Ideas for Instructors: Cultural Interviews

Objective

I use these interviews in two totally different courses. One course focuses on business culture in Brazil and the other course reviews advanced grammar and composition for undergraduate majors in Portuguese or double majors in Language and Business.

Business Culture

I use David Victor's book "International Business Communication" as a foundation for discussions about business culture in general and then use the interviews to discuss specific examples within Brazil. One of the nice things about the interviews is since each question has 4 or 5 interview answers, none is thought of as the definitive "right" answer. There is also a nice mix of respondents from various locations throughout Brazil. Consequently, the interviews serve as good starting points for discussions about issues in business culture.

Language and Grammar

The interviews have a natural flow that provides excellent examples of natural speech, including idiomatic expressions, syntactic and semantic nuances, and samples of grammar in context. In addition there are dialect differences, not to mention differences in individual style. Since the interviews are accompanied by transcriptions and translations, we can focus on the grammar without exhausting our time on vocabulary and translation.

Procedure

Generally we conduct class in a computer lab where we can listen to the interviews as a class. Each student sits at an individual work station. Sometimes the students listen to the interviews individually through headsets, other times I connect speakers to my computer and we listen to the interviews as a class.

The students in the advanced grammar class also make "Grammar Portfolios" that include referenced citations within the interviews. For example, the student may have a subheading entitled "Present Subjunctive." During the semester, whenever the student finds examples of the present subjunctive, these sentences are written and referenced in the grammar portfolio. At various stages of the semester the students are required to show their portfolio to me. We have minimum requirements for the number of entries and together we discuss the samples.

Other times I have the students complete written assignments that are related to the interviews. For example, they write mock letters to the interviewees, write reaction paper about the opinions expressed within the interviews, etc.

In the culture class we have a series of lecture topics that I present to the students. Following the lectures, we then listen to the interviews that touch on those same topics. A partial list of these topics are as follows:

Business Meals	High and Low Context	Machismo	Role of Lawyers
Concept of Time	Individual or Team Projects	Names and Titles	Terms of Respect
Education	Individualism versus Collectivism	Putting things in Writing	Use of Technology
Greeting People	Linguistic Ethnocentrism	Race, Color, Sex	Work Hours

Grading

In the advanced grammar class the students earn points for their grammar portfolio, transcriptions, written composition, and grammar quizzes. I do this in a very traditional way. The exception is that I do allow the students to decide the weight of each of the assignments. That is, at the beginning of the semester, when we are getting organized, we all decide how much each of the assignment are worth. It helps to get student input regarding the structure of the class.