knowledge, skills and insights which are thought to apply to a wide range of cultural contexts and which would help people in intercultural contexts.
Reading and understanding
3 Read the passage again and complete the table. Teaching tips
? When Ss have completed the table on their own, divide the class into seven groups, each group being responsible for one row in the table. They have to summarize the characteristics of childhood of this ethnic group, and also include an example. Then they report to the class. Each group should also add related information they learned from the passage, and the language and culture notes. The presentation of each group could be given from that exact roles of parents from that exact cultural or ethnic group. If this is difficult, T may give each group a copy of the example below, and ask them to practise and present it to the class.
? As a way to follow this up, T can ask each group, one by one, to compare their result with that of another group, without looking at their books. An alternative follow-up is for the T, together with one or two Ss, to take the roles of TV reporters who meet each group and ask them “on camera” to compare themselves with another group, and talk about how they understand the other group from a cross-cultural perspective.
1 We are American colonial people. We lived in the 17th and 18th centuries on the east coast of America and our families settled here from Europe. In our time, children were expected to be good and industrious. That was the main characteristic of childhood. For example, when our girls were four they knitted stockings and mittens; when they were six they spun wool. We called them “Mrs” to show the girls our appreciation.
2 We are Inuit people from the Arctic regions. Some of us are from Canada and Greenland, Denmark, others from Russia and Alaska of US. For us, children need to get ihuma – you would call this the process of acquiring thought, reason and understanding. That’s the main characteristic of childhood.
For example, as parents we are tolerant and lenient with children until they are old enough to develop ihuma, then we can teach them and discipline them.
3 We are from Tonga, a kingdom of about 170 islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean. As parents, we may regularly beat our children if they haven’t yet developed poto. You would think of poto as social competence.
For us, it’s the main quality that our children need to develop. So we treat them with discipline and physical punishment when they are mischievous or wilful.
4 We are the Beng people. We live in different parts of West Africa. The main characteristic of childhood is that young children are thought to be in contact with the spirit world. They come to the world reluctantly because life in the spirit world is so pleasant. As parents, we have to look after our children properly, or they may return to the spirit world. We have to treat them with care and reverence. They can know and understand everything we tell them, whatever languages we use.
5 We are parents from the Western world today. Some of us are from Europe, others from North America, Australia and other places. The main characteristic of childhood in our countries is that children are incompetent and dependent, so they should play, be part of the family and go to school. Children should not work. For example, a child under 14 can’t look after a younger child unsupervised because they aren’t competent or responsible yet. If we found a child of 12 working in a factory or in a market, the social services could intervene and the family could be prosecuted.
6 We are Fulani people. Most of us live in West Africa. For us, the main characteristic of childhood is that children are competent and responsible. So by the age of four our girls can care for their younger siblings; by six they can pound grain or produce milk and butter which they can sell in the market alongside us.
7 We are the Yanamam? people from the Amazonian rainforest. We live among the hills where you probably call the border between Brazil and Venezuela. The main characteristic of childhood is that children are responsible and competent. Our girls help their mothers from a young age and by the age of ten they will be running the house. This is important because they will probably be married at 12 or 13.
Our boys have fewer responsibilities. They can play because they don’t get married until later.
Culture / Ethnic group Characteristics of childhood American colonial expected to be good and industrious
Inuit develop a process of acquiring thought, reason and understanding Tonga
regularly beaten and told off by parents and older siblings, seen as being very
naughty, until they develop social competence Beng
treated with great care and reverence, believed that they are in contact with the spirit world
Childhood memories Unit 2 55
Culture / Ethnic group Characteristics of childhood Western world today
seen as incompetent and irresponsible; playing not working, going to school not
labouring, consumption instead of production Fulani competent and responsible; expected to work Yanamam?
competent and responsible; girls expected to work from a young age, be married
and have children at 12 or 13; boys having fewer responsibilities and getting married later
4 Choose the best way to complete the sentences.
1 The characteristics of childhood a hundred years ago (d) . (a) would have interfered in their education (b) are similar to those of today (c) would be illegal today
(d) meant that children were treated more like adults
2 The idea that childhood is a social construction suggests that (a) . (a) children experience childhood in different ways according to the society in which they live
(b) enormous transformations have taken place within a relatively short time
(c) children in the past worked harder (d) all children are different from adults
3 Both Inuit and Tongan parents understand that (b) .
(a) their children need to be treated in a way which would be considered harsh by outsiders
(b) their children don’t yet possess certain prized qualities, such as reasoning and social competence
(c) growing up is a process of acquiring thought, not social skills
(d) bringing up their children requires tolerance and discipline 4 Parents of Beng children treat them with great care because they (d) . (a) think children know all human languages and understand all cultures (b) think life in the earthly world is unpleasant (c) believe the children still live in a spirit world
(d) fear the children may choose to return to the spirit world where they lived before they were born 5 Western childcare practices (c) .
(a) include allowing eight-year-old girls to work and 12-year-old girls to marry
(b) treat the child in a bizarre and possibly harmful way
(c) see the child as being incompetent, dependent on the parents, and incapable of looking after other children
(d) are only similar to Yanamam? childcare practices in that girls help out at home, and boys are allowed to play well into their teens 6 The main idea of the passage is that (c) .
(a) history shows us how our perception of childhood has changed (b) childhood is viewed in different ways according to the child’s cultural and social upbringing
(c) both history and society can affect our perception of childhood (d) Western notions of childhood are outdated and not informed (continued)
Dealing with unfamiliar words
5 Read the passage again and find the words in the box. Choose the best definition in the context of the passage. 1 consumption
(a) the process of buying or using goods
(b) the process of eating, drinking, or smoking something 2 colonial
(a) relating to a system or period in which one country rules another (b) made in a style that was common in North America in the 18th century 3 knit
(a) to make something such as a piece of clothing using wool and sticks called knitting needles
(b) to join together or work together as one group or unit 4 harsh
(a) unpleasant and difficult to live in (b) strict, unkind, and often unfair 5 contact
(a) communication between people, countries, or organizations either by talking or writing
(b) a situation in which people or things touch each other 6 impose
(a) to force someone to have the same opinion, belief as you
(b) to cause extra work for someone by asking them to do something that may not be convenient for them 7 perspective
(a) a way of thinking about something
(b) a sensible way of judging how good, bad, important etc something is in comparison with other things
6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words and expressions in the box.
Our (1) knowledge and understanding of childhood is undergoing a process of (2) nonstop change. In the West we see children as being (3) in need of adult control. However, among other (4) socio-cultural groups with similar traditions children are (5) mainly considered to be capable of assuming greater responsibilities. So there is a (6) strong desire for (7) someone who does not belong to this group to think that such practices might be odd or even harmful. But while most ethnic groups may at first show (8) hesitation about integrating other traditions and customs with their own, (9) outside pressures usually make them change their traditional view of childhood.
Key: (1) notion (2) continual (3) dependent on (4) ethnic (5) largely (6) temptation (7) an outsider (8) reluctance (9) external 7 Answer the questions about the words and expressions.
1 Is prosecution likely to be (a) the act of accusing someone of a crime, or (b) the process of supervision by the social services?
2 Is intricate likely to be (a) very basic, or (b) very detailed in design? 3 Is leniency likely to involve (a) kindness and understanding, or (b) strict discipline?
4 If someone tells you off, are they (a) criticizing, or (b) praising you? 5 Is a mischievous child likely to (a) be well behaved, or (b) enjoy having fun by causing trouble?
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