In his book ‘Principles of Language Learning and Teaching’, Douglas Brown talks about motivation/culture and asks some questions. As simple as it may sound, I think these questions stands out:

•  Does this activity appeal to the genuine interests of your students? Is it relevant to their lives?
•  Does the activity value the customs and belief systems that are presumed to be a part of the culture(s) of the students?

The following activity might  fulfil both of those expectations because

•  It is about a famous Turkish comedian
•  It raises  interest

Link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_TzWdL_NrQ&feature=related

 Here is how turned his joke into a fill in the blanks activity:

Nasrettin Hodja ­­­­­­­­­­­­___________  to the lakeside. He was carrying a ____________ cap and he was.... he was eating the yoghurt and err someone from the ____________ asked him:‘What _______ you ______ Hodja? What are..Hodja, Hodja,Hodja..’He says:‘What are you doing?’‘I’m mayaliing, I’m mayaliing the lake. What do I have to do? I’m mayaliing the lake.’‘Hodja, come on! You cannot’ and the village _______ said ‘Hodja, come on! Come on Hodja! What ______ you  _______ there? You are, you are.. you cannot, you cannot maya the lake!You got it? I’m going on and Hodja was _____________. ‘What _____ you _______? You cannot mayaliing the lake.’And Hodja turns and Hodja turns and ________ and ‘What if ____ happens?’...This ________ is from the 13th century..yeah...you know Nasrettin Hodja..you know him. He’s a _________ figure of human history and he’s really ________ and he’s funny though. You see, you got the motto? ‘What ..what if _____ happens?’