Unit 1 Culture Difference

Teaching Planning

by Deng Guidong

Part I  Section A Time-Conscious Americans

Objectives

1.      Learn the importance of understanding cultural differences

2.      Develop the American way of saving time

3.      Talk about Cultural differences between China and America.

4.      Write a letter about American culture tips

Pre-class Reading tasks

1.    Unit1 Section A: Time-Conscious Americans

A. Find the answers to the following questions.

1) What are the two things Americans try to save? (Para.1)

2) What does time mean to Americans? (Para.2)

3) How do Americans do everything in their daily life? (Para.3)

4) When do Americans start talking business? (Para.4)

5) How do Americans save time? (Para.5-7)

6) What does speed mean to Americans? (Para.8)

B. Make a list of words and phrases which show that Americans are time-conscious.

    We are slaves to nothing but the clock.

    budget , charge for, precious resource, …

2. Why Do Americans Act Like That?

1) Think about: What are the culture differences between Americans and China?

2) Get ready to answer: Which American value/s do you appreciate most?

Classroom Rundown

1.  Lead-in

 1) Work in groups to take American Culture Quiz. The group which score highest will be the winner.

 2) T gives necessary explanations.

 3) Transitional remark.

American people have some basic values: The individual is important; Independence is strength; Respect people’s space…And they have some other values such as being punctual, time-conscious etc. They keep appointment calendars and live according to schedules. They usually are on time for appointments and expect that of others as well. American may seem “always in a hurry,” and often times hasty, but they are generally efficient and get many things done simply by rushing around. Let’s move on to Section A and see what Americans do with TIME.

2. Text Understanding

   1) Brief review: (Refer to Section A.ppt, slides 3~16)

   2) Question time : Ss raise questions concerning difficult sentences. Other students or the teacher gives explanation.

3. Vocabulary

  1) 1-minute description. Use as many related words as you can to describe time-conscious Americans. Each group produces one winner. The winners from all the groups do the job again in front of the class. The one with the longest list of the related words will be the champion.

  2) Word guessing. Two teams are chosen. Give one student on the 1st team a piece of paper with five adverbs and the one on the 2^nd team 5 nouns. In two minutes, the student (one after another) with the paper must try to get his team members to say the words on the list without using the word itself. One point is scored for each word guessed.

    a. restlessly, leisurely, socially, consequently, increasingly

    b. interaction, convention, surroundings, significance, teleconference

4. Typical sentences for Comparison & contrast

 The text compares the different conventions of other countries (new arrivals) with the Americans’ attitude towards time. Find these lines in Para. 4 , 6 &8.

5. Idea Sharing

1) Task：American’s idea on time is quite different from that of the Chinese. Discuss with your group members, then make a report on the differences between the two ideas.

   2) Some useful patterns：

       Americans believe … while Chinese …

Americans are always … in China, however people…

Americans treat time as … while Chinese regards time as …

Americans talk business directly and very quickly. On the contrary, Chinese talk business in leisurely surroundings, beginning with small talk and dinner.

…

Part II  Section B Culture Shock

General Arrangement

1. Watch the movie Guasha Treatment (利用第一次自主学习课)

2. Complete a brief checking list over the movie and the text of Section B.

Part III  After-class Task

Your uncle’s son Xiaohua is leaving for USA to attend high school. Since he has no idea about Americans , he is now very anxious about the coming life. Now your uncle asks you for a help to send Xiaohua a letter to give him some American culture tips. You are supposed to:

1)    organize your writing in a letter style——not miss addressing, opening…

2)    include no less than 3 tips in your letter(no less than 120words).

3)    spell key words correctly

http://www.banyen.com/images/branches_download.pngCulture Differences (by Guidong)" TITLE="Unit1 Culture Differences (by Guidong)" />

1. American Culture Quiz(Teacher's copy & PPT)

2.  Why Do Americans act Like That (Reading Artical)

(欢迎大家使用或参考以上设计，但期待反馈或投票，以便有效互动，不断提高，共同发展。) 

Reference

邓桂东总主编 《新视野大学英语》读写教程电子教案

外语教学与研究出版社，北京外语音像出版社2008.12

第2册第1单元电子教案设计：谭杏仪