Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice (Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education, 1, Band 1) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853595365 ISBN 13: 9781853595363

Verlag: Multilingual Matters, 2001

Inhaltsangabe

It is now widely recognised that learning a language should not just involve linguistic competence but also intercultural competence. It is also clear that intercultural competence can be developed through related subjects such as geography, history, mother tongue teaching. This book takes this as a given and provides practical help for teachers who wish to help their learners acquire intercultural competence in the ordinary classroom. It contains descriptions of lessons and materials from a wide range of classrooms in several countries and for beginners to advanced learners.

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Michael Byram, Adam Nichols and David Stevens are in teacher education at the University of Durham. They specialise in the teaching of foreign languages (Byram), geography (Nichols) and English as mother tongue (Stevens) and have found a common interest in the ways in which all these subjects involve cultural issues. They have invited authors from throughout Europe and North America to describe their work in the classroom or in producing teaching materials to develop intercultural competence.

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Developing Intercultural Competence in Practice

By Michael Byram, Adam Nichols, David Stevens

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2001 Michael Byram, Adam Nichols, David Stevens and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-85359-536-3

Contents

Foreword Alison Phipps, 
Introduction Michael Byram, Adam Nichols and David Stevens, 
Part 1: In the Classroom, 
Beginners, 
1 The International Partnership Project Carol Morgan, 
Intermediate, 
2 Teaching Intercultural Communicative Competence through Literature Eva Burwitz-Melzer, 
3 'Up the Hills of Identity' Elena Tarasheva and Leah Davcheva, 
Advanced, 
4 Visual Codes and Modes of Presentation of Television News Broadcasts Maria Metodieva Genova, 
5 An Approach to Implementing a Cultural Studies Syllabus Iskra Georgieva, 
6 'Family life' and 'Regional Identity' – Comparative Studies while Learning French Sylvia Duffy and Janet Mayes, 
7 'It Must Be Cultural Because I Don't Do It': Cultural Awareness in Initial TESOL Teacher Education Mary Williams, 
Part 2: Beyond the Classroom, 
Using New Technologies, 
8 Virtual Intercultural Competence: A Programme for Japanese Elementary School Students Lynne Parmenter and Yuichi Tomita, 
9 Students as Virtual Ethnographers: Exploring the Language Culture-Connection Sheila Carel, 
10 Working in Tandem: an Anglo-French Project Clare Dodd, 
11 New Tools for Old Tricks: Information and Communication Technology in Teaching British Cultural Studies Paul Whittaker, 
In the Field, 
12 Tandem Learning as an Intercultural Activity Jane Woodin, 
13 'Why Do Danes Put Their Elderly in Nursing Homes?' – Working Outside the Classroom with Adult Second Language Learners Judith Parsons and Peter Junge, 
Part 3: Developing Resources, 
14 Cultural Understanding in Danish Schools Leon Aktor and Karen Risager, 
15 'I Thought My Teacher Fancied Me' Tanya Madjarova, Magdalena Botsmanova and Tanya Stamatova, 
16 British and Bulgarian Christmas Cards: A Research Project for Students Krassimira Topuzova, 
17 Study of Landscapes as an Approach to Openness to Others Françoise Vigneron, 
Further Reading, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

The International Partnership Project

CAROL MORGAN

This chapter describes a project in which children from two countries prepared materials to send to a partner class in another country. They were asked to focus on the topic of 'law and order' and what it means for them. The explanations and discussions during the preparation and on receipt of the package reveal a developing intercultural awareness and reflection on their own cultural world as well as learning about others.

Introduction

The 'effectiveness' of learning in a foreign language classroom is often seen in terms of the choice of materials which are 'good' with respect to their relevance, linguistic level, authenticity, interest and so on, and 'good' activities that promote interactivity, autonomy and challenge (Ur, 1996; Swarbrick, 1994). Even where learning is concerned with intercultural awareness, a materials/activities focus still appears to be dominant (Jones, 1995; Tomalin & Stempelski, 1993).

The project which is described in this chapter where students exchanged self-made materials takes a rather different perspective in focusing on the process and experience of decoding a culture. The two main aims of the project which we trialled were:

• to explore a particular cultural focus in depth, using both home and foreign cultures: in other words to provide an ethnographic experience;

• to mirror the interactive or dialogic experience of learning: in other words to learn with and from others.

The Context of the Project

Our project was trialled twice with two different student age-groups: in an Anglo-French partnership with 14-year-olds and in an Anglo-Austrian partnership with 17-year-olds. The detailed description that follows is of the first Anglo-French trial but thoughts from the other projects have also been included where appropriate. The first trial had several factors in its favour:

• as a researcher (and teacher) I had funding to cover time and travel to set up the project and to interview students as well as to observe them;

• the teacher in England who participated had worked with me previously on a Master's dissertation on cultural awareness teaching (see Braham, 1995); she and the students in her school were already trained and experienced in cultural awareness activities;

• we were able to locate an interested French partnership school relatively easily;

• a researcher in France worked with me during the project and afterwards as a 'cultural friend'.

(A discussion of how these benefits might be replicated is included in the final section of this chapter.)

Two secondary schools participated in this first trial: one in England and one in France, with one set of students from each school. Both schools were situated in small provincial towns and drew on a largely white middle-class catchment area. Both schools at that time catered for the 11–15/16 age-group and the schools and classes were of mixed ability.

The two age groups chosen were similar: 'Year 9' (13–14 year olds) in England and 'la troisième' (14–15 year olds) in France. The class of 'la troisième' may have enjoyed a slightly superior status, since it is the top year of the 'collège' lower secondary system in France. In England, 'Year 9' is in the middle of the lower secondary band. The difference in status of the two groups may have had some effect on their attitudes to the project. For example, the French students sometimes appeared more competitive. One pupil enquired: 'on enverra trois trucs ... aux anglais, ou alors, on choisira l'meilleur?' (shall we send three things to the English pupils or shall we choose the best one? – my translation).

The English students were following the National Curriculum guidelines for Key Stage 3 (ages 11–14) (DfEE, 1995) where teachers monitor linguistic ability according to prescribed levels. Culture awareness, though recommended as a desirable competence, is currently not assessed (see Morgan, 1995). The French students in following the collège teaching and learning guidelines were likewise encouraged to consider cultural aspects but without this being part of any formal assessment.

Each class was asked to prepare a package of materials to send to their partner classroom in the other country. These materials were to explain and illustrate a particular cultural topic (we chose 'law and order') in the students' own country and were to be written in the students' mother tongue. The same topic was chosen for both sets of students, and the packages were prepared at the same time. In addition 'help-sheets' were prepared in the mother tongue of the receiving classroom (i.e. in a foreign language for the sending classroom). These help-sheets highlighted and explained potential difficulties in the package materials, covering both language and culture problems. In this first trial, I produced these help-sheets myself, using the information I gained from interviewing the pupils about their materials. This activity would ideally be undertaken by the teacher in collaboration with the students.

The key features of the project which emerged were as follows:

• the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2001
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1853595365
• ISBN 13: 9781853595363
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 292
• Herausgeber: Byram Michael, Nichols Adam, Stevens David
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar