While teaching in China I was also very interested in learning about cultural differences between China and the US. This is a critical thinking writing assignment analyzing different scenarios I gave my students. This content linked well with students' knowledge and experience of their culture. I asked them to write about what to do when people invite them to their home, if a friend of theirs is getting married, when a relative has a birthday, and when someone is in the hospital. I paid a lot of attention to my learners’ personal, family and community experiences and cultural norms. We adapted this activity to also be an in dept discussion on the similarities and differences between Chinese and American cultural norms in these scenarios.
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