BARNGA

by

Bruno Jactat


1. Objectives and Overview

Activity Overview:

In this classic simulation activity, participants play a simple card game in silence. They do not know that they are all playing with slightly different rules. Since they are only allowed to communicate through gestures and pictures, at some point they have to solve the discrepancies they observe in the other players’ way of playing the game.

General Learning Objectives:

  • to explore cross-cultural communication styles

Specific Learning Objectives (optional):

  • to gain an awareness of cross-cultural communication styles
  • to briefly experience dissonance regarding assumptions and judgments about other groups based on one’s own norms
  • to develop strategies to deal with an Oz moment

Keywords:

Oz moment, communication styles, surface culture, norms, printable, card game

2. Activity Context

Activity context description

This activity can be applied in any Intercultural Communication training or SLA training in which communication style awareness is desirable or needed. Since it requires a minimum awareness on one’s own communication style, I suggest it should be applied to participants of Junior High School level and up.


Students

Suggested range of students:
15
20
30
40
50
Do students need to use a second language?
Yes
What is the second language?
The material instructions are written in English, but any other L2 is possible if the teachers translates rules to the target language
Level(s) in target language:
Intermediate | CEFR B1 | IELTS 3.5-4.5 |TOEIC 500-700
Advanced-Intermediate | CEFR B2/C1 | IELTS 5.0-6.5 | TOEIC 700-900
Advanced | CEFR C1 / C2 | IELTS 7.0 + | TOEIC 900+
  • These levels are approximations 
Comments

If used under a SLA context, the above minimum level requirements are relevant (see Appendix). However, this activity can also be carried out on L1 when the objective of the activity is to trigger reflections on ethnocentrism, judgements and assumptions. In the latter case, all activity instructions and handouts should be translated into the target language.

3: Activity Duration

Estimated duration (multiple ranges possible):
1 - 1.5 hours
How many sessions?
1
Any homework?
No

4. Download PDF

PDF document Jactat, B. - BARNGA (ICLE AI #3).pdf



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