Wintergerst, A. C., & McVeigh, J. (2011). Tips for teaching culture: Practical approaches to intercultural communication. White Plains, NY: Pearson. (244 pages)

In Tips for Teaching Culture, Anne Wintergerst and Joe McVeigh focus our attention on the centrality of language as a sociocultural tool for communication and introduce English language instructors to strategies for teaching intercultural understanding. The volume is part of the Tips for Teaching series edited by H. Douglas Brown and is intended as a reference and activity book for English language teachers in secondary schools, colleges, and adult education courses with students of varying levels of proficiency.

The topics addressed in the book are exploring culture, culture and language, culture and nonverbal communication, culture and identity, culture shock and cross-cultural adjustment, traditional ways of teaching culture, culture and education, and culture and social responsibility.

Each chapter begins by asking readers to consider their own views about the cultural theme under discussion. This serves to awaken thoughts and biases of which the teachers may not have previously been aware.

Wintergerst and McVeigh then introduce a series of teaching tips centered on the main theme of the chapter. The tips are explained in the context of the authors’ personal experiences as classroom teachers and travelers and are then linked to existing pedagogical research on the topic. Together, the context and research give readers necessary background on the topic and provide them with a full understanding of the problem being addressed. Additional teacher anecdotes are interspersed throughout the book in sections titled Voices from the Classroom. These are particularly useful for enabling readers to draw parallels with experiences in their own lives as English language teachers.

Teachers are then given more explicit advice on techniques they can use to help their students better understand culture and the way it influences communication. Each tip is rounded out by a concrete activity for use in the classroom. Activities include such things as small-group discussions about critical incidents to explore nonverbal communication issues and role plays to demonstrate the stages of culture shock. These activities are experiential and fun and are easy to implement with little preparation because each one comes with its own photocopiable handout in the appendix. The appendix also includes a list of documentaries and feature films that have intercultural content, an invaluable resource for the busy teacher.

Tips for Teaching Culture is an excellent resource for the classroom teacher wanting a brief introduction to the field of intercultural communication and a set of quick practical ideas and activities for use in the classroom. Those who are more experienced in the field may feel that the concepts are a little simplistic, and may not agree with the authors’ decision to use the terms intercultural and cross-cultural interchangeably. However, it must be remembered that the authors’ goals are to equip readers with an understanding of the basic concepts of culture and intercultural communication. In this, it succeeds.

The authors encourage teachers to adapt the material in the book to their own students. Teachers in EFL contexts may find that they have to adapt more of the material than do those in ESL contexts, because some of the ideas and activities are easier to explore in the multicultural classroom. However, teachers in both contexts will find the activities useful. On a related note, the Voices from the Classroom sectionsfocus heavily on stories by teachers either in or from the United States. I feel that the international audience would appreciate the addition of stories of nonnative English-speaking teachers teaching in their home countries. Although these contexts are more likely to be monocultural, it is possible that there are many interesting anecdotes that would bear resonance with international colleagues.

Although useful in many ways, the volume is not without its flaws. For example, the table at the beginning of the book, which provides an overview of the tips and activities, is visually pleasing but does not give chapter-topic headings, making it difficult to use as a quick-reference guide. In addition, much of the language in the text is so simple that it can come across as patronizing to the teacher. Though these limitations cannot be completely disregarded, they do not prevent this work from being both an effective introduction to teaching culture and a handy resource for those wishing to improve their lessons.

Annette Bradford is a doctoral student studying educational administration and policy with a focus on international education at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, in the United States. Her research interests include intercultural understanding, the internationalization of higher education, English as an international language, and second language writing. Prior to arriving at the George Washington University, she spent more than 10 years outside of her native United Kingdom working as an EFL instructor and intercultural communication specialist in Asia, North America, and Europe.