Table of Contents

Contents Page(s)

Task C: Written Report 2-5

References 6
Appendix 7

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Task C: Written Report – Individual

1. In not more than 1200 words, discuss the multicultural elements in a chosen English
storybook of your choice about people of a different culture you have read addressing issues
and concerns among young learners. Relate your answer to the role and purpose of
Language Arts in the primary ESL classroom.

2. Your discussion should show evidence of critical thinking and relevant examples from the
story should be included.

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 Task C: Written Report

1.0 Introduction

The storybook I have chosen is called “The Sandwich Swap” by Her Majesty Queen Rania
Al Abdullah and Kelly DiPucchio. It is a story about two girls who had different sandwiches
from two different cultures (Rania & DiPucchio, 2010). This storybook is a suitable choice for
a Language Arts material in the Primary ESL classroom because it contains multicultural
elements which are relevant in our multicultural society in Malaysia. Multiculturalism is a
concept in which there is recognition and mutual respect on the presence of diverse cultures
where people have great understanding on different cultures and preserve a harmonious
society (Fakhri, 2012). Multicultural education is about learning to respect and appreciate
different cultures through knowledge, attitudes and skills (Anna Christina, 2009). Through
Multicultural education, young learners can receive a strong foundation of learning to
respect, accept and appreciate diversity in cultures at an early age as this has a great
influence on their socio-emotional development (Anna Christina, 2009).

2.0 Issue 1: Making judgement on a different culture without knowing the culture

In the storybook, the characters are shown to make a negative judgement about a different
culture without knowing or experiencing what it truly is. For instance, in the storybook, Salma
and Lily both made negative judgements about the taste of each other’s different cultural
food. Salma thought Lily’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich looked gross and Lily thought
Salma’s hummus sandwich looked yucky. This can be seen on page 12 to 15 or from 1:25 to
3:05 in the video. Besides Salma and Lily, their schoolmates also made negative
judgements about each other’s culture because they started choosing sides and throwing
insults at each other, causing a commotion to break out between two cultures. This can be
seen from page 16 to 19 or 3:19 to 4:26 in the video. This shows that Salma and Lily had
closed-minded opinions about each other’s cultures through the food they ate. Although
Salma and Lily were best friends and did many activites together, they did not accept each
other’s food. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a foreign food in which Salma was
unable to accept because it was not a food that was in her culture. Likewise, the hummus
sandwich was a foreign food to Lily and she was unable to accept the hummus sandwich
that came from Salma’s culture.

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2.1 How this issue can help young learners through Language Arts in the classroom

Using this storybook, this issue can be brought up in a Language Arts class. Pupils in
Malaysian schools are often exposed to a variety of different cultures from different races
such as the Malay, Chinese, Indians, and different indigenous groups (Tengku Nor Rizan,
Nooreiny & Manisah, 2015). This issue is relatable to pupils as it is human nature to quickly
evaluate or make judgment concerning a foreign object or in this case, food that is from a
different culture (Letzring, 2008). Using this issue, a heterogeneous class which consists of
different cultures would be able to relate to this issue. The teacher can ask questions such
as “Do you ever see an unfamiliar food and think it is ‘gross’ or yucky? What kinds of food do
you think is gross? Why?”. By doing so, the teacher can help pupils think and reflect upon
their judgement on food from different cultures. When pupils think twice about their judge

3.0 Issue 2: Resolving conflict rationally and accepting diversity in culture

Apart from subjective judgments about other cultures, the storybook also contains positive
issues like resolving conflicts rationally and accepting diversity. After Salma and Lily realised
that their argument caused other people to fight against each other, they calmly resolved the
conflict. Salma and Lily both offered to exchange and taste each other’s sandwiches. They
reconciled and became best friends again after their conflict was resolved. This shows that
Salma and Lily became more open-minded about their different cultures and are willing to
accept diversity in their different cultures. What used to be ‘yucky’ or ‘gross’ to each other
became ‘delicious’ and ‘heavenly’. This can be seen from the video at 5:05 to 5:12 or page
20 to 21 from the storybook.

3.1 How this issue can help young learners through Language Arts in the classroom

Young learners can be influenced by stories (Haven, 2007). By using this story of “The
Sandwich Swap”, pupils can learn to solve conflicts rationally and accept diversity by
modelling the characters Salma and Lily. It can also inspire them to make the same
decisions as the characters. For example, Salma and Lily learned to give an chance to try
out each other’s sandwiches to resolve their conflict and accept each other’s different
cultures. This event in the story can inspire young children to try out foods from different
cultures and accept diversity. They would learn to be not as judgemental on things they
haven’t tried yet. They would learn that accept different cultures is a good thing and
resolving conflicts rationally though acceptance is an effective method to reconcile. By using

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these issues from the storybook in a Language Arts class, young learners would be able to
learn how to resolve conflicts rationally by accepting diversity in culture.

4.0 Issue 3: Sharing uniqueness of one’s own culture to others

Another positive issue in this storybook is sharing culture with others. In the story, after
Salma and Lily reconciled and accept each other’s different cultural foods, they held a food
fair which had different kinds of food from different cultures. This is shown in the second last
page of the storybook. This act shows that they realised the importance and benefits of
accepting diversity and wanted to share the same experience with others. With the food fair,
everyone in the school would be able to share their own cultural food with others. By doing
so, people would be more exposed to foods from different cultures and become more open-
minded with diversity in culture (Schlenker & Gilbert, 2015).

4.1 How this issue can help young learners through Language Arts in the classroom

By using this issue from the storybook in a Language Arts class, pupils would learn about
the importance of accepting and celebrating diversity in culture and sharing the uniqueness
of one’s own culture to others. This is because diversity cannot be achieved alone and would
need different people sharing their cultures together in order to achieve a friendly, accepting,
welcoming harmony between people from different cultures. Sharing one aspect of a culture
such as food is an effective way to promote multiculturalism and learn about different
cultures. This is because through the process of sharing ethnic food, people from different
cultures learn to communicate to each other and experience different cultures (O’Sullivan &
Farzad, 2016).

5.0 Conclusion

Language Arts play a critical role in implementing multicultural education to develop

multicultural acceptance and diversity among young learners. It is important for teachers to
consider multicultural elements in the selection of materials in order to instil unity in diversity
among young learners through multicultural education in Language Arts. Integrating the use
of storybooks with multicultural elements in Language Arts is an effective method to instil
acceptance of diversity among young learners.

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 References

Anna Christina Abdullah. (2009). Multicultural Education in Early Childhood: Issues and
Challenges. Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 12(1), 159-175.
Retrieved from http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/cice/wp-content/uploads/publications/
Journal12-1/12-1-11.pdf

Fakhri Khader. (2012). The Malaysian Experience in Developing National Identity,

Multicultural Tolerance and Understanding through Teaching Curricula: Lessons
Learned and Possible Applications in the Jordanian Context. International Journal of
Humanities and Social Science, 2(1). Retrieved from http://www.ijhssnet.com/
journals/Vol_2_No_1_January_ 2012/25.pdf

Haven, K. F. (2007). Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story. CT:
Libraries Unlimited.

Letzring, T. (2008). The Good Judge of Personality: Characteristics, Behaviors, and

Observer Accuracy. Journal of research in personality, 42, 914-932.
10.1016/j.jrp.2007.12.003.

O’Sullivan, N., Farzad Amirabdollahiam. (2016). Loyal Tongue, Liberal Mind: International
Students’ Experience s on Dietary Acculturation in England. Journal of International
Students, 6(1), 107-127. Retrieved from https://jistudents.org/2016-volume-61/

Rania Al Abdullah & DiPucchio, K. (2010). The Sandwich Swap. NY: Disney-Hyperion
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKK3Gpkp1g

Schlenker, E., Gilbert, J. A. (2015). Williams’ Essentials of Nutrition and Diet Therapy. MO:
Elsevier.

Tengku Nor Rizan Tengku Mohamad Maasum, Nooreiny Maarof & Manisah Mohd Ali.
(2015). Knowledge for Social Transformation & Development in the 21st Century:
Addressing Learner Diversity by Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Journal of Social
Sciences and Humanities, 1, 138-151. Retrieved from http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
9356/1/138-151_Learner_Diversity-NOR_RIZAN.pdf

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 Appendix

The Sandwich Swap by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Kelly
DiPucchio with illustrations by Tricia Tusha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkKK3Gpkp1g