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Humanising Language Teaching
Year 5; Issue 5; September 03
The World as I See It
Aim: To show that we see the world, even geographically, from our culturally conditioned own perspective!
Time: 15-20mins
Preparation: None, though you might like to copy the example maps below for your students.
Level: Elementary-advanced.
Comment: This exercise works brilliantly with a multilingual/multicultural group. If you teach a single nationality group, you can use the maps below to offer a comparison.
In Class:
- Hand out sheets of unlined paper, 1 per student.
- Ask everyone to draw a map of the world. Reassure your students that you aren't looking for artistic masterpieces or perfect accuracy.
- When everyone is ready, put all the maps on the wall and get students to look at them all and comment on what they see.
(What usually happens is that each student will have put his/her own country in the centre of the map and will be very surprised that other students have done the same…and 'got it wrong'!) If you are working with a single nationality group, you will need to put the photocopied maps up so that your students can see and compare these with their own. - Feedback should focus on the significance of our perception of ourselves as the 'centres' of our world and how this shapes our 'world view'.
