INTERCULTURALITY, DIVERSITY, RELIGION

UNIT „INTERCULTURALITY, DIVERSITY, RELIGION“

This lesson addresses Interculturality, Diversity, Religion.

Topic 1 „Human migration“

This lesson addresses cultural human migration issues. After completing the unit students will understand what human migration is and when it started. They will also know basic facts concerning reasons for migration. They will also know the example of an artist taking his stand in the subject.  The language learning objective is to understand spoken and written English and freely express opinions on the subject of human migration.

ACTIVITIES SET 1

Title: Travelling vs migrating

Duration: 15 minutes 

Activity type:  Brainstorming

Look at the photos:

Photo by: simon-english-48nerZQCHgo, unsplash.com

Photo by: glenn-carstens-peters-ZWD3Dx6aUJg, Unsplash.com

Photo by: Crisitna Wocinte Chcha com, unsplash.com

Photo by: Pixpoetry Hkw1erBrzwc, unslplash.com

Activity type:  Discussion

 Answer following questions:

1.       Why do people travel?

2.       Why do people migrate?

3.       What is the reason behind the two actions? What is the consequence of these two actions?

ACTIVITIES SET 2

Title: The history of human migrations

Duration: 15 minutes

Activity type:   Listening comprehension task

Listen to the text. Fill in the table with information from the text.

Source: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/origin-humans-early-societies/v/peopling-the-earth

spoken text from 08:04 to 9:55

Order of migration

Where

When (years ago)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

This is the map of migrations that hominids and Homo sapiens made throughout the years. The earliest Homo sapiens had been spreading on the African continent for about 500,000 years, but it wasn’t until about a 100,000 years ago that they crossed into Eurasia and started spreading into Europe and into Asia and to the Indian subcontinent. We’re skirting most of what is today Russia and China because at this point it was just completely covered in ice. Human beings made it to the Indian subcontinent about 70,000 years ago. Then down through Southeast Asia and eventually making their way to Australia by about 50,000 years ago, to New Guinea 30,000 years ago. This is a map without countries, these are just land masses. I am just using the names of the nations that occupy these land masses today just for the sake of convenience. About 25,000 years ago human ancestors began making their way up into the interior of the Eurasian steppe and then crossing what was either an iced over land bridge or using tiny boats to make their way across the Bering Strait into North America. This would have been about 15,000 years ago and then variously making their way into the North American interior and again hugging the coastline and bouncing their way down rapidly expanding into Central and South America and this would have happened around 15-14,000 years ago. This was like a rapid expansion of just people bouncing down the coast and exploring. 

ACTIVITIES SET 3

Title: Why do people migrate?

Duration: 60 minutes

Activity type:  Teamwork

In groups discuss the reasons for human migration. Prepare the presentation of your findings.

Presentation should have: introduction (1-2 sentences), main body (5-10 sentences), conclusions (2-3 sentences).  At least one photo or a map, one example, one set of bullet points. It should be no longer than 5 minutes.

Activity type: Watching a video

Watch the video and compare your work with actual reasons for human migration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC2Egw1Yfjc

ACTIVITIES SET 4

Title: Artists on immigrants

Duration: 50 minutes

Activity type:   TRUE or FALSE

 TRUE or FALSE. Guess if 1-4 below are T (true) or F (false)

1. Immigration policy in France is widely appreciated. 
2. Artists take the stand in the political issues. 
3. Banksy is the most famous performer in the whole world . 
4. Banksy uses the symbol of a rat very often. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XymRYk66d6c  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ6okd8irFA

Activity type:  TRUE or FALSE

TRUE or FALSE. Guess if 1-8 below are T (true) or F (false)

1. There are 9 works of art spotted in Paris so far. 
2. Banksy’s art works carry strong political messages.
3. Banksy has been in Paris before. 
4. Only few people were happy with the presence of Banksy in Paris. 
5. Experts recognize Banksy’s works of art by the special techniques he uses.  
6. The meanings of Banksy’s works of art are always in strong relation to the location. 
7. Banksy has made some works in the refugee camp in Calais. 
8. No one managed to catch the vandals covering the mural with paint. 

Activity type:  SYNONYM MATCH

Join words which have the same or similar meaning:

1. Various
2. Artwork 
3. Excited
4. Image 
5. Spot 
6. Mark
7. Wash Out 
8. Extremely
9. Affection

Activity type:   Match the word with its meaning

Match the word with its meaning

1. Homely
2. Sleeping bag
3. Refugee
4. Shelter
5. Irretrievable 
6. Wallpaper
7. Homage
8. Council workers
9. Invader

Activity type:   GAP filling

Fill in the gaps with provided words:

 

revolutionary spirit

vandalized

spotted

Protests

erase

fan

victims

irretrievable

bleach

This one is close to a Sorbonne University which was the home of those huge student (1) in May 1968 , but as you can see here he clearly doesn’t think that the (2) is alive and well because the eight is dropped down and becomes like mini mouse, it is on the rat instead, sort of swallowed by the disneyfication of the world. Not everyone is the (3) of the Banksy, it has to be sad, but this is probably my favourite tweet on the subject “(4) these horrors. Our city has the Louvre, no need to scribble on the walls # darlingfetchthebleach.” Interestingly though, no need to fetch the (5) in some cases, because some of them have been already –(6) not by bleach but by paint. One on the Porte de la Chappelle  of a migrant girl has been covered with the blue paint there. One person, actually managed to catch the people who were doing that. They were covering it with paint so the original is (7) now. One other that has been (8) was only found today, at the Bataclan Club this is seen as homage of the (9) of the terror attack there, whether it was washed by the Council workers I am not sure.

 

ACTIVITIES SET 5

Title: Formative assessment

Duration: 10 minutes

Activity type:   Quiz

1. Human migration started from:
2. Which artist takes the stand on political issues:
3. The reasons for human migration are:
4. The synonym of artwork:
5. Movement of people from one place to another is:

Topic 2 „ Cultural Diversity“

This lesson addresses cultural diversity issues. After completing the unit students will understand what cultural diversity is and what are its reasons and effects. They will also know basic facts concerning cultural identity. The language learning objective is to understand spoken and written English and freely express opinions on the subject of cultural diversity. 

ACTIVITIES SET 1

Title: Cultural diversity

Duration: 30 minutes

Activity type:   Predicting

In Activity 1.2 is a reading text about cultural diversity. Don’t read it yet, instead make a note below about what you know about cultural diversity.

Activity type: Skimming for main idea

Look quickly at the reading text and write what is it about?

Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture. The phrase cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other’s differences. The phrase “cultural diversity” is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. 

Overview

Diversity refers to the attributes that people use to confirm themselves with respect to others, “that person is different from me.” These attributes include demographic factors (such as race, gender, and age) as well as values and cultural norms. The many separate societies that emerged around the globe differ from each other, and many of these differences persist to this day. The more obvious cultural differences that exist between people are language, dress, and traditions. There are also significant variations in the way societies organize themselves, such as in their shared conception of morality, religious belief, and in the ways they interact with their environment.

Decline in cultural diversity

Cultural diversity might be assessed by the number of languages spoken in a region or in the world as a whole. By this measure, we may be going through a period of decline in the world’s cultural diversity. Research carried out in the 1990s by David Crystal suggested that at that time, on average, one language was falling into disuse every two weeks. He calculated that if that rate of the language death were to continue, then by the year 2100, more than 90% of the languages currently spoken in the world will have gone extinct.  Overpopulation, immigration, and imperialism are reasons that have been suggested to explain any such decline. However, it could also be argued that with the advent of globalism, a decline in cultural diversity is inevitable because information sharing often promotes homogeneity.

Protection of cultural diversity

The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity is a legal instrument that recognizes cultural diversity as the “common heritage of humanity”. UNESCO also adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. It was adopted in response to “growing pressure put on countries to enforce cultural policies and to include all aspects of the cultural sector on the table when negotiating international trade agreements”.

Source: Adopted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_diversity  

Activity type:  Finishing sentences

Finish following sentences according to the information from the text.

The phrase “cultural diversity” is also sometimes used to mean…
The more obvious cultural differences that exist between people are…
David Crystal suggested that, on average, one language was falling into…
Cultural diversity might be assessed by the number of…

 

Activity type:   Matching the word with its meaning

Match the word with its meaning:

1. Society 
2. Policy
3. Adopt
4. Recognize
5. Factor
6. Emerge
7. Extinct
8. Overpopulation
9. Assess
10. Heritage
11. Decline

Activity type:  Find opposites

Find opposites in the text:

1. Use
2. Quantity
3. Separate
4. Rise
5. Multicultural
6. Exist
7. Deny

ACTIVITIES SET 2

Title: Can you see diversity?

Duration: 30 minutes

Activity type:   Writing

Is the society you live in diversified? Justify your answer by writing a text of maximum 3000 characters. Take into account the following criteria:

  • Number of languages
  • Race
  • Religion
  • Traditions
  • Dress
  • Age

ACTIVITIES SET 3

Title: What makes you, you?

Duration: 60 minutes

Activity type:  Teamwork

You are a group. Look at all its members and make the mind-map representing all. To do so you need to talk to each other and collect the information. You can use: words, expressions, sentences, pictures, drawings, symbols, figures, etc. Discuss the map in the group and get ready to present your findings to the class.

The example of the mind-map is here

ACTIVITIES SET 4

Title: Identity crisis

Duration: 30 minutes

Activity type:   Predicting

What do you think the Third Culture Kid expression means?

Watch the video, if necessary change the playback speed or use the subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk3KlsV_rqI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKMUmqUFgNk

Activity type:  TRUE or FALSE

Guess if 1-8 below are true or false:

1. Third Culture Kid is the child who grows up in a country different from the one indicated in their passport. 
2. Moving across cultures does not cause any dilemma for kids. 
3. Kids keep questioning themselves where they belong. 
4. Globalisation decreased the number of third culture kids. 
5. Being different doesn’t shape the identity of a child. 
6. As children grow older they start to understand that they do not belong to the group. 
7. If the children try hard enough, they fit in. 
8. Multicultural background can bridge two countries, moving one culture to the other. 

Activity type:   Match the word with the meaning

Match the word with its meaning:

1. Settle down
2. Immerse 
3. Proclaim
4. Outsider
5. Authentic 
6. Alienated 
7. Call out
8. Resent 
 

Activity type: Gap filling

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

exampleenemy
luckyconnections
friendshipsstruggle
bringuniting

I was one of the (1)   ones who realized the importance of bridging kids. I am a bridging kid that wants to make (2) , bridge this world and make contributions to society. We, bridging kids, are the key to making bridges between the cultures of this world. We work as culture ambassadors (3)   both of the countries that belong to us. The best thing about bridging kids is that you don’t have to be a third culture kid to become a bridging kid. You can still become a bridging kid in your actions – bridging (4)   and allegiances leading by (5) . If you (6)   being a bridging kid at first, remember that you are blessed with the unique opportunity if you embrace every culture globally you will be able to bridge the world and (7)   people together in fellowship. What do you think is better? The world where people treat each other as a stranger or an (8)  or a world where we treat each other as friends.

Activity type:    SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS. Join words that have the same or very similar meaning.

1. Stranger
2. Bridge
3. Separate
4. Connect
5. Dilemma
6. Fit in

ACTIVITIES SET 5

Title: Formative assessment

Duration: 10 minutes

Activity type:  Quiz

1. One of the reasons of cultural diversity is:
2. The decline in cultural diversity is seen:
3. Choose factors influencing personal identity 
4. The synonym of diversity is:
5. Which word will you choose to link with “leading by”
6. Choose the synonym for “bridge”: