Teaching culture lends itself extremely well to the learning activity package format of individualized instruction. Having LAPs at their disposal permits the students to select those areas of the second culture in which they have the greatest interest. Of course, if the teacher feels that a certain core of the materials is essential to comprehension of the culture, he can specify that all the students must complete those LAPs. Cultural activities are still included in the class, but the LAP format provides additional content beyond that possible in the regular lesson plan.
Work with culture materials is different from that with the language skills and can serve to provide a measure of success to those students floundering with the language skills. This statement is not intended to support culture classes conducted in English. It is merely to suggest that with students of limited linguistic ability the emphasis might be shifted from possibly unattainable language skills to attainable culture knowledge couched in relatively simple language. Allowing those students having difficulty developing language skills to base a larger percentage of their grade on culture might discourage them from dropping second-language study at the end of the first semester or the first year. The other students would still learn the culture and as much language as their capabilities permitted. Although the language skill objectives would be altered in their case, the culture objectives would remain the same for all students. In this manner, the goal of cultural sensitivity and tolerance could be made a part of the educational background of most students.
404 Part Two: Practice