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12 different powerpoints about various aspects of culture.  Krista K, Chongqing 12 initially e-mailed these to me, but she didn’t make them–I think she told me that a friend of her’s made them.

australia and new zealand. Covers basic geographic information, history, politics, and economy.

british education–Includes pictures of Oxford and Cambridge, focus is on history of British Education and higher education.

british holidays–Includes Christmas, Easter, Boxing Day and other national holiday’s

british government

education in america. Covers trade and technical education, private schools, home schooling

entertainment music.

food-in-america

intro american politics and govt

love and dating. Lots of info about weddings.

us history. Covers early American history through the Revolutionary War

usa culture. Basic facts about America

us expansion west. History from 1781-WWII

submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12

“This class is designed to help the sophomores start to focus on increasing their fluency and eliminating the small mistakes and common grammar errors, with a special focus on preparing students for the TEM-4. The class will also aim to give the students a broader knowledge of the culture of America and other English speaking countries.”

final sophomore text

sophomore lessons

submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12

“This class is designed to help freshmen increase their confidence to speak English as well as the fluency of their oral English, specifically focusing on practical daily skills and possible real-life situations. The class will also aim to give the students a broader knowledge of the culture of America and other English speaking countries.”

 

Freshman oral English text

Freshman oral English lessons

Submitted by Cassie F, Chongqing 12

This course was designed for an 18-week class of oral English sophomores (with Intermediate-High level English) that met 4 hours a week or 36 classes.  I developed this course that covers American pop culture because I felt that these topics encompassed other larger and more important social issues by their very nature, but looked interesting to young students on the surface.  Also, American pop culture provides a lot of controversial subjects, which make debates and interesting conversation very feasible. The students also get to study their American counterparts, which they seemed to really enjoy.

 

This was my attempt to create a CBI (content based instruction) course rather than simply create an oral English class without a cumulative sense of achievement for the students. There were some struggles in the presentation of the CBI course, both with the students and with the administration, as this is not a typical approach to a Chinese English class. However, students warmed up to the idea of CBI English learning quickly as the semester progressed. Most of the reading is given as homework so as to not take away from student talk time in class. In this way, they both learn new things about American culture and are able to practice their oral English as much as possible. It should be noted that some of the material in this textbook might not be appropriate for every school. Teachers should read all the material carefully, and take out anything that might not at the age/maturity level of their students or anything that might make their administration uncomfortable.

 

MAKE SURE to read the entire text before the beginning of the semester. Some of the lessons need advance preparation, like writing for supplies from America or finding copies of certain movies.

pop textbook

pop lessons

Submitted by Jessica W, Guizhou 13.  For oral English/speaking

Goals: understanding what gender is, understanding how gender ideas are connected to stereotypes (review), understanding how gender ideas create difference and inequality between men and women. 

gender_cross-cultural_lesson

Submitted by Laura S. Chongqing 12

“Purpose: The following 3 activities are writing exercises that involve minimal writing, while exercising important writing skills. They are a great opportunity to change up your class routine—or give you a break when the essays are piling up.”

writing activities

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Duck boat in Huaxi Park

Pear Blossom festival

Chinese wedding

La mian!

Group shot at the Panda Zoo

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