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The research and development described in this volume is intended to contribute to the integration of intercultural communication training in teacher education programmes.
There is pressure on world language educators to prepare learners with 21st century skills to meet the challenges of an increasingly interconnected globalized world. The need for change was summarized in the 2007 report of the MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages that suggested the implementation of curricular reform by developing students’ “translingual and transcultural competence” (p. 3) which allows someone “to operate between languages” (p.237). However, the integration of such a meaningful cultural component in instructed language learning is a complex topic. This book recognizes the difficulty world language educators face to achieve the goals of the MLA report, particularly at beginning levels of instruction in target language use classrooms. Accordingly, this book informs instructed language learning and teaching by bridging developmental theories from the fields of intercultural competence with second language pedagogies—particularly communicative language teaching (CLT) and literacy-based approaches—providing examples of practical applications inside the classroom and beyond. It is intended to support the many FL educators who have consistently reported that they are struggling to incorporate meaningful cultural instruction into their practice (Fox & Diaz-Greenberg 2006; Phillips & Abbott, 2011; Sercu, 2005). This book provides a framework to foster learners’ deep cultural reflection at beginning levels of instruction while preserving target language use policies, bridging CLT pedagogies to intercultural communicative competence (ICC) literacy-based approaches. It starts by synthesizing prominent definitions of culture and culture learning models and then summarizes disparate sources of research findings on culture learning projects (which primarily take place at advanced levels of language learning) to the Standards-based classroom at all levels of instruction, K-16. Although research on fostering learners’ intercultural competence at beginning levels of language instruction is in its infancy, it is of utmost concern given that the vast majority of U.S. language learners rarely continue to advanced levels of instruction (Zimmer-Lowe, 2008). In addition, this book challenges FL educators to advocate for their FL programs and to give greater visibility and credibility to the profession in institutional internationalization efforts. The theoretical components of this book deconstruct the connections between language, thought and culture and problematize developmental models in the IC field that neglect to consider the important role of language. This book provides K-16 FL educators with the discourse needed to 1) explain to administrators, parents and students how world language study prepares learners to compete in an increasingly global market beyond the learner’s development of linguistic proficiency and 2) convince administrators of the value in and the need for world language study in order to support institutional internationalization efforts. The last chapter of this book provides guidance and suggestions on ways to expand K-12 teacher preparation programs and continuing education training to foster learners’ intercultural communicative competence while preserv-ing a Standards-based curriculum. In sum, this book is intended to 1) support all K-16 world language educa-tors with their program advocacy and instruction; 2) serve as a reference manual or course book in teacher preparation programs; 3) serve as a reference manual or course book for research and graduate courses on the teaching and learning of languages.
The aim of this publication is to assist teacher educators and language teachers in shifting the focus from linguistic competence to intercultural communicative competence. The printed booklet of the present guide contains the introductions to: definitions of key terms in intercultural communication; planning and designing intercultural communication courses and workshops; teaching/training methods and materials; and assessing intercultural communicative competence. The materials on the accompanying CD-ROM include: the theoretical background to teaching language and culture; detailed workshop and course planning guidelines; teaching materials and activities based on literature, films and songs; guidelines and tasks for assessment and descriptors of competences; intercultural communication workshop reports; and our research articles about the intercultural dimension of foreign language teaching (FIT).--Publisher's description.
This revised edition of Michael Byram’s classic 1997 book updates the text in light of both recent research and critiques and commentaries on the 1st edition. Beginning from the premise that foreign and second language teaching should prepare learners to use a language with fluency and accuracy, and also to speak with people who have different cultural identities, social values and behaviours, the book is an invaluable guide for teachers and curriculum developers, taking them from a definition of Intercultural Communicative Competence through planning for teaching to assessment. This edition refines the definitions of the five ‘savoirs’ of intercultural competence, and includes new sections on issues such as moral relativism and human rights, mediation, intercultural citizenship and teachers’ ethical responsibilities.
The central aim of language teaching is typically to prepare learners to communicate through the language learnt. However, much current language teaching theory and practice is based on a simplistic view of communication that fails to match the multilingual and intercultural reality of the majority of second language (L2) use. This Element examines the relationship between language and culture through an L2 in intercultural and transcultural communication. It puts forward the argument that we need to go beyond communicative competence in language teaching and focus instead on intercultural and transcultural awareness. Implications for pedagogic practice are explored including intercultural and transcultural language education.
Eva Alcón Soler Maria Pilar Safont Jordà Universitat Jaume I, Spain The main purpose of the present book is to broaden the scope of research on the development of intercultural communicative competence. Bearing this purpose in mind, English learners are considered as intercultural speakers who share their interest for engaging in real life communication. According to Byram and Fleming (1998), the intercultural speaker is someone with knowledge of one or more cultures and social identities, and who enjoys discovering and maintaining relationships with people from other cultural backgrounds, although s/he has not been formally trained for that purpose. Besides, possessing knowledge of at least two cultures is the case of many learners in bilingual or multilingual communities. In these contexts, the objective of language learning should then focus on developing intercultural competence, which in turn may involve promoting language diversity while encouraging English as both a means and an end of instruction (see Alcón, this volume). This is the idea underlying the volume, which further sustains Kramsch’s argument (1998) against the native/ non-native dichotomy. Following that author, we also believe that in a multilingual world where learners may belong to more than one speech community, their main goal is not to become a native speaker of English, but to use this language as a tool for interaction among many other languages and cultures.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a teaching approach which was first introduced in the late 1960s in the US and UK and shifted the focus of language teaching from language awareness to language use and function. CLT aims to make students communicatively competent in terms not only of linguistic, but also socio-linguistic and strategic competence. CLT is seen as one of the approaches which can help learners develop their skills, knowledge, and abilities for effective communication, resulting in its worldwide application in different contexts. However, from the outset, there was no clear agreement about its principles and techniques, and teachers faced problems in describing and applying it. Consequently, CLT has been broadly examined and investigated in different teaching contexts, especially EFL settings. However, there are only a few studies which explore the appropriacy and cultural components of this approach in international contexts. This study was therefore designed to explore upper-secondary school teacher and student attitudes and beliefs towards: (1) the implementation of CLT and their English classes and (2) the inclusion of cultural and intercultural aspects in the principles of CLT and as a result their English classes, with a focus on the development of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), as determined by current foreign language teaching policy in many countries.
This book presents a concise critical overview of the literature on intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and offers insights into research on this concept. As a novel contribution to the field, the book frames ICC in relation to other learner variables, such as motivation, willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self-perceived communication competence. Based on empirical data, the study proposes and tests a model of English majors’ ICC interacting with individual differences related to L2 communication. The findings highlight that students’ beliefs about their own performance, their apprehension from communication situations and their language learning motivation were successfully integrated into a new model of intercultural communicative competence as understood in an interactional EFL context.
This volume provides a strong theoretical introduction to the field of intercultural communication, offering practical examples of classroom activities, as well as presenting empirical research which demonstrates that intercultural communicative competence (ICC) can be developed effectively in specially tailored courses adjusted to the needs of learners. It presents a novel model of intercultural sensitivity assessment, and outlines the results of research into intercultural communicative competence conducted among the students of English Language Studies in state colleges in Poland. The cultural component in developing ICC as an extra-linguistic determinant is assigned particular prominence in the book. A thorough analysis of the empirical material collected from participant observation, the administered questionnaires and interviews allowed the most common values and attitudes held as components of intercultural sensitivity to be identified. The obtained findings are subsequently analyzed to predict the potential areas of communication misunderstandings and failures between Polish learners of English and representatives of other cultures.
This book provides a contemporary and critical examination of the theoretical and pedagogical impact of Michael Byram’s pioneering work on intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship within the field of language education and beyond. The chapters address important theoretical and empirical work on the teaching, learning, and assessment of intercultural learning, and highlight how individual language educators and communities of practice enact intercultural learning in locally appropriate ways. The book offers comprehensive, up-to-date and accessible knowledge for researchers, teachers, teacher-trainers and students.
