STRUCTUAL LANGUAGE

SUPPORT
1. Title page questions literacy and theme
2. Same or different
3. Choosing the best picture
4. Social organisation
5. First audio main ideas right or wrong
6. Guessing vocabulary from letters and definition
7. Globalisation discussion
8. Intercultural miscommunication discussion
9. Talking about order of
10. Brainstorming body language
11. Asking about and telling stories, poems, songs or chants
 Are You Ready?
Aims: Pix for What do you think?Are
you ready? Intro unit
to develop literacy especially of imagery Screenshot to test online literacy
Aspects: –menus position top/left/right
Way of looking at the picture – left to right, down or across but not bottom, image of
etc communication between two
If there are people then who is looking at who different cultures- independent
Symbolism eg black or white, lucky colour red etc
Audience aimed at
Format of text eg CAPITALS often used in advertising, misspelling for pun or humour
Simple question at the end testing one aspect

to be the title page to the unit

Image(s) to illustrate the unit theme: collective and individuals, Maori symbols – wall panels,
totems, fern, matariki, screen shot of ???graph, Advt clean and green
(Important to have a range of images)
e.g.Range of images
Map graphs! Find funny ones to always include on title page
Photo
Diagram
Computer screen snapshots – at least two
Drawing/picture
Advertisements
Something which involves a signature/symbol of sender

to draw attention to the page of functional language used for completion of tasks/activities
A small? Box/distinctive border? Maori? which is the same border on every page.
It is now an 8 page unit. Before we were 6 page unit. The first page is now devoted to short
illustrative conversations for language structural support.
The title page always starts on the right so that when you open the book anywhere, the structural
language is opposite and on the left. This means layout is as follows:
L language for the unit in functional conversation styles
R Title page with illustrations, box pointing out structural language support is always at the start
of the Unitec LRLRLR content

to be engaging and multi-use

e.g.This page in every unit could be used by the lower levels as a precursor to the units studied
later in higher level courses. (Elementary 1&2 Beginner 1&2)
e.g. Box with border which has 2 questions: world view of theme, imagery test
 How different is your culture
to New Zealand?
1. Put a dot somewhere on the line to show how different.
a) Food The same _____________________________________ Different
2. b) Clothes (casual)The same _____________________________ Different
c) Music and art The same ______________________________ Different
d) leisure/lifestyle The same _____________________________ Different
e) Nature The same ____________________________________ Different
f) Climate (no extremes)The same _________________________ Different
g) Live mainly in cities The same _________________________ Different
h) 11 National holidays/year The same _____________________ Different
i) Average wage ($23:40/hr ) The same _____________________ Different
j) Mainly female teachers The same ________________________Different
k) Computers in schools The same ________________________ Different
l) Industrialisation for a long time The same __________________ Different
m) Politics (Democracy) The same ________________________ Different
n) Christian religion (~40%)The same ______________________ Different
o) Small family (<2.6) The same __________________________ Different
p) Individual is more important than the group
The same ____________________________________________ Different

4. Match the picture to the best letter from a) to p) above.

Nature – NZ bush, beach Clothes Pic of typical NZ food/

Chain takeaway
e b symbols?

Churches Collage of National hols Nuclear family and large

and cross extended family
h
o
n
 Social Organisation
5. On a large sheet of paper write the following 4 ways to change :

Easy to change Changes with time Difficult to change Impossible

In small teams decide which cultural aspects 1a) to 1p) can change and
write them under one of the four ways. How many of the teams agree on
‘impossible to change’ aspects of culture. ___

6. Audio 0-1 What order do you think these main ideas are going to be?
Write a-d in the space.
___ history of New Zealand languages
___ why speakers from two cultures can have problems understanding each other
___ effects on Maori from another culture
___ why language is not just words

7. Look at the meanings a) to l) and think of a word to fit the definition.

e.g. means shapes or pictures or things to represent or mean more than you see.
(7 letters) s y m b o l s
a) the largest group of two main groups (8 letters) m _ _ _ _ _ _ y
b) ideas made up of more than one part (8 letters) c _ _ _ _ _ ts
c) something that a large group of people think is important, the truth and they believe in
(7 letters) b _ l _ _ fs
d) using a tool to make decorations or art in a hard material e.g. rock or wood or gourds
(7 letters) c _ _ _ ing
e) Christians who want you to have the same belief as them (12 letters)
m _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ies
f) a way to learn and understand information through your ears only; listening (5 letters)
a _ _ _l
g) describes the group with power over others (8 letters) d _ m _ _ _ _ t
h) describes the important foundation or base of an unchangeable system (11 letters)
f _ n d _ _ _ _ tal
i) the ways of thinking; they influence the behaviour and the speakers’ words (9 letters)
a _ _ _ _ _ _ es
j) you cannot do it because everybody thinks it is wrong (12 letters) u _ _ c c _ _ table
k) the communication or exchange between two speakers of different cultures
(13 letters) int _ _ c _ _ _ _ _ al
l) describes a very old custom that everybody does in a culture (11 letters)
t _ _ d _ t _ _ _ al
m) describes the changes in the world because of big business corporations (13 letters)
gl _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ n Can not think of an answer? No / Some but not all /I know
7. Text and audio 0.1 Listen to the text and check your answers 7a)-m).
Check with a partner about your answers to the main ideas in (6).
When Europeans arrived to live in New Zealand about 150 years ago, Maori were the
majority of the population. They owned all the land and expressed their culture through
their aural language – songs, chants and stories. Key concepts and the beliefs were
also in symbols in everyday life all around them e.g in wall panels, food containers and
carving. There was no written language like English so early missionaries wrote the
sounds and made the nearest translation. The family and tribal group were more
important than the individual in traditional Maori culture.

With time and power Europeans became the dominant group and the majority. They
made the laws of the country. However, the European fundamental belief system is the
opposite: the behaviour of the individual is more important than the group. This
changed education and led to poor results for Maori. For example in schools: a lot of
teachers discouraged spoken Maori language by hitting children so this is one reason
the number of Maori speakers reduced dramatically. Hitting children is now illegal.

When you start to lose your language, you start to lose your culture. Language is not
just communication between people, it contains history, attitudes, world experience,
hidden meanings, rules and traditions. There is also the other kind of communication:
our body language. It is over 90% of our overall communication when we speak.
Sometimes these gestures or movements are unacceptable in intercultural
communication (when speakers from two different cultures talk and listen) because they
have a different meaning or are rude.

Intercultural miscommunication is often the result of ignorance. However, not knowing

something is not an excuse in the twenty first century. This is the ‘Information Age’. The
world is changing fast and more people live in cities now. This changes culture too.
When a country becomes rich from international trade, their culture sometimes becomes
a mixture of traditional and different culture from the new trade languages.

8. This text discusses the effect of power and globalisation on a

culture. Yes/No Why or why not? How many people agree with you?

9. Match the left hand words to the correct meaning (A to H).

e.g. Personality means all the ways someone says or does something personality.

D Personality A. knowing nothing

___ Preconception B. an action with your hands or body
___ Politeness C. not knowing a lot but thinking you do, before you
___ Rudeness experience
___ Ignorance D. all the ways someone says or does something; qualities
___ Under stress E. a period of very demanding responsibilities that affect
___ Tone your mental health.
___ Gesture F. saying nice things to show respect to all ages
G. the ‘sing song emotion part’ of the language sound
Check H. saying disrespectful words or doing disrespectful things
your
answers with a partner.
10. How many examples of intercultural miscommunication can you and
your partner(s) think of ? ______ Which ones have you experienced?
How did you feel? _______________________________________

11. Put the factors of intercultural miscommunication into your order of

importance from really important (1) to not as important (10 -11) in the
left space. If you think they are all equal, you are wrong!
Some maybe equal.

___ Ignorance – not knowing the cultural history of the other speaker
____ Spoken words – politeness or rudeness rules
____ Spoken words – the stress of words or tone has another meaning
____ Spoken words – the meaning is different from the mother language
___ The pronunciation of one or both speakers blocks understanding
___ The grammar use and meaning is different to mother language
___ Body language – the gestures etc do not always have the same meaning
___ Preconceptions – not knowing facts, only thinking you know but really
you have no or little information and experience
___ The personality of the speaker
___ The idea that one culture is better than another
___ The environment of the situation eg under stress, official talk, negative feelings
Talk to a partner about your views.
Are any factors in the same order of importance? Yes/No Which ones?
____________________________________________________________

2 Pictures LHS Marae and

RHS (hongi) rubbing noses

12. Hongi is a traditional Maori custom (to touch noses) and means to
breathe the same air as you. Is it the left or right picture? ___________
Marae is a Maori place -the ‘heart’ for meeting, (grieving and sleeping at
times); the centre of the village. Is it the left or right picture? _________
13. Thinking about gestures and body language
At the end of a traditional ceremony of welcome,
Maori gently touch noses (hongi) to show ‘you
breathe the same air as me, so you are now part
of the extended family.’
Do you have a similar custom? Yes/No Which photo is hugging
(above/below) and which
photo is shaking hands
New Zealanders, including Maori, also shake (above/below).
hands – in business, at first meetings and women
sometimes hug each other or a child.
How do you greet someone for the first time and
show friendship?
How many examples of body language for greeting
can you think of with a partner? ___
Is any body language the same? Yes/No

14. Thinking about words and language (literacy)

a) Put the words into the correct space:

unacceptable culture a chant ancestors
Every ________ uses story telling, symbols, poems and songs (literacy) to
educate people. Literacy shows art and beauty, rules of our society, history,
___________ behaviour and helps us remember names of famous people.
Traditionally, Maori use _______ (a kind of song) to remember the names of
their family and __________. Now they also use a written language.
Check your answers together then ask your partner b) and c).
b) What is your favourite traditional song, chant, story or poem?
What is it about? love? history? a famous person? a famous place ?
something funny? a rule and the breaking of the rule ? something else?
c) How important is it in your culture? Very / not so important /not important
d) Is your cultural example similar to your partner? Yes/No/ a bit similar

Reflections
1. What is the most interesting difference between your culture and NZ?
____________________________________________________________

2. Other cultures are equal but different to my culture.

I agree completely /a bit / I am not sure/ I disagree a bit/ I disagree a lot.
3. Look at least three different partners’ (from a different culture)
results from this unit: 1-14 (factors, social organization and changes,
their view on intercultural communication, body language and literacy).
Who from another culture thinks nearly the same as you?
(Name) ____________ What country did they come from? _______

Underline the ideas for one partner from another culture:

Does this person …
• come from the same part of the world (not always the same country)
eg Asia or central Europe?
• have the same religion as you?
• have nearly the same age as you?
• have the same gender (male/female) as you?
• have the same position in the family eg single teenager
• have the same position in society e.g. upper class?
• have nearly the same family values as you?

4. Choose the best answer for you:

1=Strongly agree 2= agree a bit 3= disagree a bit 4= strongly disagree
a) I believe my culture has the best lifestyles. ___
b) My culture has better technology and industry than other cultures. ___
c) Problems between different cultures speaking English is only because of
language level and pronunciation. ___
d) Globalisation is changing my culture. ___
e) Language is only words. ___
f) The dominant culture should decide everything in society. ___
g) In my culture the individual is more important than the group. ___
h) Change is sometimes uncomfortable but it is necessary. ___

Decisions about the future

I am going to think more carefully about my communication with someone
from a different culture. Yes/No/Maybe
I am going to show an interest in other people’s culture. Yes/No/Maybe
I am going to educate my children about my culture. Yes/No/Maybe
I am going to respect other cultures. Yes/No/Maybe
I am never going to
____________________________________________________________