English as a Tool to Understanding

1. English as a Tool to Understanding Oneself and Others Better

2. Pros Grammatical accuracy Spotless spelling Good command of tenses Nice pronunciation Knowledge of rules Cons Obsession with grammar Dwelling on facts Flat intonation Little emphasis on cultural awareness Teaching about culture rather than culture itself Teaching English in the Czech Republic

3. Why Teach English ? • To enable people from different parts of the world to communicate together For years this reasoning was widely accepted without questioning what communication was and, more importantly, what makes communication successful

4. Successful communication • Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: • Communication – the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information

5. Successful communication • Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: • The process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings

6. Successful communication • Macmillan English Dictionary: • The process of giving information or of making emotions or ideas known to someone

7. Communicating successfully • Agreement on giving / exchanging information. By doing so, do we necessarily communicate the same meaning, the same contents? • To find out we must look “behind” the word in different language contexts

8. Looking for meanings in different contexts

9. Looking for meanings in different contexts

10. Meaning depends on culture

11. Culture • Oxford: 1 …way of life, beliefs and attitudes about sth that people in a particular group or organization share 2 art, music, literature, etc., thought of as a group Longman: 1 the ideas, beliefs and customs shared and accepted by people in a society 2 activities related to art, music, literature etc. Macmillan: 1 a set of ideas, beliefs, and ways of behaving of a particular organization or group of people 2 activities involving music, literature, and other arts

12. Graphic arts Music Literature Film Theatre Architecture Education CAPITAL “C” CULTURE beliefs customs housing food drink leisure time clothing shopping religion sport… small “c” culture Culture and culture

13. Whatever: Angle Approach Sociological Psychological Anthropological Definition The answer: Culture is everything in us and around us, constantly changing and mutually influencing Culture and culture

14. Cultural interface

15. Why teach culture? • Makes communication more meaningful, hence more likely to be successful • Opens up: new horizons new topics new perspectives on “our” and “foreign” makes us richer, more understanding, empathetic and

16. Much more difficult to be manipulated

17. “Bridging the gap”AN INTERCULTURAL STUDIES COURSE

18. Brief Course Characteristics Type of subject: “C” – fully optional Form: seminar Number of students: min. 8 – max. 16 Frequency: 90 min/week Duration: 14 weeks Target group: pedagogic faculty students (years 1 to 5) Language of instruction: English Expected language level: intermediate and above (upon entering the course) Number of ECTS credits: 3 Condition for gaining the credits: poster presentation on a chosen topic

19. Course Aims • Exploiting English as a vehicle, not the ultimate aim • Participants’ awareness of the linguistic, paralinguistic, non-verbal and cultural aspects of interpersonal communication • Emphasis on empathy, reflection, cognitive understanding and critical detachment • Ability to compare and contrast between one’s own culture and other cultures • To step aside, to swap the insider’s look for the outsider’s when dealing with one’s own culture • To define one’s being on purely human rather than ethnocentric principles

20. Course Structure • Week 1: The WHAT, WHY and HOW in Teaching Culture • Week 2: What’s in a Name? • Week 3: “-isms” Part I (Racism, Fascism, Communism, Nationalism vs.Patriotism • Week 4: “-isms” Part II (Sexism, Ageism and Other Forms of Discrimination) • Week 5: Religions

21. Course Structure • Week 6: Stereotypes and National Stereotypes • Week 7: Values and Festivals • Week 8: Food and Drinks • Week 9: Homes and Housing • Week 10: Nonverbal Communication • Week 11: Paralinguistic Aspects of Interpersonal Communication • Week 12: Geographical Determinations in Our Lives

22. Course Structure • Week 13: Migration Then and Now and the Role of Mass Media • Week 14: Students’ Poster Presentations Course Evaluation

23. Practical Part (week 2: What’s in a Name Activity)People’s names in the Czech context Welcome on Board

24. Welcome on Board • Dear passengers, Shortly we will be landing at the Prague international airport, Ruzyně. Because of a confirmed SARS infection in the neighbouring countries, I will have to ask you to kindly fill in the landing cards. Thank you for your attention and understanding.

25. Welcome on Board • Get into groups of 3 – 6 • Take ONE slip of paper with your new group identity from the envelope • Before you start filling in the landing card, spend a minute or two discussing WHO you think you are (man/woman, country) and say if you expect any problems during your first visit to the Czech Republic

26. Welcome on Board www.arab.net/arabnames www.saigon.com www.theindependent.com/stories/082099/fea_ashanti0820.html http://allboutsikhs.com/names www.orthohelp.com/geneal/yohasin.htm www.algonet.se www.familychronicele.com/british.htm http://members.aol.com/DSSaari/saarinam.htm www.serve.com/shea/gemusa/surnames.htm

27. What’s in a Name? • Some more ideas: • Given names and one’s self-image; nick-names • Family names – variety of grammatical categories; meanings of family names • Patronymics • Yellow pages – names of “other” origin • Reasons for wanting to change one’s name in the past and now….

28. Centre for Foreign Language Training Pedagogic Faculty, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic gillovan@pdfnw.upol.cz Nora Gill