Developing intercultural communicative skills

Lesson 2
Notions of culture, cross-cultural awareness and intercultural competence
Task I. Complete the table with your opinion.
My vision of British men and women

	What I know	What I think I know	What I’d like to know
British women
British men

Our vision of British men and women

	What we know	What we think we know	What we’d like to know
British women
British men

Task II. Watch a movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’
Look at the following extract from the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ and complete it, then answer the following questions.

'But playing for the team …………………,' I blurted out, ……………………………………. Mum glared at me. 'What bigger honor is there than respecting your elders?' she demanded. ……………………. 'Young man, ……………………………………, I was the best fast bowler in my school’, he said curtly. 'Our team even won the East African cup. But when I came to this country, nothing. ……………………………………... These bloody goreh in their clubhouses …………………………. ……………………...' I looked down at the floor. I knew about this because Mum had told me, but Dad had never talked about it before. '…………………….,' Joe began. 'But now - ''Now what?' Dad broke in. ………………………….. are in any of the football leagues. And you think they'll……………………..? I don't want to build up Jesminder's hopes -' ………………………… ' - she'll only end up disappointed like me.'

1. What do the references to ‘East Africa’, ‘goreh’ and ‘turban’ tell you about the Bamrah’s background?
2. What did the narrator want to do?
3. Did the narrator’s mother and father agree with her?
4. What is the difference between the narrator’s father’s objections and those of her mother?
Watch the first part of the movie and write the answers to the following questions:
• What were the two things that Jess was nervous about Joe’s visit?
• What do you think is the significance of the sentence ‘Your parents don’t always know what’s right for you’ being repeated? Will this affect Jess’s future actions?
• Why did Joe say ‘I didn’t hear that’?
• Will Jess’s enthusiasm and new found freedom carry her through the 90 minute match?
• Explain the meaning of ‘gutted’ in your own words.
• What do you think happens when Jess and the team get back to England?
The film is spoken in contemporary south-east England accents and use of vocabulary, together with some Indian English accents and Hindi words. In the first section of the film some common expressions are used, the kind you usually won’t find in a dictionary! While watching take a note and complete the table. There are some other cultural references that might need explaining.
Here are some:

bunked off gutted - Hounslow - innit? - laters - MOT - slags - Uni - X-certificate - sexually those over-

2. A key phrase in the script is: “If I had an arranged marriage, would he let me play football?”
- what is ‘an arranged marriage’
- how likely is it that she would be allowed to play football?
- how much do we learn about the speaker from this single sentence?
While you watch the film, make a note of any words or phrases you hear that describe playing football.
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4. When you have seen the movie, make a list of the five most important things you think happened.
i. _______________________________________________________
ii. _______________________________________________________
iii. _______________________________________________________
iv. _______________________________________________________
v. _______________________________________________________