RICHARD WALKER

Richard Walker
Reitaku University
rwalker[at]reitaku-u[dot]ac[dot]jp

Tangible Benefits From Intangible Practices
ABSTRACTThis paper shows how it is possible to help students engage with the topic of intangible cultural
practices in EFL classrooms in Japan, and asserts that the students attained tangible benefits
from doing so. It explains why the topic of intangible cultural practices was used and how theteacher proceeded by providing examples of the activities and giving explanations of how they
were implemented. Tangible benefits were obtained from a two-class focus on three intangible
cultural practices that were candidates for inscription in the United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The benefits include
consciousness-raising by broadening students’ horizons, furthering cross-cultural understanding,and encouraging solidarity. They also include linguistic benefits such as providing students with theopportunity to develop their vocabulary, use new knowledge in classroom discussions and speeches,
and, finally, by applying critical thinking skills to choose one of three cultural practices to support.
Keywords: CLIL, UNESCO, EFL, critical thinking

This short article looks at the ways in which learners attained tangible benefits – consciousnessraising gains, opportunities to use new vocabulary, and the use of critical thinking skills – froma series of classroom activities that focused on three intangible cultural practices that werecandidates for inscription in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s(UNESCO) lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Since the classes were taught in July 2023, theircandidacy has been decided and all three, i.e. transhumance farming, traditional glass making, andjamu wellness culture (UNESCO, 2023:1,2,3), have been inscribed into UNESCO’s lists. They wereregarded as appropriate topics to use for students taking courses on UN-related issues at two
universities: a group of EFL students from a College of Law faculty in Tokyo, and EFL students froma Foreign Studies faculty in Chiba, Japan.

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL PRACTICES

While UNESCO World Heritage Sites are well-known to most students today, UNESCO’s ‘intangible
cultural practices’ are not. A somewhat unwieldy definition for them is “practices, representations,expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces
associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as partof their cultural heritage” (UNESCO, 2003). If presented in manageable ways in the classroom,
they can be used to raise awareness of ‘practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, andskills’ hitherto unknown to students, and deepen understanding of activities whose importanceare understated and by their very nature are often unseen and unheard. They can do this while
increasing and deepening their vocabulary knowledge, applying and working on their public

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speaking skills, and using discussion skills while comparing and contrasting the virtues of specificcultural practices. My intention was that students would use four- skills activities to develop anawareness of being a global citizen and to promote alternative cultural practices to the ones thatare found in commercial media - and to do this all in English.

THREE NOMINEES FROM A CHOICE OF FORTY-FIVE

I therefore decided to teach students about three of the forty-five nominations for inclusion fromthe 2023 Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICH1), the results ofwhich were announced at the 8th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguardingof the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Kasane, the Republic of Botswana, in December 2023. The
three I chose are shown in Table 1. They represent separate areas that hold potential interest for
students, and are all topics that lend themselves to discussions and speeches. Doing speeches
would help students develop public speaking skills; preparing reasons for why they would choose
one practice over another would enhance critical thinking skills; and through doing this they would
develop a feeling that they know more about diverse cultural practices.
Table 1: Three practices I chose for class (and their real-world nominators*)
Intangible PracticeCountries that nominated the practice1

Transhumance (seasonal
droving of livestock)

Albania - Andorra - Austria - Croatia - France - Greece - Italy Luxembourg - Romania – Spain

2

Handmade glass production Czech Republic - Finland - France - Germany - Hungary - Spain

3

Jamu wellness culture

Indonesia*A country which has signed the World Heritage Convention can be a nominator. Nominations are submitted to
the World Heritage Centre for evaluation.

WHY WERE THEY CHOSEN?

Transhumance, glass production, and wellness culture were chosen because they provided students
with three different practices – covering agriculture, manufacturing and health. Transhumant
practices were considered worthy of inclusion because these practices have existed for many
centuries in multiple cultures (not just those in the nominators’ territories) and may even be
used to promote sustainable development goals (e.g. SDG 12 on Responsible Consumption and
Production). Handmade glass production was chosen because it is a cultural practice that, aswith transhumant practices, was not expected to be known by students, but is a skill that requires
artistry and teamwork within communities and produces products of beauty. Finally, jamu wellness
culture allowed for recognition of the widespread use of traditional natural medicines made fromherbs and spices which, in this case, is specific to Indonesia, but which reflects skills, values, andpractices found all over the world.

THE LD30 PRESENTATION

The people who attended my presentation at the LD30 Conference were curious about how thesepractices could be introduced and taught in a manner so that students could attain tangible benefits.
Dexter da Silva commented that finding ways to use such topics is worthwhile in environments
where tangible targets for students (perhaps, overly) concern the highly important but primarily workoriented aim of raising a TOEIC score or some other measurable language learning target.
The courses in which these lessons were taught were innovative (within their contexts) in thatthey were designed around groups of EFL students representing a UN Member State (of theirchoice) and doing research around themes in preparation for discussions and speeches. By thetime students were taught the classes on intangible practices, they had represented a single UN
Member State for most of the semester and had researched contemporary UN-related issues to
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prepare for discussions and speeches on the issues. One of the attendees at my presentation
asked me how, in this context, it would be possible to show tangible benefits. Although I could,of course, see and hear students discussing and presenting issues within class time, the students
got into the practice of sending work before (preparation notes) and after class (written reflections)
onto a Google Classroom page. The practice was followed throughout the course and this is how I
was able to track their progress and evaluate them.
In the presentation, I discussed three questions that concerned the classes on intangible practices.
They were taught at two different universities in the same way. The questions were:
1. How did students prepare before class?
2. What activities did they do in class? and3. What did they produce?

HOW DID STUDENTS PREPARE BEFORE CLASS?

As with previous topics, students prepared by reading and answering questions from a two-page
set of information and doing video activities on the three intangible practices which were madeavailable on Google Classroom (see Table 2 and Figure 1). They knew that proper use of theworksheets would prepare them for class. This expectation was common to both courses: students
were given information to read and questions to complete before the following week’s class.
Table 2: Content of homework given in preparation for class
Page Activity / Content
1234

Reading: (i) What are Intangible Cultural Practices? (ii) Criteria for inscription into the UNESCO
list. (iii) The 3 practices
Reading on Transhumance farming+ link to YouTube video (Preschitz, 2019) with questions
Reading on Handmade Glass Production+ link to YouTube video (Science Channel, 2017) with questions
Reading on Jamu Wellness Culture+ link to YouTube video (OGS, 2017) with questions

Figure 1: Example page

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WHAT ACTIVITIES DID THEY DO IN THE CLASSES ON INTANGIBLE PRACTICES?
Lesson one

The lessons on intangible practices covered two lessons. At the end of the first lesson, I introduced
the new topic about Intangible Cultural Practices. The students sat in UN Member States groups(some of which were nominees of the three intangible practices) while I explained the difference
between World Heritage Sites (which can be perceived tangibly) and Intangible Cultural Practices(which are, by name, intangible!) using a PowerPoint. This lent itself to a discussion about Japanesesites and practices that students were knowledgeable about. Students were then requested tolook for sites and practices from the country they represented. They were then put into groups anddiscussed what they had found. Soon after, the students were informed of their homework which
was made accessible on Google Classroom towards the end of class. As usual, I told students thatcompletion of the homework would prepare them well for the output-based activities in the nextclass and also in writing their reflections on the topic.

Lesson two

In lesson two, students were reminded of what we did in lesson one, and then were informed that
we would watch video clips of three intangible cultural practices. If they had done their homework,
they would have been able to discuss the merits and demerits of the practices (with other UN
Member States). Students were reminded to focus on the questions in the worksheets and to
consider which practice their country would prefer to become a UNESCO cultural heritage practice.
They were then encouraged to speak to other groups (countries) and share ideas.
After the discussion, we moved towards the next stage: producing short group presentations tooutline the reasons for their choices. This was often a culminating activity in the class. I remindedstudents that giving a speech was something they could write about in their reflection homework,and as a consequence most students clamoured to volunteer. In the classes on intangible
practices, to speed up proceedings and to assist the less confident, I used one slide to highlight(and remind students about) connections between cultural practices and specific SDG goals (seeTable 3a); and another to provide sets of phrases and hints to help the less confident compose aspeech (see Table 3b).
Table 3a: Connections between cultural practices and specific SDG goals
Intangible Practices

Relevance to SDGs

Transhumance
farmingZero hunger (SDG 2), Good health and well-being (SDG 3), Clean waterand sanitation (SDG 6), Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8),
Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Climate action (SDG 13),
Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), Life on land (SDG 15),
Partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).

Handmade Glass
Production

Quality education (SDG 4), Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6),
Decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), Industry, innovation andinfrastructure (SDG 9), Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11),
Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12).

Jamu Wellness
CultureGood health and well-being (SDG 3), Gender equality (SDG 5), Decent
work and economic growth (SDG 8), Sustainable cities and communities(SDG 11), Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), Life on land
(SDG 15).

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Table 3b: Language support for speech preparation
Structures used to help students make speeches in class time
- Today, we must choose a Cultural Practice to be inscribed as ______________- (Country name) supports ___________ because _______________________- All of the practices are important because _____________________________- However, we support _____________. We have __ reasons: _____________- Thank you for listening.
By the time this class was taught, students willingly gave speeches: they did not have to be forced
to compose a speech (although the less confident were respectfully coaxed and supported). The
success of their speeches relied upon understanding the content they covered for homework, ondeveloping a position with reference to the country they represented, and on participating actively
in class. Happily, the majority of students completed the homework and were able to give wellresearched speeches.
In previous classes in the course, we had discussed other topics and voted (as UN Member States)on whether we agreed or disagreed with ideas that were raised. In the case of the class on intangible
practices, as chance would have it, there were roughly equal amounts of support for each intangible
practice. This was clear in viewing the class-time speeches and checking the post-class reflections. In
this class, I also confirmed this through an end-of-class vote on which practice should be accepted.

WHAT DID THEY PRODUCE?

In the reflections for this class, students gave support and reflections for all three intangible practices.
Below, I provide an example for each one, explain why I included them, and highlight what I think issignificant. These significant cases highlight tangible benefits from the class, which fall in the realm of
consciousness-raising, vocabulary development, and critical thinking.

Transhumance

In this example, the student expresses an awareness that cultural heritage ‘products’ are in dangerof extinction. This shows the results of the topic alone acting to raise her consciousness. On behalfof Mexico, she selected the practice of transhumance and, in her reflection, explains that she
has also independently researched Mayan heritage sites. Expanding her interest and deepening
awareness of a culture is a benefit, and she goes on to express great interest in such sites andof indigenous cultures in South America. Going beyond what was requested, she goes on to
explain that transhumant culture has been practised in Mexico - something not referenced in theworksheet. She also refers to sustainability, to animal rights, and to veganism - the latter of which ispractised in some transhumant communities.
Student writing 1
In July 19th class, I learned about Intangible Cultural Heritage. I have things that I
learned from this class. Firstly, we searched for tangible and intangible heritage inmy country; Mexico. I’ve never experienced that there are many tangible heritage
sites that represent Mayans’ culture. Particularly, I’d like to visit Teotihuacan andGuanajuato. These two places are amazing pyramids, buildings and scenery. I
definitely feel an emotional and historical vibe from even seeing the pictures. Also, I
got interested in Mayan culture.

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Secondly, we searched what Mexico has intangible cultural heritages. I learned that
Mexico has a precious culture about glass production. It was a beautiful production. …
the process is simple but difficult and needs huge power to produce. However, if I hada chance to create it, I’d like to try to make it. Beside that, I learned many intangible
cultural heritage products are exposed to extinction. It’s an urgent issue because
these cultural things represent their own culture and play an important role in theirlife. However, it’s the same situation in Japan. We have to consider this problem
seriously. Finally, we made a speech by ourselves:
Mexico thinks that we have to prioritize and protect transhumance. I have somereasons. First, food is important and essential for our life. We can’t hand down othercultural heritage unless we can’t eat something. It’s kind of like “ An army marches
on its stomach”. Aside from that, we have to keep it sustainable and consider animal
rights issues for our future. Nowadays animal rights issues are becoming urgent at
the same time, people are getting interested in veganism. For these reasons, Mexico
thinks that transhumance is significant so we’d like to prioritize this tradition.

Glass Production

In this example, the student gives a comment on all three intangible practices. As requested, she did
not choose a practice backed by the country she represented, Italy. Her choice of glass production
was chosen because of Italy’s famous stained-glass windows in churches. She uses vocabulary fromthe worksheet - language that students would not be expected to use (eg: droving, blown glass).
In referring to jamu wellness culture she shows understanding of its purported benefits and uses
vocabulary we would not normally expect (eg: indigestion). Her comments on transhumance reveala modern mindset which values convenience over culture (transhumance farming is “hard work” and“we should come up with an easier way”), but she does so using content-specific language (pastoral,
nomadic, droving).
Like the previous student, she wrote about learning many new things and refers to the fact that she(or a member of her team) gave a speech from Italy’s perspective, and for which her group had touse critical thinking skills to deliver a judgment.
Student writing 2
In July 19 class, I represented Italy. We looked at intangible cultural heritages. In thisclass, we watched three videos.
First, we learned about Handmade Glass Production. Traditional handmade glass
production consists of the shaping and decorating of cold and hot glass. I first learned
that the glass is blown, (using) flamework, and cold (work) to work (it) to perfection.
Glass is fragile and difficult to make ….
Second, we learned about Jamu. Jamu is a type of traditional medicine fromIndonesia, and Jamu can cure pain and indigestion headaches. I was surprised when
I first learned about this culture. I thought that this culture could help many people
suffering from illness.
Third, we learned about transhumance. Transhumance is the seasonal droving of
livestock and occurs within and between countries. It is a type of pastoral or nomadic
farming that is based around seasonal movements of livestock between fixedsummer and winter pastures. I was surprised because the farmers do this twice ayear by foot, and horse. This is a lot of work, so I thought we should come up with aneasier way.
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After that, we gave a speech. Italy talked about glass production. Italians believe inChristianity and there are many churches in Italy. That’s why stained glass, which
is often used in churches in Italy, is important. We thought we should continue and(save) this culture. I know a lot about cultural heritage. However, there were manythings I didn’t know about intangible cultural heritage, so I’m glad I was able to learn
about them. I think cultural heritage buildings and technology are wonderful, so I think
it is necessary to prevent them from disappearing as much as possible.

Jamu Wellness Culture

The final example is shorter than the other two, and also has a different style. It highlights thedevelopment of critical thinking because the writer not only reveals an understanding of thedifference between tangible and intangible heritage, he considers the choices of another country,
Australia - and understands why they chose transhumant farming. Opting not to comment on glass
production, the writer (representing India) explains why his country ‘especially’ supports Jamu
Wellness culture. He is willing to acknowledge another opinion and gives a reason for doing so:
namely, the need for ‘self-sufficient’ cultures in this age of climate change.
Student writing 3
We learned about Cultural Heritage. Cultural Heritage has two things. It is tangible(such as buildings and landscapes) and intangible (folklore, art, language, and work
practices). We learned about three intangible cultural heritage: Handmade Glass
Production, Jamu and Transhumance.
India thinks we need all of them, however, especially, we need support for Jamu,
because India has a lot of infections. Australia supported transhumance, because
climate change may cause food shortages to become a problem in the world in
the future, and this kind of self-sufficient culture will become important. But risingtemperatures have reduced the amount of grass available for grazing, putting thenomads’ livelihoods at risk.
Finally, transhumance helps regions and people to conserve a local identity in anever increasingly globalized Earth. Not only are there tangible reasons to keep thistradition alive, there is also a great potential for cultural, ecological, and educational
purposes, creating interest and increasing awareness.

CONCLUSION

The activities on intangible practices came at the end of a course in which we looked at issues
currently in discussion at the UN (or in UN bodies such as UNICEF). In my position as a faculty
adviser to groups of students interested in topics at the UN, I have developed a lot of knowledge
that I could use to help support the students. Transmitting such knowledge is easier said than done,
but I found that I could teach engaging classes that resulted in students attaining and producing
tangible benefits. There are written attestations that consciousnesses had been changed andthat new vocabulary was being used in output-based activities such as speeches and writingreflections. That this was done with a focus on something intangible pleases me!
If I decide to use this topic again, I can choose some of the topics which are being treated for the2024 cycle of inscription into intangible heritage lists - which include nominations for an Urgent
Safeguarding List or the Representative List, and proposals for the Register of Good Safeguarding
Practices (ICH 2). At the time of writing there are sixty-seven files to consider. A cursory glanceshows there are practices from every continent and include artistic practices, food and drink, and83

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rituals (three areas I may look into). With the experience of teaching about three intangible benefits
in 2023, I feel sure I can construct a meaningful study unit around three new ones. I believe thatstudents should learn about authentic practices that are not visible to the majority of the population,
and which have high importance if we are to preserve non-commercial practices with roots in aprevious age.
As this paper has shown, difficult topics such as intangible cultural practices can be used in classwith sets of activities that are written for specific groups of students. They can lead to positive
language learning outcomes. Crucial to its success is making sure that students read about thepractices before class. Being primed for the topics through readings, video links, and questions,the students were ready and able to participate in output-based activities such as discussions andpublic speaking. Key to its success was using tailored material to suit the level of the students andactivities that target four skills.
At the end of my LD30 presentation I asked attendees on ways to attain tangible benefits whenteaching such a topic. Dexter da Silva helpfully mentioned John Hattie’s ‘Visible Learning for
Teachers’ (2012) and after reading the book I believe that I was following some of his goodpractices such as having high expectations (p.81), focusing on the effect of teaching rather thanthe method (p.83), and being an activator and evaluator of learning (p.86). Hattie states thatvisible teaching and learning “occurs when learning is the explicit and transparent goal, when it isappropriately challenging, and when the teacher and the student both (in their various ways) seek
to ascertain whether and to what degree the challenging goal is attained” (p.14). I think I achievedthat in the activities discussed above - and I have tangible proof. However, further readings ofHattie’s book may help me maximise future tangible benefits while teaching this topic – and others.

REFERENCES

Hattie, J (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge
ICH 1 (2023). Examination of nominations for inscription in 2023 on the Representative List of theIntangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (item 8.b on the agenda). Accessed December 1, 2023
from: https://ich.unesco.org/en/8b-representative-list-01325
ICH 2 (2024). Files 2024 under process. Accessed January 13, 2024 from: https://ich.unesco.org/
en/files-2024-under-process-01303
OGS (2020). Jamu: The ancient Indonesian art of herbal healing [YouTube video]. Accessed
December 9, 2023 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eD5Q0pnYI
Preschitz, T. (2019). Transhumance - Routes of a disappearing life [YouTube video]. Accessed
December 9, 2023 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFH77T5BMYY
Science Channel (2017). See how window glass is made the artisinal way [YouTube video].
Accessed December 9, 2023 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXQMc0jsl2E
UNESCO (2003). Text of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Accessed July 1, 2023 from: https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention
UNESCO (2023a). Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock [YouTube video]. Accessed
December 9, 2023 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8BJfOs7R30
UNESCO (2023b). Knowledge, craft and skills of handmade glass production [YouTube video].
Accessed December 9, 2023 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2HhU-EJwdI
UNESCO (2023c). Jamu wellness culture [YouTube video]. Accessed December 9, 2023 from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOiXDAAeIOU

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