ESL Lesson Plan Culturally Intuitive English Instruction

ESL Lesson Plan

Culturally Intuitive English Instruction for Norwegian Students

For the Norwegian student learning English, linguistic mastery is an achievable goal, but the learning process is fraught with cultural and conceptual frustration. Therefore, it incumbent upon the instructor to approach students with patience, clarity and a sensitivity to cultural differences as they inform the use of language. Likewise, it is necessary to select reading and learning materials that are designed to facilitate a greater understanding of sentence structure, vocabulary and diction as they are contextualized by the target culture. Therefore, the greater the emphasis on reading and improvisational simulation as supplementary to one another, the more probable that the Norwegian student will become a more effective English communicator. The overarching goal of the instructor is to help non-native speakers to draw equivalency in meaning between terms and ideas originating from two different languages. The use of Teresa Breslin's 1994 children's text, Whispers in the Graveyard, is used here to inform a proposed lesson plan in which linguistic and cultural skills are channeled through a combination of reading and unscripted role-playing.

This denotes that a key element of the development of English speaking, compositional or comprehensive skills for Norwegian students follows first from the L-97 curricular framework and subsequently from the LK-06 framework, denoting that linguistic skills are to be developed in concordance with an intercultural awareness of the target language. Accordingly, Lund (2008) observes that "intercultural skills are related to situations of intercultural encounters, and foreign language skills can, of course, be a central element here. But in order to cope with such encounters, we also need to be able to interpret the new meanings that are being conveyed to us and to relate this new input to the understandings we already have." (p. 3)

This underscores the need for lesson plans which actively engage both the linguistic and the cultural realities of the target language. In this instance, with lesson plans centered on the Breslin text, cultural conditions within the narrative should be mined for a lesson plan. Whispers in the Graveyard is contextualized by a grade school in the U.K. Themes of bullying, alcoholism, learning disability, formal education, mourning the loss of loved ones and personal redemption help drive the story and also provide us with a basis for the improvement of intercultural skills.

These themes are explored in a manner specific to the English-speaking context of the text and therefore offer some fodder for the construction of in-class improvisational simulations. By casting members of the class in different problem-solving scenarios created by the initial text, it is possible to help students to explore these themes while simultaneously applying evolving linguistic skills. For instance, it may be useful to simulate the classroom setting where protagonist Solomon experiences mistreatment at the hands of his peers and his teacher by casting volunteering class members to play various roles. Here, the instructor would be expected to provide the participants with a specific goal in the context, such as improving the sensitivity shown to Solomon for his special learning needs. The instructor would then preside over an improvisational simulation amongst participants, helping to ensure that said participants remain attuned to the cultural realities of the target language.

Of critical importance is not just the manner in which the instructor engages members of the classroom. In addition, there is a degree of emphasis which is placed on modes of assessment. In order to track and inform the progress of students, the instructor must provide a formative assessment that properly differentiates the learning styles and needs of individual students. This priority is denoted in the text by Earl & Katz (2006), which reports that "when classroom assessment is frequent and varied, teachers can learn a great deal about their students. They can gain an understanding of students' existing beliefs and knowledge, and can identify incomplete understandings, false beliefs, and naive interpretations of concepts that may influence or distort learning." (p. 5)

This denotes that a regular engagement of each student with positive feedback, constructive criticism and bi-directional dialogue should be part of the secondary course of English instruction. For the present lesson plan, it would be appropriate to conduct bi-weekly conferences with each student in which progress is tracked, strengths are identified and weaknesses are isolated. Because this enables the instructor to become more intimately familiar with the needs of each particular student, areas such as the development of intercultural skills as noted above can be seized more effectively. An instructor can gain a greater understanding of the conditions and perspectives that must be addressed in order to accommodate the exchange of cultural features. This can help to drive the direction of the improvisational simulations created for classroom engagement.