This Cambridge webinar focused on global and cultural topics in the ELT classroom. Our presenters were Ben Goldstein and Ceri Jones, authors of Eyes Open and Uncover.
All language materials expose learners to cultural content, but we are sometimes unaware of this. Language learning cultural content has historically often focused mostly on the target Anglo-American culture, with subliminal cultural conventions often present in the pictures used in ELT textbooks. However, as teachers, we should beware of uncritical acceptance of the values of others, and instead focus on developing inquiring and open minds in our students.
Rethinking cultural content can arouse teenage learners’ curiosity to make them engage more with topics, as well as encourage critical thinking in students. If teens engage with your educational content and move outside their own bubble, learning will be more successful; teaching them about culture, which is more relevant to the students (e.g. the topic of eating a meal with your family) instead of Culture, which can be distant to your learners (e.g. afternoon tea, which is an aspect of British culture) will often produce much better results.
While your coursebook’s activities might not feature specific examples from your students’ culture(s), you can always make them think ‘glocally’. The word ‘glocal’ comes from marketing, where large multinational companies like McDonald’s vary their food to fit in with local cuisine. Adapting this principle in your ELT classroom will help your students connect to the topics you are discussing – once you’ve established some links between your topic and your students’ experiences, they’ll then take the conversation further. Even the subject of fast food can engage students enough to talk about their own experience!
For more tips on how to use glocal thinking and get your students creating, not simply commenting, watch our webinar recording below: