About: Cultural Portfolio Guidelines

These sample assignment guidelines are provided in a broad, general format suitable for adaptation and specification according to pedagogical context and course goals. For example, at the advanced level, learners may be asked to write fully in the target language, and/or an instructor may wish to allow alternative assignment submission formats (such as a short video instead of a written portfolio entry). The abbreviations TL for ‘target language’ and TC for ‘target culture’ are used below.

Cultural Portfolio Project

The cultural portfolio project in in this course has three main purposes:

To explore aspects of the TC outside of our classroom in order to expand your understanding of the social and cultural contexts of the TL.
To engage with the TL and culture(s) through doing activities that interest you.
To hear/read the TL in its diverse varieties and further your experience and reflections on the TL and its varieties.

Requirements

There are three cultural portfolio entries in this course. For each one, do an activity of your choice related to the TC and write about the experience, following the guidelines below. Each portfolio entry must be at least 300 words. You may use any combination of English and the TL that you wish (e.g., mostly English, mostly TL, or a combination of both). Please make sure to write in full sentences organized into paragraphs. Proofread your writing for clarity, spelling, and grammar before submitting it. You may not use the same type of activity more than once, and the activities must be ones you have done during the current semester.

The deadlines for your cultural portfolio entries are _________.

The cultural portfolio project focuses on hearing the TL and developing your TL-related research and exploration skills, so activity options all include an TL component and a research component. You do not have to use only TL, but the activity must include at least some TL. (For example, you could watch a TL TV show with English subtitles, or you could read some TL poetry along with an English translation and listen to it being recited in TL on YouTube.) Choose an activity that allows you to fulfill the goals of this assignment (listed above) and answer the guiding questions (below).

Choice of Activities:

Listen to 4-6 pieces of music in the TL that are in a single genre or by a single musician. If possible, find the lyrics to at least one of the songs online and read along with them.
Visit a museum (in person or virtually). In your portfolio entry, include a link or image (if possible) of something you found particularly fascinating and at least one written description of a specific item you saw. (Examples for Spanish: 10 Museums in Mexico with Virtual Tours; Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, Spain; general list available here: https://joyofmuseums.com/)
Watch a TL movie, TV show, YouTube video (of at least 15 minutes), or performance (such as a musical or a play).
Prepare a food or beverage from the TC that you have not cooked before. Access the recipe in the TL (e.g., by watching a cooking video or reading a written recipe in the TL).
Take a virtual tour of a location in a TL-speaking region (e.g., a market or historical site). Search on YouTube for a tour of a site you are interested in.
Attend an event that includes a significant amount of the TL. For this activity, be sure to talk to a participant about the event and its significance to them/their community, and include what you found out in your portfolio entry.
Visit a grocery store or other local establishment that sells a significant amount of items from the TC, or “touring” a store online by watching a video or exploring a website. For this activity, identify 2-3 items that you do not know about, research them, and include your findings in your portfolio entry.
Do a module on a TL culture website (e.g., https://khallina.org/ for Arabic). Do at least a few of the items in the module you chose (e.g., watch a video, listen to a song).
Interview an TL-speaker about their culture. For this activity, include a video or audio clip of at least part of the interview itself (5+ minutes).
Do another activity that is not listed here but fulfills the purpose of the cultural portfolio. You must obtain your instructor’s approval in advance if you wish to do an activity not listed here.

Writing Your Portfolio Entry

Include your answers to each of the following questions in your portfolio entry. Please be specific about your observations and reflections.

What activity did you do? Provide a brief overview of information about the event, poet, singer, show, movie, etc. Include sources of this information in your bibliography.
What did you observe and find interesting during the activity? When you reflected on it afterward? Include specific examples.
What are your observations on the TL you heard/read while doing this activity? Include specific examples. Comment on the following aspects of the experience:
- What was the experience of hearing/reading the TL in this activity like? If you used any specific listening and/or reading strategies, what were they?
- What is familiar about the TL you heard? Be specific: include examples of items and aspects of language use that you recognized. This can include examples of specific words, grammatical structures/features, and/or idiomatic expressions; it can also include language variety (e.g., a regional variety or dialect of the language).
- Were there more difficult parts, and if so, what were they?
- Optional: What additional observations do you have about the TL you heard/read?
- Optional: What new words or phrases did you hear/read/learn during the activity that you would like to remember and use in the future?
What connections can you make between your observations during the activity and our course material? (Think of vocabulary, grammar, culture, points from class discussion, etc.)
What connections can you make between observations during the activity and your prior cultural knowledge? Prior cultural knowledge may be your existing knowledge of the TC, and/or compare and contrast elements of your own culture.

At the bottom of your portfolio entry or on a separate page, please provide the relevant hyperlinks, bibliographical information, and/or formal event details (e.g., name, time, and location of the event). You may also include photographs if you wish.

This assignment intends to contribute to your awareness of the diverse communities that use the TL and participate in the TC. Be mindful in your writing that you do not overgeneralize about all of the TC based on the particular activity that you did.

Assessment

The cultural portfolio entries will each be graded out of 10 points on the basis of the following criteria:

The portfolio entry is about an activity eligible to fulfill the purpose of the cultural portfolio, and the activity is explained clearly in the portfolio entry.
The entry includes high quality, thoughtful answers to all of the questions listed above.
The entry includes a variety (at least 5) of specific observations and examples of TL that you heard/read during the activity.
The entry includes hyperlinks, bibliographical information, and/or other relevant references. You may use any reference style you wish (Chicago style, APA, MLA, etc.).

Rubric

Criteria	Excellent	Very Good	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory	Criterion Score
Activity Eligibility	3 points The portfolio entry is about an eligible activity, and all parts of the activity have been completed and clearly explained.	2.25 points The portfolio entry is about an eligible activity, but one or more aspects are not fully in line with the guidelines and/or are not fully and clearly explained.	1.5 points The portfolio entry is about an eligible activity, but significant components have not been addressed or explained clearly.	0.75 point The portfolio entry is not about an eligible activity and/or it is not clear what activity was done.	/3
Addressing of Guiding Questions	3 points The entry includes high quality, thoughtful answers to all the guiding questions.	2.25 points The entry includes good answers to the guiding questions; some answers may be cursory or not clearly explained.	1.5 points The entry only includes answers to some of the guiding questions and/or answers to some questions may be cursory or unclear.	0.75 point Most or all guiding questions are not addressed.	/3
Inclusion of Specific Observations and Examples	3 points The entry includes specific observations about Spanish you heard/read, supported by several (at least 5) relevant examples.	2.25 points The entry includes general observations about Spanish you heard/read and includes a few (less than 5) specific examples.	1.5 points The entry includes general observations about Spanish you heard/read but lacks specific examples.	0.75 point The entry does not address observations about Spanish you heard/read and does not include examples of Spanish you heard/read.	/3
Inclusion of References	1 point Includes relevant references to all sources used in a clear and complete list.	.75 point Includes some references, but some information is incomplete or not listed clearly.	0.50 point Mentions some reference information but does not include a reference list.	0.33 point Does not include references and does not include enough information to identify the sources used.	/1
Total	10	7.5	5	2.58	/10