain Shams

University. All subjects were graduated from governmental

schools. The program was administered to the two experimental

groups for two reasons: first, to measure its effectiveness

on the biggest representative sample as much as possible.

Second, because the program was designed for would-be

teachers’ students, so the researcher’s aim was to help all

the students in their graduation year to get benefit from the

program as much as possible.

The aim of this research was to develop English majors’

intercultural awareness competence using culture awareness

techniques. In accordance with the research aim the

researcher developed two research instruments for collecting

data needed for answering the research hypotheses.

a) Cultural- awareness pre-post test (appendix )

b) End of program questionnaire (appendix )

The culture awareness pre/post test:

The test was developed as a pre-post test. It was devised

to find an answer to the research’s main aim question:

What is the effectiveness of a suggested program using some

culture awareness techniques on developing intercultural

42

awareness competence of basic and educational English

language majors?

Content of the test:

The test was planned to cover what is known as “small c”

cultural norms namely; nationality, food and etiquettes, work

system, non-verbal communication, verbal communication,

social communication, sports and holidays, legends,

traditions, superstitions and festivals, education, wedding,

pets and animals, vocabulary, proverbs and idioms.

The test consisted of 55 multiple choice items divided into

sub-titles covering the previously mentioned norms as

follows: nationality (2 items), food and etiquettes (8

items), work system (4 items), non-verbal communication (7

items), verbal communication (3items), social communication

(5 items), sports and holidays (5 items), education (5

items), wedding (2 items), pets and animals (2 items),

vocabulary, idioms and proverbs (13 items). Each item gets

one mark.

Validity of the test:

43

To measure the test content validity, the first version of

the test was given to three jury members; 2 of them were TEFL

professors and one was a literature professor to evaluate the

appropriateness of each item in the test.

Also, they were asked to evaluate the test as a whole in

terms of:

Suitability of test items to the research aim

Suitability of the test language

The jury suggested the following:

In its first version the items were not divided into the

different cultural norms, the modification was to divide the

items according to the different cultural norms.

Omitting some questions: in its first version there were a

cultural norm named “Money”, jury suggested omitting the

questions related to this norm because it is not important

and the test would be very long, also the vocabulary and

idioms norm was minimized.

After making the necessary modifications, the final test

consisted of 55 items (jury appendix ).

Reliability of the test:

In order to establish the reliability of the test, it was

administered to a randomly chosen group of 20 students from

the educational section, English department, Women’s College

that did not belong to the experimental group. After two

44

weeks, the researcher retested the same students on the same

test. Then, the pearson correlation coefficient between the

test/retest results were calculated. The reliability

coefficient was (r=0.94), therefore, the test was considered

a reliable one for the purpose of the study.

Test time limitations:

Time of the test was estimated by calculating the means of

time of both the fastest and slowest students that finished

answering the test:

The fastest student + the slowest student

2

The slowest student finished the test after three hours and

20 minutes, while the fastest student finished after an hour

and 20 minutes.

200 + 80 = 140 minutes

2

Administration of the test:

The test was administered on the first term of the academic

year 2010/2011 on 12th October for the basic education section

45

and on 15th October for the educational section. The same test

was re-administrated again on 14th December 2011 for both

sections. The researcher used to meet them regularly once a

week for an hour and half to apply the program.

Administration of the questionnaire :( appendix )

The second tool was the end of program’s questionnaire. This

questionnaire consisted of 10 questions divided into 3 types:

Rating questions: from not at all ‘1’ to very much ‘5’ or

from poor ‘1’ to excellent ‘5’.

Open-ended questions to express opinions and give

justifications

Yes/No questions with justifying the choice.

The Program:Rationale:

The essence of the program stems from the fact that the

ultimate goal of an intercultural approach to language

education is not so much “native speaker competence” but

rather an “intercultural communicative competence” (Byram,

1997b). An intercultural approach trains learners to be

‘diplomat’, able to view different cultures from a

perspective of informed understanding. This aim effectively

displaces the long-standing objective of teaching learners to

attain “native speaker proficiency”.

46

The main principles that the program rely on were the

following:

Learners should have the opportunity to appreciate the

similarities and differences between their own culture and

the culture of the country where the target culture is

spoken;

They should have the opportunity to identify with the

experience and perspective of people in the country where the

target language is spoken;

They should have the opportunity to use this knowledge to

develop a more objective view of their own customs and ways

of thinking.

The program was designed according to two approaches: the

task-oriented approach and the anthropology-process approach,

and the content was completely prepared by the researcher

from different sources mainly internet sources, and BBC

documents and taped interviews. The content consisted of

pictured, auditory interviews, documents and detailed

knowledge about everyday life style concerning the following

topics or cultural norms: nationality, food and etiquettes,

work system, non-verbal communication, verbal communication,

social communication, sports and holidays, legends,

traditions, superstations and festivals, education, weeding,

pets and animals, vocabulary, proverbs and idioms.

47

Following the task-oriented approach which depends mainly

on techniques and activities, the researcher developed a

group of cultural techniques such as: culture clusters,

culture capsules, culture bump, visuals/media, mini-dramas,

proverbs and idioms.

The program was implemented all-through the first term of

the academic year 2010/2011 for 9 weeks. The subjects used to

meet the researcher for an hour and half weekly.

Descriptions of the sessions:

Session 1 :

The first session was divided into two sections; the first

was an introductory section where the researcher discussed

with the students what is meant by culture (15 minutes).

Then, she provided them with hand out presenting the

definition of culture from the two perspectives explaining

that they used to study what is known as “Big C”. She

explained that the following sessions would be devoted to

what is known as “small c”.

The second section of session (1) was devoted to the

application of the first technique which was culture cluster.

The first culture cluster was about “Nationality”

Objectives :

By the end of this session students would be able to:

1- raise awareness of English people’s nationality.

48

2- differentiate between different types of flags.

3- compare and contrast English nationality and Egyptian

nationality.

Procedures:

Step (1):

1) The researcher raised the following questions:

Who can draw the English flag?

We all know “the United Kingdom”, how many countries form

the Kingdom and what are they?

2) Students were given (10 minutes) to discuss in small groups

the questions and take notes to provide their answers.

3) Each group provided their answers (10 minutes).

Outcomes:

None of the groups succeeded in providing the correct

drawing of the flag

Students could not present correctly all countries forming

The United Kingdom.

Step2: (appendix )

1- The researcher started reading card (1) in the cluster

under the title “Nationality”. (5 minutes)

2- The researcher paused for few seconds to give students the

opportunity to take notes.

49

3- The researcher asked the students to compare and contrast

the Egyptian case with the English one in an open discussion.

(10 minutes)

Step 3 (appendix )

The third step in the first cluster was under the title

“Identity”.

The researcher followed the same procedures of step (2) (15

minutes)

Step 4 (appendix ):

The fourth step in the first cluster was under the title “the

formation of the union flag”.

1- In this step the research accompanied another technique

which was “Visuals” where she presented the flag of each

country in the union, though the computer, and how these

flags were connected in one flag. The visual representations

came after reading the last card in this cluster giving the

cognitive information of each flag and asking students to try

to draw each according to the description they hear from the

reading then, they were asked to compare their drawing with

the actual flag. (15 minutes)

2- Students were asked to discuss the different shapes of the

Egyptian flag through history, as much as they know, then

compare and contrast the Egyptian situation with the United

Kingdom’s situation.

50

3- Finally, students led an open discussion about the whole

cluster and to express their opinions about the first

session. (10 minutes)

Outcome:

Students were completely astonished that they have never

known such information. One of the students said that she is

ashamed because she is in her graduation year and she has

never thought about this information. Another student said

“how can we say that we are students of English and we don’t

know the countries of U.K., their flags and the union flag”.

Session 2:

This session was divided into two parts. Part one presented

the mini-drama technique, while part two dealt with culture

cluster (2) under the title greetings and manners.

Objectives:


1- become aware of the greetings and the manners of British

people.

2- compare and contrast the greetings and the manners of the

Egyptians versus the British.

3- appreciate the differences between cultures.

Part (1): Mini-drama (15minutes)

Procedures:

51

The researcher had previously prepared a dramatic situation

where a cultural misunderstanding happens and students were

supposed to discover what was culturally wrong in this

situation.

Instructions: You will see the following mini-drama between

an Egyptian teacher who works in an international school and

her English student who lives in Egypt. Take notes silently,

then you will work in groups to discuss the situation. Notice

carefully the words spoken by the characters and their non-

verbal expressions.

1- The researcher asks for two volunteers to act out the

situation.

2- Student (A) was given a card with her role:

You are an Egyptian teacher in an international school in

Egypt. In your class there is an English student. In an exam,

the English student wants to ask you a question. You will

come close to her and stand by her side bowing to her and

backslapping. You look very friendly. After answering her

question you go round the class.

Student (B) was given her card describing her role:

You are an English student in an international Egyptian

school. You are in the middle of an exam and want to ask your

Egyptian teacher a question. Your Egyptian teacher bows at

you, backslaps you and answers your question. Show with your

52

facial expressions that you are disgusted from your teacher

and show how much you dislike her.

None of the actors of the mini-dram know why the English

student dislikes her teacher.

3- The researcher said, “Now, you have seen the situation you

will be given (10minutes) to discuss in groups the notes you

have already taken about this situation, then, you will

present conclusions.

4- Actors of the situation will present their analysis and

show how they felt during the performance.(5minutes)

5- After the discussion the researcher would never present her

solution to the situation. She would move to the second part

of the session.

Part two: Culture cluster 2: Greetings and manners (appendix

)

This cluster contained five points, in this session two

points only would be covered.

a) Greetings b) Informal greetings

and terms of endearment

These two points of the cluster took 10 minutes.

The researcher asked students to take notes while she read

the cluster.

53

After finishing the reading, the researcher asked them to

discuss their notes and compare and contrast the English

behaviours versus the Egyptian behaviours. (10 minutes)

An open discussion was devoted to give the chance to the

students to express their opinions about the differences and

similarities.(10 minutes)

The researcher asked the students to work in groups after

the discussion to flash back to the mini-drama presented

before and reconsider their analysis (10 minutes)

An open discussion between the class and the actors was

presented to discuss their feelings toward the English

student before reading the cluster and after the reading. (15

minutes).

Outcome:

Students enjoyed the mini-drama.

The actors of the min-drama said that it was enjoyable, but

what was really interesting was the comment said by the actor

who played the role of the teacher, she said, “I was really

embraced by the English student’s disgusted looking. I really

hated her because I thought I did not do anything that harms

her. But, after reading the cluster I noticed that what is

considered friendly movement for us as Egyptians is

considered unacceptable for the English, at this moment only

I understood why she behaved this way”.

54

Most of the discussion went around the same meaning. Most

of the students were from different governorates in Egypt, as

a consequence they noticed that some of the behaviours and

words that are accepted in some governorates are not

acceptable in other governorates and they gave examples.

Session 3:

This session was divided into two parts. Part one presented

culture bump technique, while part two dealt with the rest of

culture cluster 2 (Greetings and manners).

Objectives:


1- present possible reasons for behavior presented by

different people from two different cultures.

2- Use verbal and non-verbal communication behviours related

to both cultures.

Part (1): Culture bump:

This part covered only four culture bumps, each situation

took 10 minutes. The whole group discussion took 10 minutes

Instructions:

You are going to read cultural incidents (gives hand out-

appendix ) that present situations between two people one

from Egypt, while the other is from England. There are

55

multiple choice questions; you can choose more than one

answer. Discuss this in pairs.

Procedures:

1- Students read the four situations.

2- They worked in pairs and the researcher went around to be

sure that all participated in the discussion and to clarify

any points.

3- Whole group discussion of possible answers.

Example of the situations:

Two friends, Egyptian and English, were eating together in

a restaurant in England for the first time. After finishing

the meal, the English paid for herself only. The Egyptian was

choked and embarrassed.

1- Why didn’t the English friend pay for her Egyptian friend?

a- She did not have enough money.

b- She is miser.

c- She believes that each should pay for herself.

d- The Egyptian friend imposed herself on her.

2- Why was the Egyptian chocked and embarrassed?

a- She expected her friend to pay for her as she is her guest.

b- She did not have enough money to pay for herself.

c- In her experience, people compete to pay for each other.

d- Her friend did not tell her that the restaurant is

expensive.

56

Outcome:

3- Students enjoyed this technique, especially because it

represents the behaviours of both people from different

cultures.

4- Most of the chose more than one answer saying that some of

the answers seem logic though they knew that there was one

precise answer that was correct but they enjoyed discussing

other possibilities.

5- Again, they presented personal experiences with friends,

neighbours, or people they know from Arab countries stressing

that these differences may occur not only between people who

speak different languages, but also among people speaking the

same language or even living in the same country.

Part (2): Culture cluster (Greetings and Manners)

This part covered the last three points in this cluster which

were

a) The kiss b) verbal and social communication c) non-

verbal communication

The researcher followed the same procedures followed in the

previous cluster. Each point took 10 minutes

The last 10 minutes were devoted to compare and contrast

the Egyptian behaviour versus the English behaviour

concerning the whole cluster with its five points.

57

Session 4:

This session was concerned with another cultural norm under

the title "food and etiquettes" and the last 20 minutes in

this session provided the technique "Evaluative Adjectives"

to revise the four sessions covered.

The technique used for "Food and Etiquettes" was culture

cluster. This cluster dealt with the following points:

Things one should or shouldn't do when eating in England.

Meals and meals time in England.

Afternoon tea and high tea in England.

Objectives:


1- be aware of the British behaviour concerning food

etiquettes.

2- be aware of the meals time in the British society.

3- compare and contrast Egyptian food etiquettes and meals

time versus the British etiquettes.

4- appreciate the differences between different cultures

concerning food etiquettes and meals time.

Procedures:

The first point in the cluster "dos and don'ts:

1-The researcher wrote on board the question " What should

you do or don't when you are eating in England?"

58

2-The researcher asked the students to listen carefully to

"things you should do" and take notes. (5 minutes).

3The researcher asked the students to get a paper and divide

it into two columns one to list the similarities while the

other to list the differences between Egypt and England.(10

minutes)

4-The same procedures were followed while reading "things you

should not do". (15 minutes)

5-An open discussion was presented. (10 minutes)

The second point: meals and meals time

The procedures of the first point were followed. (15 minutes)

The third point: Afternoon tea and high tea

The same procedures applied in the previous two points were

followed. (10minutes)

Evaluative Adjectives (25 minutes)

To sum up the norms covered in the four sessions, the

researcher provided students with copies of "evaluative

adjectives" where they were requested to read descriptions of

some behaviours followed by some adjectives or evaluative

phrases then hey had to decide if these adjectives

corresponded with their own evaluation. They were asked to do

the following

Read the following descriptions of behaviour. Does one of

these adjectives or evaluative phrases correspond to your

59

evaluation? If so, circle it. If not, use the blank space

provided to insert your evaluation. While you are evaluating

the behaviour, discuss the following questions:

a) Is your evaluation affected by cultural norms?

b) Can you think of another culture where perceptions might

be different from your own?

c) How might the behaviour be perceived and what is the

culture?

The technique consisted of eight situations or behaviours,

the following is an example:

Someone asks another person s/he has just met how much s/he

earns.

Indiscreet Impolite Direct

…………….

Session 5:

This session covered the cultural norm "Education". This

cultural norm covered the following points:

1- The educational system

60

Curriculum

School year

School holidays

School uniform

2-teenagers life in England

The techniques used in this session were cultural bump,

cultural capsule, and a diary of a secondary school student.

Objectives:


1- compare and contrast the educational system in Egypt

versus that of England.

2-evaluate the Egyptian educational system.

3- suggest practical solutions for improving Egyptian

educational system.

4- appreciate the differences between school behaviours in

both cultures.

Procedures:

Part (1): culture bump:

1-The researcher gave the students a handout of the culture

bump of an educational situation occurred between an English

teacher and an Egyptian student who studies in England.

(appendix )

2-They worked in pairs discussing the situation following the

same procedures discussed in the previous culture bumps. (15

minutes)Part (2): culture capsule:

1- The researcher gave students oral knowledge about the

educational system in England (10minutes)

61

2- Students take notes.

3- The researcher paused after each information to give them

the chance to compare and contrast the situation in Egypt

with that in England.(10minutes)

Part 3: school diary:

1-The researcher divided the class into two groups; group one

was handed copies of a diary of "school life for a 13 year

old British boy", while group two was handed a more detailed

diary of "five days in the life of teenager during a school

holiday".

2-students in each group were asked to work in pairs reading

the diaries and write their comments about the similarities

and differences between students' daily life in Egypt and in

England. (20minutes)

3-Students in each group were allowed to gather to discuss

the overall conclusion of what they had discussed in pairs to

be ready for an open discussion.(10minutes)

4-Finally, each group were given (10minutes) to present their

final conclusion about education in both Egypt and England in

light of the diaries they discussed and give their personal

suggestions for educational reform in Egypt.

Session 6:

62

This session dealt with the cultural norm "legends,

festivals, traditions and superstations"

In this session the researcher presented the most famous

legends which are King Arthur and Robin Hood. Also, the festivals

like Christmas, Halloween Day, Easter and April fool's Day.

Some superstitions were also discussed.

This session was divided into three parts:

Part one: legends; the techniques used were two culture

capsules.

Part two: festivals; the technique used was culture cluster

Part three: superstitions; the technique used was native

culture role play.

Objectives:

By the end of session students would be able to

1- raise awareness of both variety and change between

different cultures

2-compare and contrast the two cultures concerning legends,

festivals, traditions and superstitions.

Procedures:

Part (1): Legends

1-The researcher told students " you are students of English

language nd literature and it is expected that you know the

well known legends in the English history and of course those

63

of our history. I'll give you five minutes to name two from

each".

2-Grooup discussion

3-Each group presented their findings.

4- Most of the students mentioned "Hamlet", others mentioned

"Dr Faustus".

5- The researcher presented the definition of the word

"legend".

6- The next step was to present the first culture capsule

which is the legend of "King Arthur" (10minutes)

7- The researcher asked the students to think of the legend

and think about a well known Egyptian legends and tell his or

her story.(10minutes)

8- Most of the students mentioned "Adham El-hrkawy" and they

discussed his legend together (10 minutes)

9- The next culture capsule was "Robin Hood". The researcher

followed the same procedures.

Part (2): Festivals

The techniques used in this part were "media and visuals",

"power point presentation" and "culture cluster".

Procedures:

1-First, students were asked to think for 5 minutes about the

festivals English people celebrate

64

2-Most of the students mentioned "Christmas" and "Easter",

but few of them knew what is "Christmas" and none knew

"Easter".

3-The researcher told her students "now, we'll watch a power

point presentation of the festivals English people celebrate.

Please take notes about these festivals and their dates.Then;

we'll have a culture cluster dealing with some of them in

details."

4-The power point presentation dealt with the following

festivals, "New year's Day, Twelfth Night, Crufts Day Show,

Saint Valentine's Day, Good Friday, Easter, The London

Marathon, May Day, Chelsea Flower Show, Midsummer Day,

Wimbledon, Notting Hill Carnival, Harvest Festivals,

Halloween, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve". (10 minutes)

5-The researcher asked students to write a brief comment on

the power point presentation. (5minutes)

6-The common comment was that English people always have

something to celebrate. There is a monthly celebration about

everything.

7-The researcher mentioned that the following culture cluster

would deal with the following celebrations and festivals

"Christmas, New year's Eve, Easter, Halloween Day, April

Fool's Day".

65

9- Speaking about each festival took (5minutes) and students

took notes about these festivals' historical background.

10-Finally, they were asked to name Egyptian festivals and

how do Egyptian people celebrate them.

Part (3): Superstitions

The technique used in this part were culture bump and role-

play

Procedures:

Step (1):

1- The researcher asked students "what is meant by

superstition?"

2- Most of the students said that superstition means believing

in something that is unknown.

3- The researcher said that was a correct answer " we can

define superstition as irrational beliefs, specially with

regard to the unknown". (5minutes)

Step (2): culture bump

1-The researcher gave the students a handout about a culture

bump dealing with superstation. The situation was between a

pen friend from England who sends a post card of a black cat

to her Egyptian friend who gets annoyed because of this card.

Students read the four options provided explaining why the

English friend sent this card and the other four options

explaining why the Egyptian friend got annoyed.((5minutes)

66

2-The same procedures followed in the first bump were

followed in this bump.(appendix ) (10minutes)

Step (3): Role-play

1- In this step the researcher divided the students into

groups and asked each group to think of a superstition that

Egyptians usually believe in. Then, they had to write a role-

play (10minuts) to be acted within 5 minutes to be presented.

2- Each group presented a superstitious belief.

3- After each presentation the researcher read the

alternatives in the English culture.

4- After presenting all the known superstitions they were

asked to discuss in an open discussion the following

questions written on board.(15minutes)

a) Which British superstitions are similar to those in Egypt?

b) Which are different?

c) Do you believe that they can influence our lives and still

live on in the age of science?

Before the end of the session the researcher handed the

students an essay about wedding customs and traditions in

Britain to be read for the next time.

Session 7:

67

This session is divided into two parts: part one dealt with

pets and animals in England, and part two dealt with marriage

and wedding in England.

Objectives:


1- investigate the relationship between marriage customs in

Egypt and in England.

2- compare and contrast marriage customs in both Egypt and

England

3- justify some cultural behaviour related to marriage

customs in Egypt

4- respect the cultural differences between Egypt and England

concerning raising pets and animals.

Procedures:

Part (1): Pets and animals

In this part "visuals and media" technique and "culture

capsule" technique were used.

1- The researcher handed each pair a copy of a short

scientific report presented in "The Telegraph" entitled

"Britain's ideal pet is part dog, part-cat" (appendix ).

2- They were asked to read this short report and under line

the most significant words or phrases that may indicate

68

cultural perception and discuss together the significance of

these words or phrases .(10 minute)

3- Each pair started mentioning the words they identified and

explained their significance from their own point of view.

(10minutes)

4- The researcher asked them to suggest another title to the

report that indicates a cultural perspective. (10minutes)

5- Many suggestions were presented such as "British people

love animals", "Raising animals in England","British people

are pets' lovers" etc. Finally, they all agreed to the title

"England: the nation of Pets' lovers"

Note: this was the title suggested by the basic education

students, on the other hand the educational section suggested

the title "British people are obsessed by animals"

Part (2): wedding and marriage customs:

1- This part began by asking students to discuss in groups the

similarities and differences between marriage customs in

different places in Egypt specially the countryside and the

city. (10 minutes)

2- They were asked to present orally their findings and

present some personal situations either funny or embarrassing

the present cultural differences within the same country.

(10minutes)

69

3- The researcher asked students to make use of the essay they

were handed in the previous session about "Marriage and

wedding customs in England" to present orally hat they knew

about marriage traditions in England.(10minutes)

4- The researcher led a discussion to compare and contrast

marriage traditions between Egypt and England.(10minutes).

5- Among the comments students mentioned that recently

Egyptians adopted the western traditions of wedding even in

the countryside such as the slow dance between the pride and

the groom.

6- The last few minutes were for fun where the researcher

presented some pictures for weddings ceremonies in England.

(appendix )

Session 8:

This session covered two cultural norms; work system, and

sports and holidays. Techniques used in this session were a

culture bump about weekends, culture capsule about sports and

holidays, and a culture capsule about work system.

Objectives:


1- be aware of the differences between Egypt and England

concerning work system, holidays and sports.

70

2- compare and contrast work system, sports and holidays in

both Egypt and England.

Procedures:

1- Culture bump about weekends in England was presented

following the same steps followed in the previous bumps.

(10minutes)

2- A culture capsule about weekends and holidays in England

was presented following the same steps followed in the

previous capsules in the previous sessions.(20minutes)

3- A culture capsule about sports in England following the

same steps.(10minutes)

4- A culture capsule about work system in England was

presented following the same steps followed in the previous

capsules. (20 minutes)

In all capsules students discussed the situation in

England, then compared and contrasted the situation in Egypt

with that of England to find the similarities first then the

differences.

The last 30 minutes were devoted to present pictures of

places in England such as Buckingham Palace, Big pen etc. and

some well known symbols in England such as the Red Bus, the

phone box, etc. These pictures complete the picture of the

capsules presented about holidays and show students how

71

British people honour the symbols of their country through

decades and never change their style.

Session 9:

This session dealt with the last cultural norm which is

vocabulary, idioms and proverbs. In this session media and

visuals technique was used to present idioms and proverbs.

Also, to identify British words from American words a handout

containing a list of British words and their American

equivalents was presented.

Objectives:


1- differentiate between the British use and the American use

of some words.

2- compare and contrast British proverbs and Egyptian

proverbs.

3- judge the acceptability and desirability of these

proverbs.

Procedures:

Step (1):

1-The researcher presented a group of words and asked

students to work in pairs to categorize them in two columns;

the American words in one column and the British words in the

other.(10minutes)

72

2-Each pair turned to another pair and discussed their

answers together, they could use their dictionaries.

(10minutes)

3-Finally, they classified the words on board. (5minutes)

Step (2):

1-The researcher asked students if they know any English

idioms and proverbs. They were asked to raise their hands for

answers.

2-Few proverbs were presented from the part of the students

of Basic Education students, while the Educational Section

students presented more proverbs such as : A friend in deed

is a friend in need, to let a cat out of the bag, to have the

cat get your tongue etc. (10 minutes)

3-A power point presentation of some proverbs were presented

and the researcher asked students after presenting each

proverb to discuss in (5minutes) its meaning. After

presenting students suggestions, the researcher clicked the

power point presentation to reveal its accurate meaning. The

power point presentations were not only visual but sound

presentations as well so students could listen to the British

pronunciation too.

4-The researcher asked students to write Arabic proverbs that

are equivalent to or different from the English ones.

73

Finally, they were asked to discuss the acceptability and the

reasonability of each.

Data Analysis and Discussion of Results: The statistical analysis of the data and the results are

interpreted in terms of the research hypotheses. Therefore,

each hypothesis is presented together with the findings related

to it. Moreover, in order to make sure that the results

obtained from the t-tests were reliable and measure the

effectiveness of the training program, the effect size was

74

calculated according to the following formula suggested by

Dunlop (1994).

D= 2t

√d.f.Where d = the calculated effect size, t = the estimated t value and the

referential framework for identifying the effect size of t-values is as follows:

Effect size ( d value) interpretationFrom 0.2 till less than 0.5smallFrom 0.5 till less than 0.8mediumFrom 0.8 or more large

Hypothesis 1:

There will be statistically significant differences between



post test. In order to verify the validity of this

hypothesis, a t-test was used (see table: 8) Table 8

Overall pre-post cultural awareness test for

basic education students

test N M SD DF T-value SignificanceEffect size

Overall pre-

post culture

awareness

23 31.782616.0148022 25.341**.000 10.8

75

Very large

Table (8) shows that support was gained for hypothesis (8)

where the results revealed that the differences between the

mean scores of the overall culture awareness pre-post test

are highly significant where t= 25.341 at 0, 05 level of

confidence. This provides evidence for the effectiveness of

the program. Also, the calculated effect size value of the

program on students' overall pre-post culture awareness test

was 10.8. Therefore it can be inferred that the program had a

very large effect size on the students' performance on the

post test-test if compared to their performance on the pre-

test.

Hypothesis 2:



pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour of the post test

in the following cultural norms:




work system



76



In order to verify the validity of this hypothesis, a number

of t-tests were used. (Table: 9)

Table 9

Pre-post culture awareness test for the sub-cultural norms

for the basic education students

Culture normsN M SD. DF t-value Significanc

e

Effect

size

Nationality23 1.130430.81488 22 6.6533** 2.89

Food&

etiquettes 23 3.782611.97614 22 9.180** 3.99

Verbal

communication23 1.782610.67126 22 12.736** 5.53

Non-verbal

communication23 3.565221.27301 22 13.431** 5.83

Social

communication23 2.434781.37597 22 8.486** 3.689

Work system 23 2.956520.87792 22 16.151** 7.022

Wedding 23 1.521740.66535 22 10.969** 4.769

education 23 2.347830.88465 22 12.728** 5.533

Sports &

holidays23 3.652171.07063 22 16.360** 7.113

77

Legends &

festivals23 2.913041.20276 22 11.615** 5.05

Pets & animals23 1.695650.63495 22 12.807** 5.568

Vocabulary &

idioms 23 4.000002.71360 22 7.069** 3.073

Table (9) shows that there is a statistically significant

difference between the mean scores of the pre-post test in

the cultural norm (nationality) in favour of the post-test

where t= 6.65. In addition, the effect size value =2.89

reveals that the program had a large effect on the students'

post-test in the cultural norm (nationality) if compared with

the pre-test.

Table (9) also shows that there is a statistically

significant difference between the mean scores of the pre-

post test in the cultural norm (food and etiquettes) in

favour of the post-test where t= 9.180. In addition, the

effect size value = 3.99 reveals that the program had a large

effect on the students' post-test in the cultural norm (food

and etiquettes) if compared with the pre-test.

The above table shows that there is statistically significant


the cultural norm (verbal communication) in favour of the

post-test since the estimated t value is 12.736 and the

effect size value is 5.53. Furthermore, there is a

78

statistically significant difference between the mean scores

of the pre-post test in the cultural norm (non-verbal

communication) in favour of the post-test where t value is

13.431 and the effect size value is 5.83.

Also, table (9) shows that there is a statistically


post test in the cultural norm (social communication) in


effect size value = 3.689 reveals that the program had a

large effect on the students' post-test in the cultural norm

(social communication) if compared with the pre-test. In

addition, there is statistically significant difference

between the mean scores of the pre-post test in the cultural

norm (work system) in favour of the post-test since the

estimated t value is 16.151 and the effect size value is

7.022.

The above table also shows that there is a statistically


post test in the cultural norm (wedding) in favour of the

post-test where t= 10.696 and the effect size value = 4.769

which reveals that the program had a large effect on the

students' post-test in the cultural norm (wedding) if

compared with the pre-test. Besides, it is found that there

is a statistically significant difference between the mean

79

scores of the pre-post test in the cultural norm (education)

in favour of the post-test where t= 12.728 and the effect

size value = 5.533 which reveals that the program had a large

effect on the students' post-test in the cultural norm

(education) if compared with the pre-test.

Besides, students achieved progress in the post-test over

the pre-test in the cultural norm (sports and holidays),

since the t value is 16.360 and the effect size value is

7.113. Also, there is a statistically significant difference


norm (legends and festivals) in favour of the post-test where

t= 11.615 and the effect size value = 5.05 which reveals that

the program had a large effect on the students' post-test in

the cultural norm (legends and festivals) if compared with

the pre-test.



post test in the cultural norm (pets and animals) in favour

of the post-test where t= 12.807 and the effect size value =

5.568 which reveals that the program had a large effect on

the students' post-test in the cultural norm (pets and

animals) if compared with the pre-test. Table (9) shows that

support was gained for hypothesis (2) where the results

revealed that the differences between the mean scores of the

80

cultural norm (vocabulary and idioms) pre-post test is highly

significant where t= 7.069 and the calculated effect size

value is 3.073. Therefore it can be inferred that the program

had a very large effect size on the students' performance on

the post test-test in the cultural norm (vocabulary and

idioms) if compared to their performance on the pre-test.

According to these results, it is noted that the

intercultural awareness program achieved a notable success

and had a positive effect in developing basic education

students' culture awareness competence in the (12) different

cultural norms and gives support for hypothesis (2)

Hypothesis 3:


the mean scores of the English educational section students'


post test.

In order to verify the validity of this hypothesis, t-test

was used. Table 10

Overall pre-post cultural awareness test for

educational students

test N M SD DF T-value SignificanceEffect

81

size

Overall pre-

post culture

awareness

23 29.304355.6923822 26.84278**.000 5.8347

Very large

The above table shows that there is a statistically

significant difference between the educational section

performance before and after the treatment in favour of the

overall culture awareness post-test where t value= 26.84278.

It can be said that t-test result proved to be statistically

consistent with the hypothesis. Thus, the third hypothesis

was confirmed. Furthermore, the estimated effect size value

5.8347 shown in the table indicates that the program had a

large effect on the educational section students' overall

culture awareness post-test.

Hypothesis 4:


the mean scores of the English educational section students'

pre-post cultural awareness-test in favour of the post test

in the following cultural norms:



82


work system





In order to verify the validity of this hypothesis, a number

of t-tests were used. (table 11)

Table 11

Pre-post culture awareness test for the sub-cultural norms

for the educational students

Culture normsN M SD. DF t-value Significanc

e

Effect

size

Nationality23 0.95652 0.7674222 5.978** 2.599

Food&

etiquettes 23 4.08696 1.6212522 12.090** 5.256

Verbal

communication23 1.34783 0.9346222 6.916** 3.006

Non-verbal

communication23 2.78261 1.5942122 8.371** 3.639

Social

communication23 0.86957 0.9197022 4.534** 1.97

Work system 23 2.34783 1.0273022 10.961** 4.765

Wedding 23 1.39130 0.7827222 8.525** 3.706

83

education 23 4.00000 1.1281522 17.004** 7.393

Sports & holidays23 3.91304 0.9960422 18.841** 8.19

Legends &

festivals23 3.21739 1.3127522 11.754** 5.11

Pets & animals23 1.56522 0.5897722 12.728** 5.533

Vocabulary &

idioms 23 2.91304 3.0138022 4.635** 2.015

Table (11) confirms the previous results as it shows that

there is a statistically significant difference between the

mean scores of the pre-post test in the cultural norm

(nationality) in favour of the post-test where t= 5.978. In

addition, the effect size value = 2.599 reveals that the

program had a large effect on the educational section

students' post-test in the cultural norm (nationality) if

compared with the pre-test.



post test in the cultural norm (food and etiquettes) in


effect size value = 5.256 reveals that the program had a

large effect on the educational section students' post-test

in the cultural norm (food and etiquettes) if compared with

the pre-test.

84

The above table shows that there is statistically significant


the cultural norm (verbal communication) in favour of the

post-test since the estimated t value is 6.916 and the effect

size value is 3.006. Furthermore, there is a statistically


post test in the cultural norm (non-verbal communication) in

favour of the post-test where t value is 8.371 and the effect

size value is 3.639.

Also, table (11) shows that there is a statistically


post test in the cultural norm (social communication) in


effect size value = 1.97 reveals that the program had a large


(social communication) if compared with the pre-test. In

addition, there is statistically significant difference


norm (work system) in favour of the post-test since the

estimated t value is 10.961 and the effect size value is

4.765.

The above table shows that there is a statistically


post test in the cultural norm (wedding) in favour of the

85

post-test where t= 8.525 and the effect size value = 3.706

which reveals that the program had a large effect on the

students' post-test in the cultural norm (wedding) if

compared with the pre-test. Also, it is found that there is a

statistically significant difference between the mean scores

of the pre-post test in the cultural norm (education) in

favour of the post-test where t= 17.004 and the effect size

value = 7.393 which reveals that the program had a large


(education) if compared with the pre-test.

Besides, students achieved progress in the post-test over

the pre-test in the cultural norm (sports and holidays),

since the t value is 18.841 and the effect size value is

8.19. Also, there is a statistically significant difference


norm (legends and festivals) in favour of the post-test where

t= 11.754 and the effect size value = 5.11 which reveals that

the program had a large effect on the students' post-test in

the cultural norm (legends and festivals) if compared with

the pre-test.



post test in the cultural norm (pets and animals) in favour

of the post-test where t= 12.728 and the effect size value =

86

5.533 which reveals that the program had a large effect on

the students' post-test in the cultural norm (pets and

animals) if compared with the pre-test. Table (11) shows that

support was gained for hypothesis (2) where the results

revealed that the differences between the mean scores of the

cultural norm (vocabulary and idioms) pre-post test is

significant where t= 4.635 and the calculated effect size

value is 2.015. Therefore it can be inferred that the program

had a large effect size on the students' performance on the

post test-test in the cultural norm (vocabulary and idioms)

if compared to their performance on the pre-test.

According to these results, it is noted that the

intercultural awareness program achieved a notable success

and had a positive effect in developing educational students'

culture awareness competence in the (12) different cultural

norms and gives support for hypothesis (4).

Finally, it is concluded that the four hypotheses were

supported by the results. Statistical analysis of the data

indicate that both the basic education students and the

educational section students performed better on the culture

awareness post-test than they did in the pre-test. As a

87

result, the training program, using some culture awareness

techniques, proved to be effective in developing fourth year

English majors inter-culture awareness competence in both

sections (the basic education section and the educational

section).

Analysis of the training program's questionnaire:Concerning the first item in the questionnaire that asked

students to rate the following three statements from "not at

all" (1) to "very much" (5)

*( ) I gained insight on a particular aspect of British

culture.

*( ) I recognized the impact my own native perspectives

have on understanding British culture.

*( ) I became familiar with resources I might use for

future cultural explorations.

The following tables (table 12) and (table 13) show how

the students in both educational section and basic education

section rated these statements:

Educational Section

Table 12: analysis of educational section students' rating to

the questionnaire's first question

88

statement 5 4 3 2 1

statement 118 students = 78.26%4 students = 17.39%1 student = 4.347%-------- ----------

---

Statement 213 students= 56.52%6 students= 26.08%3 students = 13.04%1 student= 4.347%----------

---

Statement 312 students = 52.17%4 students = 17.39%5 students = 21.73%2 students= 8.697%----------

-

Basic Education Section

Table 13: analysis of basic education section students'

rating to the questionnaire's first question

statement 5 4 3 2 1

statement 118 students =

78.26%4 students = 17.39%1 student = 4.347%-------- ----------

---

Statement 213 students=

56.52%

8 students= 34.78%2 students = 8.69%----------- ----------

89

---

Statement 36 students =

26.08%

11 students =

47.82%

6 students =

26.08%

--------------

------------

-

Examining table 12 and table 13, it is noted that students

in both sections agreed to a great deal that they gained

insight on British culture as well as recognizing the

impact their native perspectives have on understanding

British culture. As for the third statement, it is

recognized that the educational section became familiar

with the resources more than the basic education section

students.

Dealing with question 2 in the questionnaire: how would

you rate the program and the techniques used? Circle only

one number and give any comment

Poor 1 2 3 4 5

excellent

Table (12) and table (13) show both educational section

and basic education section rating to the program and the

techniques

Table 12: Educational Section rating to the program and the techniquesused

90

Rate 5 4 3 2 1

Number of

students13 8 2 -------- --------

percentage 56.5% 34.78% 8.695% ------- -----

Table 13: Basic Education Section rating to the program and thetechniques used

Rate 5 4 3 2 1

Number of

students20 2 1 -------- --------

percentage 86.95% 8.69% 4,34% ------- -----

Examining both tables show that students in both groups

found the program and the techniques useful where 56.5% of

the educational section rated the program 5 which is

excellent and 34.78% rated 4 which is very good. On the

other hand, basic education students' opinions were higher

than the educational students where 86.95% rated 5 which are

excellent and 8.68% rated 4 which is very good.

The researcher gathered the comments written on this

question from both sections and they could be summarized

under the following points:

91

The program helped raising our perception of others'

customs and traditions in an interesting way.

The most wonderful techniques we enjoyed were mini-

drama, role playing, culture bump and the evaluative

adjectives.

The discussion technique powerful as it helped us

expressing our points of view about others as well as

our own traditions.

Moving to question 3: Do you think that the program improved

your learning of British culture? If yes or no, please

explain what, how much, and why?

100% of the students in both sections answered "yes".

Analyzing their comments the following points were

mentioned:

I gained information about the country I study its

language.

I realized the similarities and differences between our

culture and British culture.

I realized how others eat, drink, behave their

celebrations etc.

I learned British people's customs and traditions in

different occasions that I couldn't realize while

92

studying literature because we usually study the

literary texts from the "notes" or simplified texts.

I began to change my perspectives about other's culture

because I used to judge the British characters while

reading plays or novels according to my own customs and

religion. After the program I began to understand that

we have to judge others according to their own customs

and traditions and we have to accept the other.

The information presented helped me understand the basic

background information of some plays, novels, and short

stories we study and distinguish between British culture

and Egyptian culture.

I think I'll avoid a lot of things that may cause

misunderstanding if I meet a British person or in case

of travelling abroad.

Revising students answers, in both sections, to question 4:

What did you learn about British and /or Egyptian culture

from the program's discussions?

Students' answers were as follows:

We learned a lot about festivals, superstitions, the

traditions and customs of eating and greetings in both

Egypt and England which are very interesting and useful.

93

We learned that there are some similarities between

Egyptian culture and British culture, but there are also

great differences. The most important thing is that there

are also differences between the different parts in

Egyptian society in some cultural norms such as kissing

customs, wedding etc.

British people are so practical and direct, so if they

behave in certain way, we have to know that they do not

mean to insult or humiliate others but this is the way

they used to act. While we, the Egyptians, are so

affectionate and our indirect behaviour or over use of

compliment and body language may cause misunderstanding

with British people.

Coming to question 5: Did you like the program? If yes,

explain what, how much, and why?

100% of the students in both sections answered yes. The

following comments were collected from students' comments in

both sections:

We gained a lot of information

We became aware of the similarities and differences

between British culture and Egyptian culture.

94

We learned how to negotiate about controversial issues

and cooperate with each other to reach a solution to a

certain problem.

The program gave us the chance to practice the four

language skills.

The program was interesting, funny and useful.

The program tackled new issues we have never tackled in

other courses.

The discussions were interesting because we exchanged

our points of view. I liked also the comparisons we made

between the Egyptian culture and the British culture.

I liked the program because it will help me to

communicate with others even if we differ from each

other.

Some customs and traditions surprised me (many students

wrote this comment). Also, I was surprised that British

people believe in superstations and some of their

festivals belong to superstitious beliefs (this comment

was written by students from both sections but the

greater number was from the basic education students and

that is may belong to the fact that they do not study

literary texts in depth as the educational section

students).

95

Moving to question 6: What would you do differently if you

would do it again?

60% of the student from both sections said that they would

do nothing more. The rest of the students from both sections

suggested different ideas as follows:

I would recommend teaching this program from the first

year to help students later while studying literary

texts to be able to analyze them in light of this

information.

I would include more topics.

I would invite a native speaker to ask her certain

questions about their daily life.

I would search for more sources myself and do not rely

mainly on my teacher's sources.

I would try to re-evaluate or re criticize the literary

works I studied in light of the information presented.

Moving to question 7: Did the program contribute to any of

your language skills?

Yes No

100% of students from both sections answered "yes"

96

Coming to question 8, a completion of the previous question:

To which skills did the program contribute most, arrange

them

Listening Speaking Reading

Writing

The following tables (14) and (15) show students responses:

Table 14: Educational section students' arrangement of the skills

skill listeningspeaking Reading Writing

Number of students

rating

the skill as 1st

7 16 1 -----------

----

percentage 30.43% 69.56% 4.4% -----------

-

Number of students

rating

the skill as 2nd

16 5 ------------

----

2

percentage 69.56% 21.74% ------------

-----

8.69%

Number of students

rating

the skill as 3rd

------ 2 12 9

percentage ----------

----

8.69% 52.17% 39.13%

97

Number of students

rating

the skill as 4th

-------- ---------- 10 12


--

-----------43.5 52.17%

Table 15: Basic Education section students' arrangement of the skills

skill listeningspeaking Reading Writing

Number of students

rating

the skill as 1st

8 15 -------- -----------

----

percentage 34.78% 65.21% -----------------------

-

Number of students

rating

the skill as 2nd

12 6 ------------

----

-----------

--

percentage 52.17% 26.08% ------------

-----

-----------

--

Number of students

rating

the skill as 3rd

3 2 13 14

percentage 13.04 8.69% 56.52% 60.86%

Number of students

rating -------- ---------- 10 9

98

the skill as 4th


--

-----------43.5% 39.13%

Examining the previous tables it can be concluded that the

skills contributed most to the students in educational

section were as follows in order: speaking, listening, while

reading and writing were in equal positions where 69.56%

rated speaking first, 30.43% rated listening second, 52.17%

rated reading third, while 52.17% rated writing fourth.

On the other hand, basic education students rated the four

language skills in order as follows: speaking, listening,

writing, and reading where 65.21% of the students rated

speaking first, 52.17% rated listening second, 60.86% rated

writing third, while 43.5%rated reading fourth. The order

followed for the basic education section seems reasonable

concerning writing and reading because from the researcher

observation they were eager to take more note and record

whatever said even in the discussions than the students in

the educational section. Also, speaking then listening rated

first and second because most of the techniques depended

mainly on them where students discussed issues orally, acted

out situations in the form of mini-drama and role-play. They

also listened to mini-lectures when the researcher read for

99

them the culture clusters and the capsules and when they

listened to the proverbs.

Coming to question 9: Did the program help you raise your

awareness about British culture as well as your own culture?

If yes, explain how.

100% of the students in both sections answered yes, and

their explanation were around the following main point:

Yes, I gained insight and awareness about British

culture but also I gained information about some

traditions in Egypt in other governorates that I have

never known about from my colleagues who belong to these

governorates.

Finally, question 10: How the intercultural program would

contribute to your prospective career?

Most of the students concentrated on the following points:

As a teacher, I'll be able to respond to any question

specially when teaching literary texts in the

preparatory and secondary stages.

I discovered that it is impossible to teach or learn a

language without knowing its culture, therefore while

explaining the lessons to my students I'll refer from

100

time to time to the similarities and differences between

us and the British people.

In conclusion, this questionnaire also supports the

results collected by the t-test that the program was not

only effective but enjoyable and interesting as well.

Discussion of Results: Based on the results of the study, it can be conclude thatthe training program proved its effectiveness on developing

English majors' intercultural awareness competence using

some cultural awareness techniques. Subsequently, these

significant results can be due to the following:

1- Techniques and strategies for teaching culture reflect the

importance of enhancing students' positive role in the

learning process. Fact and information about a culture

conveyed through mere lectures cast students in a passive

role. In contrast, devices such as culture capsules, culture

clusters, cultural mini-dramas, culture bump etc. require

active participation from the students. Students become more

involved if they are encouraged to and guided to create the

techniques themselves as done in role-play session , and

when they discovered the cultural devices in certain

101

situations or in a reading essay as in the culture bump and

in the use of visuals and media.

2- Presenting content that deals with very day life increases

students enthusiasm to know more about the people of the

foreign culture. This proves that using content of interest

increases students' desire to interact and communicate well

with the content.

3-Using the method of comparing and contrasting helped

students to discover similarities and differences between

the two cultures. Moreover, analyzing these differences and

finding out the customs that may cause misunderstanding

helped them to think deeply and find out these differences

may occur not only between two different culture but also

within the same culture. Reaching this conclusion helped

them to accept others behaviours because these behaviours

are results of the traditions and customs of this particular

society.

4- Pair work, group work, and whole group work encouraged

students to communicate freely and narrate personal

experiences that helped in raising their awareness not only

about target culture but also about their own culture.

5- Students enjoyed making relations between customs and

traditions in general and their daily practices, and the

situations they faced in real life causing misunderstanding

102

with people from other parts of Egypt due customs

differences.

6- Among students' responses to the program, they recommended

teaching such programs in earlier levels; for first year and

second year students to benefit from them while studying

literary texts such as novels and dramas.

7- Also from students' responses,, they were surprised from

some information they gained in this program. For example,

they said that they believed British people ae very

practical and scientific and didn't expect that they believe

in superstitions. Also, among the funny comments, they said

that they thought that "donkeys" are Egyptian animals and

they did not expect that England has donkeys too. But, the

researcher reminded them that William Shakespeare mentioned

donkeys in many plays.

8- At the very beginning, the students were tension and were

not ready to be loaded with more information, but after

explaining the techniques that would be practiced their

behaviour changed completely and were motivated to

participate in the program.

9- Lack of educational technologies such as overhead

projectors, computers with large screens to use media and

visuals technique was a great problem. But the researcher

used her own laptop to overcome the problem due to the small

103

number of the students in each group. But it would be a real

problem if it is applied with large classes.

Recommendations:

Based on the data collected and the results of the study, a

number of recommendations can be presented:

1-Teaching English culture should be included in the

curriculum for English language majors.

2-Teaching of culture should be included in the schools'

curricula as well; it is meaningless to present the

English language out of its cultural context.

3- More researches are needed to develop students'

intercultural awareness competence using other techniques

and investigating their effect on students' language

skills.

4- Training workshops for in-service teachers are

recommended to improve their intercultural awareness

competence and to train them to include cultural

information using the techniques- mentioned earlier in the

study- while teaching English in their English classes.

104

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109

110

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