Teaching Intercultural Competence: Case Studies

1. Teaching Intercultural Competence: Case Studies Gateway 4 Cindy Lee

2. Contents • Case I - Elementary School Stage (1) – (5) • Case II – Secondary School Stage (1) –(5) • Conclusion • Appendix

3. Case I: Elementary School Stage (1) • Case: • An NHK English Learning Program for Japanese Elementary School Students (age 8-10 years old) • The first series of the program was shown twice a week in a 15-minute time slot • Objectives: • To Introduce international understanding as part of English language education • To develop an awareness of the multicultural and multilingual nature of the world in elementary children

4. Case I: Elementary School Stage (2) • Content: • Each program presents everyday English expressions and focuses on a key phrase and function • Stories are presented through a main Japanese character - Yuji • In the series, a wide variety of cultures, races and nationalities is deliberately presented by featuring many other guest characters from all over the world

5. Case I: Elementary School Stage (3) • Example <Program I – Greeting>: • In the program, attention is drawn to alternative forms of greeting (bowing, shaking hands, hugging) and to the common underlying significance of these gestures. • This is in response to points which often bother foreigners greeting Japanese people, details such as eye contact and ways of shaking hands.

6. Case I: Elementary School Stage (4) • Suggestions: • Young children have to be taught more knowledge of world geography in order to realise where all other guest characters come from. • Instead of repeating the key phrase to make an impression on the children, the program can exploit a even richer source of material for cultural knowledge.

7. Case I: Elementary School Stage (5) • Implications: • This series of program helps children to develop positive attitudes towards and way of thinking about one’s own and other languages and cultures. • Even though the language proficiency is minimum, the development of intercultural competence can still reach a maximum state. • Teaching intercultural understanding can be an integral and effective part of foreign/English language learning from the earliest stages.

8. Case II: Secondary School Stage (1) • Case: • Teaching intercultural competence through literature • A fictional text was used in four English sessions in the 9th grade of a German secondary school with 14-15 year-old- pupils • Objectives: • Learners can respond to a story from different perspectives • Learners can identify aspects of a foreign culture in the story and further compare their own culture

9. Case II: Secondary School Stage (2) • The Text: • The short story: ‘The Circuit’, by Francisco Jimenez • It is a story about a large family of Mexican migrant workers who are illegally moving from one harvest site in the American South to the next one. (More detailed summary please see the appendix.)

10. Case II: Secondary School Stage (3) • The Lessons, Techniques and Functions: • Give students story strips without title and the ending • Warm-up • Ask students to find a correct order of the story line • Reading Comprehension • Students write an ending for the story / write a dialogue for the scenes • Writing Exercises • Discuss the choices of the possible endings • Speaking and Listening Comprehension • Bring in cultural dimensions and discuss further • Intercultural Understanding

11. Case II: Secondary School Stage (4) • Challenges: • This approach which contains several tasks and activities costs time. • To complete the procedure takes at least 5 teaching hours. • The teacher has to guide students to discuss systematically

12. Case II: Secondary School Stage (5) • Within the lessons, pupils • Learned language skills with deep understanding of the themes in the text • Internalized the text by searching for an ending, re-writing scenes or adding scenes to the story • Had chance to share their opinions that correspond with the characters and their problems • Were aware of migration problem in the United States as well as in their own country

13. Conclusion • Educators attempt to introduce cultural and international understanding to English language teaching. • Students learned not only linguistic skills but also intercultural knowledge. • Intercultural competence can be introduced and developed from early stages throughout the learning process.

14. Appendix –“The Circuit’ by Francisco JimenezSummary by Eva Burwitz-Melzer It is a story about a large family of Mexican migrant workers who are illegally moving from one harvest site in the American South to the next one. All their belongings fit into a ramshackle car, the huge pot in which all family meals are cooked being strapped on top of it. In the first person narrative, Panchito, the second eldest child of the family , describes his life between swiftly changing harvest sites and equally rapidly changing schools. It is a new kind of Experience for him as a non-native speaker in American schools, surrounded by children who are strangers and reject him, that a kind of teacher not only offers him help in class with his English but also starts teaching him to play the trumpet. If it were not for his situation, Panchito would have a lot to look forward to in school, but he fears the day when he will have to leave again. IN the end, he returns from school full of plans and expectations only to see his family round the car packed to leave once again.

15. End Thank You !