Intercultural Language Learning

1. Intercultural Language Learning

3. IcLL: involves the fusing of language, culture  and learning into a single educative  approach underlying premise is that language,  culture and learning are fundamentally  interrelated places this interrelationship at the centre  of the learning process See p 3 of National Statement for Languages Education

4. In IcLL, learners: develop an understanding of their own  language(s) and cultures) in relation to an  additional language and culture. move to an intercultural position between  these languages and cultures where  variable points of view are recognised,  mediated and accepted. Report on Intercultural Language Learning Liddicoat, A, Papademtre, L, Scarino, A &Kohler, M 2003 Department of Education, Science and Training

5. National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005 -2008 Development of language skills and intercultural understanding is an investment in our national capability and a valuable resource. 21st century education needs to equip learners for successful participation and engagement within and across local, regional and global communities. Education in a global community brings with it an increasing need to focus on developing intercultural understanding.

6. So, what is the ‘culture’ in  intercultural? What do we currently understand  by culture …

7. Culture is a complex system of concepts, attitudes, values, beliefs, conventions, behaviours, practices, rituals and lifestyle of the people who make up a cultural group, as well as the artefacts they produce and the institutions they create.  (Report on Intercultural Language Learning Commonwealth of Australia 2003 p 45)

8. Language plays a primary role in the  transmission of cultural codes. Language forms – the visible – and the  messages conveyed by them – the  invisible- provide cultural knowledge. Language and culture are inextricably  linked.

9. Culture is: multifaceted variable dynamic

10. Culture is transmitted to members of a  cultural group through the process of  socialisation. Much of this transmission is not  consciously acquired. Individuals grow up accepting the  cultural codes of their community as  usual, normal and natural. They accept these codes as the way the  world is.

11. Learning about culture means: engaging with the linguistic and non- linguistic practices of the culture. gaining insights into the way of living  in a particular cultural context.

12. Culture cannot be learnt  independently of language nor can  language be learnt independently  from culture. Culture is learnt through language  and through language use. ALPLP: Getting Started with Intercultural Language Learning p8.

13. Responding to compliments in Japan How do you respond to compliments? What do you notice here? What is similar? What is different? Why? How would you respond? You have a beautiful garden. Oh no, it’s full of weeds. You’re wearing pretty earrings today. Oh no, they are very cheap and old. Your husband looks very dignified. No, he doesn’t. He’s fat.

14. Four broad approaches to culture in language teaching have been identified. 1. High Culture Area Studies Culture as Societal Norms 4. Culture as Practice

15. High Culture Approach Cultural competence is viewed as control of  an established canon of literature. There are minimal expectations of using the  language for communication with native  speakers. The relationship between language and  culture may be quite tenuous as there can  be an emphasis on the text itself rather than  viewing it as a window onto broader aspects  of culture.

16. Area Studies Approach Here, culture learning is seen as learning  about the history, geography and  institutions of the target language country. Cultural competence is viewed as  knowledge about the country. This knowledge can be acquired without  the study of the target language.

17. Culture as Societal Norms Cultural competence here is viewed as: knowing about what people from a  given cultural group are likely to do. understanding the cultural values  placed upon certain ways of acting  or upon certain beliefs.

18. In the Societal Norms approach: Culture is presented as being  static and homogeneous.  There is a strong chance this will  lead to stereotyping.

19. Culture as Practice Here, culture is viewed as sets of  practices - as the lived experience of  individuals. Actions are seen as context-sensitive,  negotiated and highly variable. Cultural competence is seen as  the ability to interact in the target  culture in informed ways.

20. Culture as Practice takes a dynamic view of culture. Culture is recognised as being highly  variable and constantly changing. Individual members of a culture enact  the culture differently and pay  different levels of attention to the  cultural norms which operate in their  society.

21. In the Culture as Practice approach: Cultural competence is seen as a process  in which students engage right from the  beginning of their language learning. It is not something that is done later on or as an add-on extra. It is not about learners being observers of  facts that they are merely required to  recall.

22. In the Culture as Practice approach learners develop an intercultural perspective  where the culture and language in which they live the First place are made apparent alongside the target culture and language the Second place

23. Using this knowledge, learners move to an intercultural position which forms the basis for the ongoing development of their intercultural communication skills. This position is referred to as the Third Place

24. Moving to one’s Third Place is a process which is: dynamic developmental on-going It engages the learner : cognitively behaviourally affectively.

25. The Third Place is not a fixed point  common to all learners. Rather, the nature of the third place  is negotiated by each individual  learner as an intersection of the  cultural perspectives of the self and  the other.

26. Leave-taking / Notions of friendliness in South America How would you feel in this kind of situation? Why does B say the things he does? What would you do? What solution would you suggest? A. I think I’ll go home now. B. Oh, but you can’t leave  now. A. Well, I have to get up early  tomorrow morning to catch  my flight. B. That doesn’t matter. Come and watch my latest video. It’s a great movie. A. Thank you, but really I  can’t. B. No, you must… I insist…

27. Learners need to make choices about what to hold on to and what to relinquish - what to adopt and what to let pass.Teachers need to respect the integrity of their students’ informed decisions.

28. In IcLL, it is the role of teachers to help students develop the strategies of: observation exploration reflection mediation

29. The approach to culture that best supports Intercultural Language Learning is the Culture as Practice Approach.

30. In summary, IcLL involves: teaching students to look for the invisible  cultural features of another language. teaching them about their own language  and culture by contrasting it to the target  language and culture. teaching them how to distance themselves  from their own language and culture and  see them for what are - just one possible  world view but not the only world view.

31. Ultimately, what does IcLL involve for teachers? For teachers, it means developing an  overall stance, an orientation, a way of  work as curriculum designers and  teachers. Teachers need to address the ways in  which culture learning will be practised  by learners.

32. What does it involve for students? For students, it involves encouraging them to develop a similar stance which will assist them towards the development of intercultural sensitivity.

33. Sources for Intercultural Language Learning: Report on Intercultural Language Learning Anthony Liddicoat, Leo Papademetre, Angela Scarino, Michelle Kohler July 2003 Striving for the Third Place : Intercultural Competence through Language Education Joseph Lo Bianco, Anthony Liddicoat, Chantal Crozet Teaching Invisible Culture : Classroom practice and Theory Edited by Joseph Lo Bianco and Chantal Crozet