Activity One: Find three similarities
I asked the learners one difference that they had noted here in New Zealand which were working hours and then we brainstormed some other areas in general like clothing,holidays,breaks,types of jobs and status, salary,men and women' s roles and so on...
I put the learners into pairs and asked them to find three similarities..of course the objective for me was the exchange of information but it was amazing to note the reactions of the learners to habits completely different from theirs.
One example I loved was the Japanese student explaining that women dye their hair black for job interviews to a South American student.Another was a South Korean explaining that you can't leave the office until your boss finishes for the day however late that may be..
Activity Two: Taboo or Safe
I modelled a water cooler conversation with a student asking obvious taboo questions in a New Zealand working environment like
How old are you?
What religion are you?
How much money do you earn?
Do you have a boyfriend? why not?
Which political party do you support?
Do you like the boss/the King/the President?
I then asked the students to discuss the questions and if they were taboo or safe in their country.
This was interesting as age and money were open topics in most Asian countries.
I gave the students bits of paper to write some safe topics and they came up with weather, sport, plans for the weekend and interestingly weight.we then rotated the card around and did a fluency activity with dice making safe questions and responding.
Here is a link that discusses these issues and developing intercultural awareness in the classroomhttp://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2013/sessions/2013-04-11/activities-help-learners-improve-their-intercultural-communication
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