2021-06-23 21:23:18 Education Affairs

Goal:

- Exchange intercultural information regarding meeting new people.

- Raise awareness of intercultural differences in values, behavior, and ways of thinking.

- Help students reflect on their values, customs, behavior, and attitudes.

Input: Pictures (from Google) or authentic photos.

Condition: Shared information between one student and one volunteer.

Procedure: Pair work.

Predicted outcome:

- A list of at least five differences and five similarities between 2 cultures in terms of meeting new people in the pictures or photos.

- Analyzing skills, problem-solving skills.

 

Part 1: Start a conversation with a partner. Talk about the following:

 

- Are you a person who approaches someone first?

- What are some things you shouldn't ask people you just met?

- How important are first impressions to you?

- What are the first things you notice when you meet someone?

- How important is it to smile when you meet someone for the first time?

- Is it OK to ask a person's age in your country?

- Do people in your culture use a lot of body language when they communicate or do they keep their bodies relatively still?

- Do people in your culture show their emotions when communicating with others, or do they hide some feelings?

- The favorite topic for new acquaintances in Canada is the weather; in America, it's where you come from. What is it in your country?

- What is one thing that many people don't know about you?

 

Part 2: Visual-based conversation.

 

Both students and volunteers are asked to find two visuals representing the theme of meeting new people (e.g., Google images, their own pictures): one for Vietnam and the other for the volunteer’s country (2 photos or pictures for each person). They are also asked to prepare five discussion questions for each visual image.

 

Part 3: Have a conversation about the following statement.

 

The human being is said to be a "social animal”. One of the main criticisms made of the Internet is that we're getting used to relating to people we'll never meet. What are the implications of that?

 

Part 4: Free talk.