What is PICTURE?
It
is project providing supplementary course material
for secondary-school and university students aged 16+. The
topic is intercultural communication. Here
you find a background article (pdf).
How can the PICTURE material
be used?
The material on this site can
be used as supplementary material for any English language course,
preferably in the form of a "class project" running concurrently
with a foreign language course. This "class
project" would
typically take some 15 hours of student time, of which some 6 to
8 hours is spent in class using some of the "classroom modules",
and some 2 to 4 hours in individual study in a computer lab with
one or two of the "lab modules". All modules can be found on the starting
page. The remaining time is spent on an interview with
native speakers of the foreign language (English, in this case) including
preparation and reporting.
Pedagogical principles
Two
pedagogical concepts underlie the project:
(1) The importance of authentic foreign language use in actual intercultural
contact situations (key concepts: real-life interaction, authenticity,
communicative approach).
(2) The importance of strengthening the relation between “school” and
the “outside world” through carrying out assignments
outside school.
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Teacher Notes
There are Teacher
Notes for each class module (see below).
We urge you to do the Introductory
Unit first because this will give your students
an idea what PICTURE is about and will make them familiar with the
basic concepts and terminology, introducing
notions such as culture, communication, intercultural, stereotyping, interviewing
etc.
The lab modules can be worked through by the students at their
own convenient time and place, unless instructed differently by you.
Some of these modules elaborate on class modules; others cover
new subjects. For all the modules as well as the interviews goes that
you may wish a report on them in the students’ portfolios.
The interviews require some preparation in class (see the module How to Interview and
for a very quick idea the videos of
some Dutch students doing their interview), but also organisation if your students
are to work in teams with the help of recording equipment.
Teacher
notes:
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