Grade 9- Understanding Cultural Influences

This organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

identify and compare Francophone cultures from around the world
distinguish similarities and differences between their own customs and those of Francophone cultures
identify language, expressions, and behaviours that suit cultural context

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

When cultural differences are celebrated for the richness, interest, and colour they bring to the language class, students share their customs more openly and accept those of other groups more readily.

Have students imagine they have just completed a trip to a Francophone country. In order to encourage other students to travel, they give oral or multimedia presentations. Presentations should include details about how students spent a typical day and how this compares with a similar day at home.
Ask students to examine French-language resources such as video excerpts, web sites, advertisements, schedules, menus, recipes, and brochures of Francophone regions around the world. Students identify cultural elements such as body language, greetings and leave-taking, fashion, settings and surroundings, routines, and prices. In groups, students then pool their results, which could be presented to the class using oral, visual, or multimedia methods.
Students compare a typical family menu for a festive meal in a Francophone region to a traditional Canadian menu and variations from students' own homes. They might also choose Francophone dishes to make at home for a class festival at which recipes are shared and dishes tasted. Some students may want to give simple cooking demonstrations in French.
Show a series of slides or video excerpts that reflect everyday life in a Francophone country (e.g., shopping habits, transport, food preparation). Have students note similarities and differences to their community on a two-column sheet labelled Ici/Le pays francophone.
Ask students to identify French idiomatic expressions encountered in reading, viewing, and listening activities. Encourage students to maintain ongoing lists of idioms with their contextual meanings.
Have students choose idiomatic expressions such as faire le plein and illustrate them.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Assessment activities should encourage students to build on their knowledge of Francophone cultural practices and reflect on the added interest which variety brings. As students talk and write about their developing knowledge, look for evidence of openness to and interest in diversity, as well as increasing knowledge about cultural comparisons.

To assess students' oral, visual, or multimedia presentations, consider the extent to which they:
- offer complete and detailed information
- highlight differences and similarities in activities and customs
- offer personal reactions to those comparisons
- attempt to appeal to an audience
- incorporate necessary vocabulary and expression
When students compare and present menus or festive meals, look for evidence that they are:
- willing to go to some effort to research Francophone cuisine
- making connections between their own traditions and Francophone traditions
- able to present accurate and detailed information
- willing to take risks to use new vocabulary and language structures
- interested in the works presented by other students (e.g., listening attentively, asking questions)
When students create lists (Ici/Le pays francophone or idiomatic expressions) review the list from time to time for evidence the information is:
- accurate and complete
- interpreted appropriately
- presented clearly
When looking at students' illustrations, note evidence that they:
- present information accurately and completely
- display information in logical ways that enhance meaning
- convey visual images clearly

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

Print Materials

"Le magazine" Anthology Series

Multimedia

Entre amis Series, Level 2
Des chansons québécoises sans frontières
Savoir faire: Passages 2

BC Ministry of Education Home Page