Before we walk down the cultural lane and how to adapt it in our teaching, understanding the whole idea of what cultural approach is will be an excellent idea.
This approach analyzes the social content of literary
works—what cultural, economic or political values a particular text implicitly
or explicitly promotes. It is a powerful medium for understanding the world as
the information of one’s culture is presented within the structure of a story.
It also promotes the cultural authenticity by increasing the cultural awareness
and students can learn to understand and appreciate a literary heritage that
comes from many diverse backgrounds. The use of multicultural literature can
also extend students' knowledge by exposing them to the differences and
similarities between their culture and that of other groups thus, decrease
negative stereotyping of individuals from other cultures.
So, how can this approach help the students to
understand better?
As teachers, we can guide the students by sharing
knowledge about the culture or encouraging them to find out more on the cultural
setting of a story. It is a lot easier
to understand a text when we understand the culture used by the author.
Teachers can test their knowledge on the understanding of the text by asking
them questions related to the cultural setting which usually connect with the
theme of the story. It can be either from the literary devices or elements used
to describe the setting or by asking their opinion. Like in the gender
approach, the language-based approach and aesthetic approach can be combined
together in the activities, but it must emphasize on the cultural setting
highlighted in the literary text.
In The Fruitcake Special, there are some cultural evidence being portrayed that teachers are able to extract it out and use it as one of the materials to trigger student's understanding. For example:
Based on these guidelines, you may use various types of materials to relate to the theme and grab your student's attention during the first stage of literature learning and throughout the lesson.
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It doesn't seem so hard anymore isn't it? Haaa, its all about how creative you are to insert the cultural approach, relating to the text and with the right materials you are good to go! Try it and let us know how significant the activities are. Good luck with the cultural approach!
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