Culture Circle as a Teaching Approach in the Education of Teenager Health Multipliers on Leprosy Awareness

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the use of a teaching method proposed by Paulo Freire, Culture Circles, in the education of teenagers multipliers on leprosy awareness. Methods: It is an action-research study with a qualitative approach developed in a public school in Pernambuco, Brazil. Five Culture Circles were conducted involving the participation of 26 teenagers. The followings were used as data collection tools: observation, field notes, photography and filming. Results: The educational intervention on health addressed the following topics: 1) Definition and transmission of leprosy;2) Characteristics and diagnosis of leprosy;3) Treatment of leprosy;4) Aesthetics, prejudice and mental health related to leprosy;and 5) Planning of educational activities for teenagers as health multipliers on leprosy awareness. The educational action on health provided this age group to perceive themselves, act as political subjects in the development of Culture Circles, and act as protagonists in the dissemination of knowledge on leprosy. Conclusions: This study highlights that the application of active methodologies, such as Culture Circles, is able to encourage the engagement of young people in community empowerment and bring together health professionals and the school community in an intersectoral work in order to develop action strategies involving the promotion of health in the context of neglected diseases such as leprosy.

The Spread of Chinese-character Culture on the Silk Road During the Tang Dynasty

The spread of Chinese characters and Chinese classic works during the Tang Dynasty presented diversified discourses of acceptance and development in different periods and regions. This was due to the differences in commercial, economic, political, religious, and cultural environments proportional to the real environment's demand for Chinese characters and Chinese classical works. Chinese characters were introduced to Gaochang, Qiuci, Khotan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam as early as the Han Dynasty, with different development paths in these regions. It is easy to form a long lasting culture spread by Chinese language and characters, as long as official languages are consistent with national or religious languages of the regions. It is difficult to form a long lasting culture spread by official languages and characters if the official languages and characters are inconsistent with either languages of daily life or religious languages. Once there is replacement of official languages and characters, or a change in religious belief, it would cause incompatibility between official languages and daily life languages, Chinese-character culture is bound to decline and gradually fade way. But if there are Han people, they will retain the use of Chinese characters.

Englishes and English Language Teaching in a College English Classroom in China

English has not only become the international language, as it is spoken by a large number of native speakers of other languages and severs as a language of wider communication, but also has achieved a genuinely global status. Thus the spread of English provides language teachers with an abundance of data for relating second language issues to pedagogical concerns. To achieve positive pedagogical goals, it is very essential for language teachers to be aware of the status and functions of Englishes in the world today and in the future as well. To serve the purpose, this article suggests that varieties of English should be taught and special attention should be paid to teaching culture in our College English classroom so as to help our students to establish a sphere of interculturalism.