ESL Activities: 3.How My Cultural Heritages Affect My Expectations
Theme: Migration and refugees

Key Learning Area: English - Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE)

Age Group: Secondary Lower (13-14) - Secondary Middle (15-16)

Resource Type: Handouts

Stimulus Name: Culture Heritage

Teaching Strategies

1. Distribute the student handout- Exploring Cultural Heritages. This activity will need to be completed as a homework task prior to attempting the following tasks.

2. Ask students to think about the influences in their lives, for example, family, friends and peers. Tell students that other important influences on their expectations come from cultural heritages of their families. Things such as languages, customs, attitudes and values are part of their cultural heritages.

3. Ask students to refer to their completed homework sheet- Exploring Cultural Heritages. Use information to create a class list of places that students were born, their grandparents were born, their family celebrations and favourite foods. These things are part of their cultural heritages. They also reveal that there is often cultural diversity within families as well as within Australian society.

4. To explore the possible influence of cultural heritages on families and individuals, distribute student handout- Celebrating in my Family. Ask students to write the name of an important family celebration (e.g. wedding, birthday or name day, coming of age) at the top of their sheet.

5. Ask each student to answer the worksheet questions about the customs and expectations of celebrating an important event in their family.

6. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and ask them to combine their lists into a group mindmap of the rules and customs of celebrations.

Tell students to draw a circle around any rule or custom that two or more of them had on their individual lists.

NOTE: Rules and customs for celebrations vary significantly between families, communities and cultures. They may or may not include expectations such as:

• Must have a party

• Send out invitations

• Need a cake

• Presents are given to child

• Must invite family members such as aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents

• Party must be at home

• Party must include games

Worksheets to download
Exploring Cultural Heritages.(PDF)

Celebrating in my family.(PDF)



Related Resources
ESL Activities 1: My Friends and Peers
ESL Activities 2: My Feelings About Myself
ESL Activities 4: Different culture
ESL Activities 5: Iceberg
ESL Activities 6: Pride and Prejudice
ESL Activities 7: What is Beauty?
ESL Activities 8: Who Am I?
ESL Activities 9: Journeys From Afar
ESL Activities 10: Our Paths to Australia
ESL Activities 11: A Mixed Bag of Apples
ESL Activities 12: Victims of Culture

Copyright Acknowledgement
Activities developed by teachers at Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre, NSW

2005

Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre

©2005 Drift1