Dealing with culture in any sense (aesthetic, sociological, sematic, pragmatic), a teacher should be aware of what kind of cultural information is presented in the text or exercises and how the content may seem vague to the members of another culture.

I brought some photos into the classroom and asked my students to surmise from the pictures and play detectives. We were talking about American Families from American Mosaic (Voice of America). I offered my students four pictures of the past periods of different cultures (mostly American). In small groups they were supposed to discuss the following questions:

- When do you think the photo was taken?

- Where was the photo taken?

- Which photo most closely resembles family life in your country?

The pictures showed the past decades of the American society. My students were taken aback. How would they possibly know when and where those pictures were taken? Of course, I helped them make conclusions, but that was me who made them, not them! I support McKay opinion (2002) "This kind of material could be especially problematic in a culture where the teacher is considered to be the main provider of information".

Bearing in mind that "educational goal is to enable learners to communicate to others their ideas and culture" (McKay, 2002), I gave them statements to discuss in a group of four, whether they think Russia is similar or different and be prepared to explain how and supply as may details as they can.

Thus, learners get a grasp of another culture and then compare it with their own. Therefore, I tried to help my students learn and share about their own culture and restore "somehow" a sphere of inculturality.

Do you have your ways to establish a sphere of inculturality?

References:

McKay, S.L. (2002) Teaching English as an international language. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.