Nationalities and Their Stereotypes
Gerard CounihanprofesorSs [at] blabla.es
Activity A
Get the pupils to, individually and spontaneously, write down on a piece of paper the typical characteristics of a set of nationalities. The exercise is, of course, a matter of personal opinion. For example,- The French are proud ...
- The Irish are talkative ...
- The Italians are loud ...
- The Spanish are passionate ...
- The Dutch ...
- The Germans ...
- The Swiss ...
- The Swedish ...
- The Americans ...
- The Japanese ...
- The Indians are ...
- The Swiss ...
Activity B
Now get them to reveal their choices and see how many people got similar descriptions. You can debate the correctness or truth of the choices,Activity C
This is simple but goes down very well. Show them a list of the stereotypical characteristics (now a bit out of date) of the "typical Englishman". Then, get the students to write in their corresponding stereotypes (or perceived ones) alongside the English ones and under the heading "You". (For example, in the Basque country the typical person would wear bright clothing, and does not have a garden; they have plants instead). Later, you can compare the "facts".This topic can be quite interesting if you have many different nationalities in class. Get the L2s to explain their choices.
English Basque You ------- ------ --- Works: In a bank Factory Lives: In a house In a flat Hobby: Gardening Watch TV, hill-walking Carries: An umbrella - Drinks: Tea Coffee Eats: Plain, Elaborate simple food Newspaper: The Times - (The Star?) Favourite part of paper: Crossword Sport section Wears: Dark suit/clothes Colourful and a bowler hat Talks about: The weather Family, friends, weather ... Loves: The Royal Family - Has: A garden Plants A pipe A cigar A Morris Minor Opel Kadett Pets: A tiny dog Canary Sport: Cricket Football Behaviour: Reserved Gregarious Emotions: Cold Can be serious. Etc...
(Once again, the above are surely only applicable to the middle class in England, but it does not matter if the headings are not completely factual; the idea is to get the L2s thinking about approximate correspondences-and talking).
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IV, No. 9, September 1998
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Counihan-Stereotypes.html