Implementing a Culture Portfolio Project within a Constructivist Paradigm.

Abstract: This article illustrates a step-by-step hypothesis refinement activity that is consistent with constructivist pedagogies and the perception of culture learning as a process of discovery. Postsecondary students identified stereotypes about the cultures of French-speaking countries, conducted open-ended investigations, and accepted or rejected the validity of the stereotypes based on supporting and contradictory evidence. They compiled the information they gathered during their explorations, along with rationales explaining their thinking processes, in a portfolio. As a result of completing the project, students not only gained insight on a specific aspect of their own and francophone cultures but also recognized the impact their own perspectives have on understanding another culture. They became aware of their own process of learning, engaged in critical thinking, and familiarized themselves with resources for future cultural explorations. The activity may be implemented in upper-level high school classes as well as university classes and is appropriate for the study of any target culture. Introduction In the editor's introduction to a special issue on culture in Foreign Language Annals, Grittner (1996) offered an historical overview of the teaching of culture in classroom foreign language instruction. "Earlier approaches," the editor stated, "tended to view culture as a means to some end ... As for method, the student was to receive and store information about the target culture . . . More recent approaches have placed the emphasis on content . . . more emphasis methodologically has been put on having students discover cultural data rather than having it 'fed' to them as static information" (p. 18). Learning about other cultures has come to be perceived as a process of discovery. Culture learning as a process necessitates opportunities for students to explore aspects of the culture, reflect on the fruit of their explorations, and, based on their reflections on both the target culture as well as their own culture, create their own relational meanings (Kramsch, 1993, p. 205). This article presents a culture portfolio project as a means of facilitating the exploration, reflection, and creation of meaning that underlies a process approach to learning about culture. Second-year university students of French hypothesized that stereotypes they held about the cultures in French-speaking countries were valid assumptions. Over the course of a semester, they sought multiple sources to support or disaffirm their hypotheses. Goals for the project included five specific objectives. Students were expected to: (1) gain insight on a particular aspect of French or another francophone culture and compare and contrast the same aspect with their own culture, (2) recognize the impact their own perspectives have on understanding another culture, (3) become aware of their own process of learning, (4) engage in critical thinking, and (5) become familiar with resources for future cultural explorations. Culture learning as a process is grounded in the theory of constructivism and implemented through constructivist pedagogies. Thus, these constructs, along with a brief discussion of portfolios and a review of how they have been used in classroom foreign language instruction, are presented in the first section of this article. An explanation follows of how the portfolio project was crafted. The final section of the article describes the evaluation of the portfolios and students' reactions to the project. Background Constructivism and Constructivist Pedagogies Constructivism is a theory about knowledge and learning that stems from the work of Piaget (1976) and Vygotsky (1978) and is the basis for current educational reform (Fosnot, 1996). Although there are different types of constructivism (e.g., Phillips, 1995; Reagan, 1999), a review of the literature (Confrey 1990; Etchberger & Shaw, 1992; Noddings, 1990; Reagan, 1999; von Glasersfeld, 1991, 1996) suggests that within a constructivist paradigm individuals construct their own knowledge. …