For those of you who were in the MA TESOL program, do you remember the service encounter project? We worked with ESL students and then developed activities to help them with their English in a service encounter. One thing I neglected to include in my activities were cultural. For example, in the US, we stand in a line when ordering. Unlike some other countries, it's considered highly rude to push to the front or shout your order. For some reason, people in the US wait in an orderly line to be served. I know how this can feel because I could never quite grasp how to aggressively shout my order over others when traveling in Israel. I could have used some cultural lessons, too.

Well, if I did that project again or taught EFL students, I would include some of those cultural components. Here is why:

The other day at the airport a Japanese EFL student budged in front of the line at a coffee shop and said: Cup of Coffee. I could tell he practiced and practiced that phrase and he was nervous to say it. Unfortunately, the barista told him to go to the back of the line and wait like everyone else. I could see his enthusiasm shrink and his confidence fade and I wanted to reach out and teach him this cultural part of the exchange...I think language and culture are two halves of the same whole.