teaching culture through an intercultural competence approach (2)

7/30/2019 Teaching Culture Through an Intercultural Competence Approach (2)

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Maricela Astudillo P.

Daniella Muoz R.

Teaching English through an Intercultural Approach

Detected problems:

Students have little exposure to authentic texts. And much of the

material lacks context.

As the learners study tourism, they are supposed to deal with

national and foreign tourists. But they dont have much

information about other cultures.

Solutions:

Work with real examples of cross-cultural encounters.

Use the Intercultural approach to assure successful internationalcommunication.

Theoretical Framework: Intercultural Approach to achieveIntercultural competence

According to Cortazzi and Jin (1999):The term culture can, of course, have different meanings. Somelanguage teachers use the term to refer to cultural products (e.g literaryworks or works of art). Others use it to refer to background information(e.g facts about the history or geography of countries where the targetlanguage is spoken). Here the term culture includes such aspects, but it

also includes behavior and attitude, and the social knowledge thatpeople use to interpret experience.The former authors also mention the importance of becoming aware ofdiffering cultural frameworks to interpret targetlanguage messages in aproper way.

Kramsch (1993) explains that one of the goals regarding culture inlanguage teaching is:

Establishing a sphere of interculturality: Learning culture is more thanjust the transfers of information between cultures. The process of

learning entails a reflection on ones own culture as well as the targetculture.

Cortazzi and Jin (1999) also argue that apart from the four aspects ofcommunicative competence (grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse,and strategic competences), there should be included interculturalcompetence.


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Daniella Muoz R.*Communicative competence is the ability to use the language correctlyand appropriately to accomplish communication goals.

Intercultural competence is the ability for successful communication withpeople of other cultures. This ability can exist already at a young age, or

be developed and improved thanks to willpower and competence. Thebases for a successful intercultural communication are emotionalcompetence, together with intercultural sensitivity. (Chaney & Martin,1995)

A cultural focus on intercultural competence has communicative ends,but there are further important advantages: It may not only encouragethe development of identity of identity, but also encourage theawareness of others identities and an element of stabilization in a worldof rapid pace. (Hinkel, 1995)

Culture content in Language teaching materials:

Cortazzi and Jin (1999) claim that there are three basic types of culturalinformation that we can encounter in language textbooks and materials:

Source Culture Materials: The use of the learners own culture ascontent in order to make it familiar to them (Chilean society andculture)

Target Culture Materials: The use of the culture of a country inwhich English is spoken as an L1. (United States, Great Britain,

Australia, etc.) International Target Culture Materials: The use of a wide range of

materials from a variety of cultures around the world which can beEnglish or non- English-speaking countries.

Adaskou, Britten, and Fahsi (1990): Using culture can promoteinternational understanding, deepen an understanding of ones ownculture, facilitate learners visits to foreign countries, and motivatelearners.

Kramsch (1993) argues that knowing about a culture (cultural

competence) does not mean that one has an obligation to behave inaccordance with its conventions.

Advantages and disadvantages of using source culture materialsand target culture materials


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Daniella Muoz R.

Advantages DisadvantagesSource CultureMaterials

- Students knowabout their own

culture so they canparticipate morebecause they havemuch more to say.- It is easier forteachers to preparematerials. (If theteacher belongs tothe Source Culture)

- Teachers and

students can learnmore about their ownculture

- Students arealready familiarized

with the topics, sostudents might notbe interested.

Target CultureMaterials

- As the targetlanguage is new andstudents are curious,they might havemore interest in it.This could encouragestudents to studyEnglish more.

- It increases studentsgeneral knowledgeabout differentcultures and aboutthe world.

- Culturalconflicts.- Few resourcesfor teachers todraw on to helpstudents.- It can beirrelevant or

uninteresting forsome students.

InternationalTarget CultureMaterials

- Students feel thatthey can use Englishin any situation orcontext

- It providesstudents backgroundinformation aboutother cultures aroundthe world.

- Few resourcesfor teachers todraw on to helpstudents.

-It can be

irrelevant oruninteresting forsome students.

English as an International Language


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Daniella Muoz R.

Smith (1976) maintains that in the acquisition of an internationallanguage:

a. learners do not need to internalize the cultural norms of

native speakers of the language,

b. the ownership of an international language becomesdenationalized, and

c. the educational goal of learning the language is to enablelearners to communicate their ideas and culture to others.

Prodromou (1988) claims that culture is not a motivating topic forstudents. This is because of:

How the culture learning is presented in ELT books:

Anglo-centric

Unrealistic

He adds that when both the materials that we use and the waywe use it are culturally alienating then, inevitably, the studentsswitch off, retreat into their inner world, to defend their ownintegrity (ibid.:80).

Role-playThe aim of this activity is that the learners experience and identifyothers cultures features, different social customs and non-verbalcommunication styles. Moreover, they have to recognize underlyingvalues in the performance.

Procedure:

Before this activity, students read and talked about certain cultures anddifferent countries etiquettes. So each learner will be given a role cardwith the information of a particular country (meeting and greetings,

corporate culture, body language, etc).

1. Explain learners that they come from different countries and theyare supposed to meet in the airport. Only the person who has thecard will know the country it comes from. (it doesnt have to bementioned until the end of the activity)


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Daniella Muoz R.2. All they have to do is to know one another a little by talking briefly

about their culture. (the teacher will say change after someminutes of dialogue, so they can talk to everybody)

3. After that, students have to guess the nationality of their partners.

To know if it was complicated for them to recognize culturesetiquettes.

4. They are given a set of questions that will be discussed in group.

Questions for the follow-up discussion:

What sort of conflicts did you have in your encounter?What caused (or could have caused) conflicts?What is the role of physical contact?Are there any similarities between your culture and any of these threecultures?

What are some of the differences?Which culture did you find the strangest of all?What else would you like to learn about these cultures?How did you feel while you were participating in the game?

5. Ask your students if they have ever had interculturalmisunderstandings with people from other cultures or tell themabout your own experience.

You come from Japan.In my country:

You like to meet foreigners, butyou really dislike being touchedby strangers.

You tend to avoid direct eyecontact when you first meetpeople.

You dont show affection inpublic.

Silence is a natural andexpected form of non-verbalcommunication.

You come from India.In your country:

People dont stand closebecause you value personalspace

It is considered rude to smokein the presence of elders.

You always arrive 15-30minutes later than the statedtime for a meeting.

The host pays for guests in arestaurant.

You come from the United States.In my country:

We smile a great deal, even atstrangers. We like to have oursmiles returned.

Eye contact is important whenshaking someones hand.

We are generally uncomfortable

You come from Brazil.In my country:

Physical contact is part ofsimple communication. You alsostand extremely close to oneanother.

Women kiss twice -- once oneach cheek -- if they are


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Daniella Muoz R.with same-sex touching,especially between males.

It is rude to interrupt someonewho is talking.

married. Single women add athird kiss.

You are expressive andpassionate conversationalist.

You tend to interrupt the otherswhile speaking.

Possible Problems: Students may not have the English level sufficient to maintain a

conversation entirely in English, and they may switch to Spanish. Students may not feel comfortable speaking in English.

Possible Solutions: Review of chunks that can help students to maintain a

conversation more fluent.

The creation of a good learning environment through positiveevidence and not overcorrecting students.

Bibliography:

Cortazzi, M. & Jin, L. (1999). Cultural mirrors: materials and methods inthe EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in second languageteaching (pp. 196-219). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Corbet, J. (2003). An International Approach to English LanguageTeaching.

McKay, S. L. (2003). The Cultural Basis of Teaching English as anInternational Language. TESOL matters 13 (4): 1,6.

International Journal of Applied Linguistics, vol. 13, N. 1, 2003 1

teaching culture through an intercultural competence approach (2)

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