report

The presentation discusses the concept of appropriateness in the acquisition of

a second language and use. In the introduction, The presenter brought an
exercise from a textbook in which we have to identify and compare the first
two sentences with the third and fourth, and the reason behind her doing so is
to show how some cultural elements, such as ask asking someone for money,
are inappropriate in other cultures. So, there must be a careful selection of
cultural elements which will not subtract the student’s culture. In other words,
what is considered appropriate for some cultures could be inappropriate to
other cultures. In addition to that, she discussed how concepts as politeness,
indirectness, formality and taboos could be regarded differently as we move
from on culture to another culture. For example, people may see politeness as
important in communication while others may see it as of less importance. As
she gave us an example to notice the difference, we discussed that it is
inappropriate to ask someone for his car in our Moroccan context, but it could
be matter of personal preference and attitude towards the request as one of
our colleague mentioned. She brought into discussion how different cultures
opt for indirectness when asking for elements that are of value, while others
would just go straight to the bottom-line. When it comes to the idea of
formality, she discussed how people may use formal language in formal
classroom, while others would not do so in the same setting. Additionally,
taboos can be different in terms of how some people consider certain topic as
taboo and others may not. She mentioned also some strategy to avoid
inappropriateness and negative transfer. By teaching them pragmatic explicitly,
it will help students to attain to different aspect of how to avoid negative
transfer. Also, she added the idea that teachers have to use authentic materials
which include TV shows, films and other resources, and I have pointed that
teachers have to be careful in selecting TV shows and films since they are
heavily rehearsed and acted by professional actors and do not necessarily
reflect target culture. In this regard, the professor included an example in
which an American husband kisses his wife every morning before he goes to
work. This is a form of authentic material and the question remains whether
teachers must include this situation or not. We discussed that, of course, the
example given is considered as authentic material, but teachers have to draw
comparison between the target language and mother language culture. Apart
from that, providing opportunities where students can practice their language
can be of higher value. Plus, providing feedback is also important as it could
serve as a guide for students to develop their skills. Encouraging self-reflection
is helpful in this respect for students would engage in an intrapersonal
communication in which they would try to assess and reflect on their
performance. Moreover, exercises as role-play can be beneficial as students
will practice language and their competence in different contexts. When it
comes to negative consequences of inappropriate language use, the presenter
discussed four aspects: people may experience communication breakdown,
show negative stereotypes to certain culture group, have less professional
opportunities, or feel embarrassment. To conclude, the presenter restated the
importance of teaching appropriateness through focusing on pragmatic and
communicative competencies which allows learners use language appropriately
in different social and cultural contexts.