Isabel Meusen (Memphis) p127-144
2017 Issue 3
Abstract
In the L2 classroom, cultural learning – learning about societies’ items, acts, expressions and their underlying beliefs and values – is often assumed to take place as students learn and engage with a language and discuss texts. With the advent of the Internet and Web 2.0, however, cultural learning can intentionally be integrated in the L2 classroom by making students active participants in the learning process. This article, a reflection and summary of a course, describes the implementation and effects of bookmapping in an intermediate German class to facilitate cultural learning. Bookmapping is the process of following a novels’ protagonist(s) movement on a map, either on paper or online. The focus of the class was Germany’s Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr area); for the assignment, students collaboratively bookmapped Frank Goosen’s novel Radio Heimat – Geschichten von Zuhause along with secondary texts discussed in class. After briefly outlining the course and explaining the mechanism of bookmapping, this article describes how bookmapping was implemented in an L2 classroom. The second part evaluates the maps created by the students and discusses the results from student reflections. The conclusion highlights possible benefits of incorporating bookmapping in the classroom to teach students about culture.