Graffiti, the Ultimate Realia: Meeting the Standards through an Unconventional Culture

Lesson
Author(s): Lisa M. Calvin
Source: Hispania, Vol. 88, No. 3 (Sep., 2005), pp. 527-530
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
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 Pedagogy

Iden

Graffiti, The Ultimate Realia: Meeting the Standards

through an Unconventional Culture Lesson
Lisa M. Calvin
Indiana State University

Abstract: From the high school restroom to the university water tower, graffiti surrounds the daily life of students, and
as a kind of unconventional billboard frequently created by their own peer group, attracts their attention. Accordingly,
a "little c" cultural lesson that utilizes this source of authentic language to implement the National Standards taps natural
appeal. As language teachers travel in the target culture and snap photographs of well-known sites and typical scenes that
portray daily life, they may actually position their lenses to avoid unsightly spray paint scrawls rather than envisioning
them as teaching tools. This article demonstrates that the use of graffiti can be a truly academic exercise that reaches the
goals set forth in the National Standards. A procedure for the lesson is suggested, samples of actual graffiti are given, and
possible extensions of the topic are provided.

Key Words: collaborative learning, cultural critical thinking, culture, graffiti, metacognition, realia, Standards

Procedure

The presentation of culture in the language classroom may be happenstance at times, but
at its best, it strives to help students develop analytical skills in "cultural critical thinking"
(Calvin and Rider 18). Discussing research in language-learning strategies and schema
theory, Oxford writes, "effective learners actively associate new information with existing infor
mation in long-term memory" (xi). Applying this theory to cultural learning, the teacher initiates
a classroom discussion through stimulation of existent knowledge about graffiti in the "home"
culture, asking, "What is graffiti?" Once a working definition of graffiti has been established,
students work with a partner and discuss the following questions written on the board or an
overhead transparency:

1. How is graffiti made? (What materials are used?)

2. Where do we find it in the US? In this state? At our school?
3. Who writes it?
4. What is your personal reaction to it?
5. What kinds of graffiti are there? Can you list some categories?

The discussion can be strictly oral with the exception of the last question, which requires writing;
the teacher determines which phases of the activity are conducted in Spanish. After about five
minutes the teacher brings the class together to discuss conclusions, writing on the board the
categories of graffiti which are generated.

Calvin, Lisa M.
"Graffiti, The Ultimate Realia: Meeting the Standards through an Unconventional Culture Lesson"
Hispania 88.3 (2005): 527-30

This content downloaded from 128.235.251.160 on Mon, 12 Jan 2015 09:35:13 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
528 Hispania 88 September 2005
With this foundation established and interest piqued, students are ready to be divided into
groups of 3-4 for an investigation of target-culture graffiti. Each student receives a hand-out of the
teacher's collection of graffiti (similar to that in Table A). Students are asked to consider six
questions as they examine each message:

1. What does itmean?

2. How would you categorize it?
3. Who might have written it and why? On what kind of surface do you think they wrote
it?
4. Do you have a reaction to it?What circumstances might change your reaction?
Early-bird challenge: If you have time after discussing all seven graffiti messages, an
swer these questions:
5. Can you find at least one example that reflects the region of Spain where the message
might be found?
6. Given the graffiti listed, what are two issues thatmay have been receiving media atten
tion in Spain at the time themessage was written?

A lively yet focused reading of authentically produced language ensues, with students using
dictionaries as necessary. Because the questions take learners beyond the translation and meaning
of themessage to envisioning its setting and creator, even students with a limited Spanish vocabu
lary engage in a sociolinguistic study. Students may well be unable to determine the meaning of
some graffiti, particularly abbreviations and acronyms, but because they have first invested in a
problem-solving activity, they will be more interested in seeing the "answers." However, rather
than giving students the answers in the next phase, the teacher calls on groups for a census of their
responses and predictions, and then affirms or clarifies the meaning. A slide or Power-Point
projection that provides the visual context of the original message follows. Using this format,
what might have been an interesting yet one-sided lecture about graffiti instead involves
collaborative learning, which then generates a whole-class discussion and takes on a game-like
quality with students calculating the accuracy of their predictions.
In the initial categorization of graffiti types, students frequently overlook the use of
humorous graffiti and find themessage on the dirty windshield to be amusing. (See Table A, #4)
They can immediately relate to the romantic pairings found in a bathroom stall and the temptation
to sign one's name on public property. The first sample in this list demonstrates that graffiti can
be used to promote a discussion about daily life, such as traditional shopping customs (smaller
refrigerators as a result of higher electric costs and a preference for fresh food lead towalking to
small local markets and taking one's own cart rather than driving). Other samples address the use
of symbols and the transfer of the English language into Spanish culture, issues of politics, AIDS
awareness, regional identity and bilingualism, and immigration.
The graffiti lesson concludes with a one-minute reflection paper. Students are asked,
"Beyond new vocabulary, what did you leam about Spanish culture today?" The different phases
of this lesson are designed tomove the learner up the ladder of critical thinking, and this objective
culminates in the one-minute debriefing. In his book about critical thinking, Barell defines
thinking as "a searching for meaning and understanding that can involve the adventurous
generation of options, the attempt to arrive at logical, reasonable judgments, and reflection on the
process" (7). The one-minute paper provides this time to reflect upon the learning process.
In summary, the lesson begins with the establishment of background knowledge about the
general topic. Second, an indirect use of contrast and comparison through categorization guides
students into a different level of critical thinking. Third, meaning is determined and context
verified. Barell addresses the importance of the affective domain to the development of critical
thinking, and thus, the fourth step is an elicitation of students' opinion or emotional reaction to the
topic. Fifth, the culminating activity, the one-minute paper, directs students to do metacognitive
thinking and articulate their learning of cultural critical thinking.

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 Graffiti, The Ultimate Realia 529
Standards

The use of graffiti to teach language learners can be adapted to all secondary and tertiary
levels, with at least four Standards addressed in this one-period lesson:

Communication 1.2: Students understand and interpret written (and spoken) language about
a variety of topics.

Culture 2.1 and 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
practices/products and perspectives of the culture studied.

Connections 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that
are only available through the foreign language and its culture.

Comparisons 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through

comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

High-school teachers in schools utilizing the block system and trimesters may find the time
to do additional activities during the period, and others may wish to extend the topic to a second
day to meet more Standards and continue with a topic that has been well received. Possible
activities to expand the topic include the following:

the Communication Standard 1.3: Have each student create a graffiti message,
1) Apply
providing guidelines for appropriateness. After receiving the teacher's approval of the message
to be written, each writes amessage with colored markers on a long sheet of butcher paper. Given
students' tendency to write things such as "Pacers rock," this is an opportunity to reinforce the
Comparison Standard 4.1 regarding the nature of language: Even if words are translated, they
may not convey the desired meaning, and slang in particular is frequently not translatable.
2) Connections: Students select an on-line newspaper from a Latin American country and use
the internet to find and identify three issues facing the selected country. They are directed to read
the front page and an editorial section and then create two examples of socio-political graffiti
messages thatmight be seen there. They prepare a one- to two-minute explanation of the back
ground surrounding their messages.
3) Connections: Do a study of murals in Latino neighborhoods of the U.S.
4) Connections: Interdisciplinarity. In a combined classroom or a shared discussion board,
develop a dialog with an art class. Is graffiti an art form? When does graffiti become art?
5) Communities Standard: Over a three-day period, students collect samples of graffiti in
their community, dividing the samples into the categories developed in class. Direct students
NOT to add to the graffiti that they see.
6) Make graffiti a target-language journal topic: How do you define graffiti? When does
graffiti become art? Should those who write graffiti be punished? Why or why not? How should
they be punished?

Even if time does not permit any additional activities, students become more aware of their own
environment and increase cultural understanding. For teachers, graffiti offers a different, inex
pensive kind of realia to seek and collect during their travels.

WORKS CITED

Bareil, John. Teaching for Thoughtfulness. New York: Longman, 1991.

Calvin, Lisa M. and N. Ann Rider. "Not Your Parents' Language Class: Curriculum Revision to Support University
Language Requirements." Foreign Language Annals 37 (2004): 11-25.

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530 Hispania 88 September 2005
Oxford, Rebecca. "Preface: Why is Culture Important for Language Learning Strategies?" Language Learning
Strategies Around the World: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Ed. Rebecca Oxford. Manoa: U of Hawai'i Second
Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, 1996. ix-xv.
Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. Yonkers, NY: National Standards in Foreign Language
Education Project, 1996.

Table A
Graffiti de Espa?a

Solo carros de compras

SIDA

PP= [swastika]

Dios hace milagros pero no lava coches / No lo limpies. Siembra patatas

Irene 16-5-00/Patricia + Jos?

?Quieres saber todav?a m?s como vivir donde vives? Es f?cil. Aprende catal?n.

No + moros ni extranjeros maleantes.

traficantes Stop inmigraci?n.

Table B

Tips for taking photographs/slides of graffiti:

Everybody's doing it.When everyone else is photographing scenic vistas and tourist sights, turn around and
look at the area within ten feet of you. Don't forget to look down.
Swallow your pride. Yes, you may feel silly taking a picture of the ground or setting off the flash in a toilet
stall, but you'll be glad later.
Think locally, snap globally. Find examples of similarities and differences in message to those you would
find at home.
Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Even if you are staying in the same foreign city for an
extended time, the graffiti may be washed away, altered, or covered over.. .if you can even find that location
again.
A bird in hand. Don't be overly analytical, "Will I use this or not?" Take the picture and decide later.
Play it safe. Two is better than one. Change your distance, angle, amount of context included and/or lighting
and take a second photo as a guarantee that you don't miss a great piece of graffiti.
Variety is the spice of life. Look for different: a) materials used, b) locations where written, c) categories of
messages

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