Cultural Portfolio Assignment:

·      Register account for daily e-mails through http://www.nytimes.com/?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1385953399-FHRnAmfB9al2SGZWbKPMYQ

·      Find article that is American current event. Send link to Instructor for approval.

·      Print article, and attach, 1-2 paragraph, typed, summary of article. Be sure to clarify any questions about unfamiliar vocabulary, or context, with instructor before presenting. Students should be prepared to read summary out-loud to class.

·      Prepare discussion question for classmates.

DUE EVERY TUESDAY

·      Lead discussion, with instructor assistance, should be 5-10 minuets. Remember, we are looking for a discussion of American culture and an understanding of what is going on in the country. This question is not meant to stump fellow-classmates. Pretend you are “around the water cooler.” (I will lead and present examples of what the discussion forum will look like, for students. Also, this allows for conversational analysis).

·      Students will archive articles in a running, and building portfolio, throughout the semester. Each week a new article will be added.

PRESENTATIONS ON THURSDAY

·      Instructor will choose 1-2 questions from each presented student article to place on, end of the week, written, quiz. The quiz will be posted online, fairly simple, and to be completed over the weekend. (Instructor will add feedback to student quiz, to clarify and correct any grammatical, discourse, or socio-linguistic competencies).

QUIZ DUE SUNDAY

Cultural Portfolio Activity Goals

            As an English teacher, my goal is to assist in student success, professionally and socially, in the community they choose to live. To carry out this idea, I have created, and assigned, a pertinent, language and professional acquisition curriculum, through a cultural portfolio assignment.

            My target demographic is University freshman, completing a semester course, one hour, three days a week, in introductory ESL course.  University student age range is approximatley18 to 25 years. To qualify for course, student must have completed high school, or equivalent, diploma, to prepare them for college level, socio-cultural, ESL course. Materials and assignment Requirements:

            The cultural portfolio will be a semester long compilation of weekly New York Times, article summaries, presentation, discussion, and quiz. Each week student will choose an article of their choice, which applies to American economy, art, science, finance, politics, or sciences. The student choice of article will give instructor an idea of competencies, i.e. easier or hard article; also, help instructor perception of student interests.

            Each student will be required to sign up for New York Times online account. Once their article is chosen, they will be responsible for summarizing article, and presenting to the class for discussion. As the instructor, I will guide the class on current events to research and stay on track. I want the students to feel empowered, and able to have choice in what they are learning. To prevent students from overlapping articles, I will make sure they run their chosen article by me first. I am assuming my class is smaller, to allow student led discussion on American culture. Student summary will be read straight from their paper. Student will create one question for the class that applies to article summary.  I want to model the discussion like a work place “round the water-cooler.”

            I know in American culture, we are very opinionated, and use current events, news, and entertainment, as means to socialize and create relationships with peers, and co-workers. I believe strongly, that this accruing portfolio of news and current events will help acclimate foreign students to American culture, and will serve as an open forum for student interaction of ideas and opinions. This, also, exercises and improves social interactions for students with low levels of cultural dimension and/or uncertainty avoidance fears.

            This portfolio will thoroughly measure and refine student communication competencies, prepare students for American socio-cultural professional success, as well as, promote American cultural assimilation. I think this assignment will allow for interpersonal communication competency refinement. For example, strategic competencies will be built through student correspondence with me, as the instructor, and allow for the bridging of any context or concepts that may need clarification. The strategic correspondence is that I can help explain mis-understandings, as well as, get an idea for English context that is difficult for foreign students to comprehend. I also foresee, student exchange and connecting of ideas and through chosen topics, discussions, and quizzes, as their discourse competencies are developed and refined. I would like to assess student progress by the level of difficulty in chosen articles, and writing improvements, at the end of the semester.

            Hopefully, through this assignment, students will become naturally interested in current events. I think the archive of articles throughout the semester will allow students to track their progress in reading and comprehending a valued and credible, American news-source, that can be applied to outside social interactions. Also, the instructor is able to collect quantitative and qualitative data on student progress, through the quizzes, article summary, and presentation progression. As I stated at the beginning, this portfolios intended to promote student success within their community.