Making Connections: Language Activities for Creating Interpersonal Tolerance

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart. —Lao-tzu (6th century B.C.) In many English classrooms throughout the world, there are students who mistrust or even fear each other because they belong to groups with a history of conflict based on national, political, ethnic, or other differences. Intergroup conflict often endures because people do not have the opportunity to interact with each other personally and rely instead on long-standing stereotypes. The actions of governments often make solutions difficult to reach; nevertheless, there are many instances where bridging cultural divides has reduced the tension between conflicting groups. Teachers and nonprofit organizations have long been involved in bringing conflicting groups together in educational contexts in order to promote mutual acceptance of dissimilar worldviews and cultures. For several reasons, the English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) classroom is an especially ideal setting to deal with intergroup conflict. Successful language teaching uti-lizes methods designed to engage students in communicative activities based on their backgrounds, opinions, and other personal characteristics. A classroom composed of students with widely different cultures offers lots of potential for excitement and discov-ery, as well as for creating empathy and advancing the acquisition of English. This article will describe some ESL/ EFL activities that promote this type of interpersonal tolerance betwee