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Intercultural Competence for Citizenship in English Language Teaching: a Portuguese study

Intercultural Competence for Citizenship in English Language Teaching: a Portuguese study. 3rd International Conference on Teaching English as a Foreign Language FCSH, 27th November 2010 Lisbon Sofia Araújo (MA English Studies). babel (n.)- a confusion of voices and other sounds.

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Intercultural Competence for Citizenship in English Language Teaching: a Portuguese study

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  1. Intercultural Competence for Citizenship in English Language Teaching: a Portuguese study 3rd International Conference on Teaching English as a Foreign Language FCSH, 27th November 2010 Lisbon Sofia Araújo (MA English Studies)

  2. babel (n.)- a confusion of voices and other sounds • Why are all these languages so confusing? • Language and Culture To understand language, you have to understand that differences in language go well beyond what you find in the grammar and the dictionary. Communication in today’s world requires culture. Problems in communication are rooted in who you are, in encounters with a different mentality, different meanings, a different tie between language and consciousness. Agar (1994: 16/23)

  3. Language expresses and embodies cultural reality: • people create experiences through language • facts, ideas, experiences that others share • tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions, etc.

  4. Culture is like an iceberg (Ting-Toomey, 1999: 10) • It hides much more than it reveals* • The multilevel nature of culture Language, food, appearance… Communication styles, beliefs, values, attitudes, perceptions… Edward Hall (1990: 29)

  5. Languages spread across cultures and cultures spread across languages* • Linguistic and cultural practices change • Transnational patterns of migration and markets • Transnational dynamics in a global perspective Risager (2006: 2)

  6. Culture is the thousand people sitting in your seat* • Communication is of key importance in the modern world • Factors: Globalisation International Migration (Appadurai’s ethnoscapes and global flows) enhanced culturally diverse societies *Pederson (in Sen Gupta, 2003: 156)

  7. Living in the Global Ecumene* • Overlapping communities of fate (Held, 1999: 445, 2001) Communities local regional national international virtual *Hannerz (1992: 217)

  8. Intercultural Communication and Citizenship • However it seems as if the intercultural encounter is an inevitable part of the Global Village, and therefore our duty as educators is to strive towards developing a suitable pedagogy for this experience. Sen Gupta (2003: 171) The idea of “Intercultural” underpins related concepts Education for citizenship is one response to the political and social realities of globalisation

  9. Cosmopolitan democracy and citizenship education: • bringing to class the wide variety of experiences that learners can bring to their education • educating for citizenship to citizens-in-waiting Cosmopolitan citizenship: a way of being citizen at any level Osler and Starkey (2003, 2005)

  10. local regional national international virtual

  11. The concept of citizenship is pivotal • Schools as settings for socialisation and development of citizens • Central concern- strengthening social cohesion and more active participation by citizens in social and political life

  12. Plurilingualism: an important tool for educating for democratic citizenship • Language education: • flexible content • ranges from literature to debates • media studies • or diversified activities on focus topics

  13. The transnationality of English • The world has opted for English Hindmarsch, (1978: 42) • An amazing world resource* • Unprecedented possibilities for mutual understanding* • An opportunity to enter the languaging of others# A gateway to other cultures and languages Intercultural and citizenship skills can be exercised *Crystal (1997: xiii) #Phipps and Gonzalez (2004: 3)

  14. English as a tool for citizenship • English as an international language and a cross-cultural communication tool • An asset: • When dominant languages such as English are learned subtractively, … they become killer languages. The task for users of English is to stop it being a killer language and change it to an additive asset. Skutnabb-Kangas, 2004

  15. Intercultural Competence for Citizenship in ELT

  16. Learning to live together • Bringing together the hitherto separate concerns of citizenship and language teachers (Byram, 2006: 127) + • Development of a sense of world citizenship (Moreira, 2006) + • English as (…) a way of accessing multiple cultural worlds(Moreira in Vieira, 2002: 127) + • Exposing students to other equally worthwhile ways of life(Bell, 1995: 12)

  17. The intercultural English teacher • Concerned with other languages and cultures, besides English speaking; • Encouraging democratic and cosmopolitan citizenship • Less concerned with the grammatrical and structural components of the language teaching process • Integrative view of language teaching: • Educating the person as a whole and not just the academic • Global concerns • Learning how to think and act globally at a local level

  18. Questionnaires: teachers and students

  19. Teachers’ results • Cultural contents and linguistic skills – no consensus; • Learning to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds; • Intercultural and Citizenship education are central concerns in ELT;

  20. Students’ Results: • Grammatical rules: the most important side of learning English; • Desire to learn more about other peoples and lifestyles; • Cultural contents – use the course book Objectives • A better job perspective

  21. Course books: results • Course book is used every day; • Used when approaching cultural topics; • Cultural contents of the course book meet their expectations; • Need to prepare aditional teaching materials; • Habitual cultural contents in course books: English speaking countries.

  22. We live in a world of things seen, (…) we “swim” in a sea of images (…) • (…) these images help shape our perceptions of the world and ourselves. Berger (1998: 1/4)

  23. Log in 10 5 units 240 pages 304 pictures New Aerial 11 4 units 224 pages 327 pictures Course books – pictorial content • Categories • Euro-American culture • Other cultures • Civic and social issues

  24. Euro-American culture • Famous people • Teenagers • Films • Music • Gadgets • Food • Activities • Objects • Familiar, contemporary and media-constructed

  25. Other cultures • Other cultural realities Civic and social issues • Citizenship education • Environment • Racism • Discrimination • Xenophobia • The homeless • Immigration • People with special needs

  26. 2- Log in page 15- “The Holiday” film- Jude Law and Cameron Diaz 25- Log in 10 page 214 11- Log in 10 page 54 21- Log in 10 page 167 Log in 10 – 304 picturesEuro-American culture – 302 pictures • Examples: 18- Log in 10 page 170- Destiny’s Child

  27. 22- Log in 10 page 179 Other cultures – 1 picture

  28. 6- Log in 10 page 29 Civic and social issues – 1 picture

  29. Fig. 59- Log in 10- Overview Log in 10 – Overview

  30. 13- New Aerial 11 page 62 16- New Aerial 11 page 84 5- New Aerial 11 page 28 3- New Aerial 11 page 49- U2 New Aerial 11 – 327 picturesEuro-American culture – 282 pictures • Examples: 22- New Aerial 11 page 139

  31. 17- New Aerial 11 page 85 7- New Aerial 11 page 20 23- New Aerial 11 page 126- Vietnam 24- New Aerial 11 page 128 6- New Aerial 11 page 27 Other cultures –20 • Examples:

  32. 9- New Aerial 11 page 16 8- New Aerial 11 page 33 Civic and social issues – 25 pictures • Examples:

  33. New Aerial 11 – Overview Fig. 64- New Aerial 11- Overview

  34. Fig. 65- Log in 10 and New Aerial 11 overview Log in 10 and New Aerial 11 overview

  35. Conclusion • Rethink pictorial content of course books • Appropriate training for teachers • A new perspective: English teacher Intercultural teacher of English • English as a school subject: English Intercultural English

  36. Bibliography • AGAR, M. (1994) Language Shock – understanding the culture of communication, New York: HarperCollins. • BELL, G. H. (ed) (1995) Educating European Citizens,London: David Fulton Publishers Ltd. • BERGER, Arthur A. (1998) Seeing is believing- An Introduction to Visual Communication, USA: Mayfield Publishing Company. • BYRAM, M. et al (ed) (2006) Education for Intercultural Citizenship- Concepts and Comparisons, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. • CRYSTAL, D. (1997) English as a Global Language, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. • HALL, E. (1990) The Silent Language, New York: Anchor Books. • HANNERZ, U. (1992) Cultural Complexity - Studies in Social Organization of Meaning, New York: Columbia University Press. • HELD, D. et al (1999) Global Transformations – Politics, Economics and Culture, Stanford: Stanford University Press. • HELD, D. (2001) Violence and Justice in a Global Age (online) http://www.opendemocracy.net/forum/strands home.asp on 14th September 2007. • MOREIRA, G. (2006) “Globality and Interculturality in the Teaching of English”. in Bizarro, R. (ed) A Escola e a Diversidade Cultural, Lisboa: Areal Editores. • MOREIRA, G. (2002) “The socio-cultural dimension: learning – teaching – programming” in VIEIRA, F. (ed) Pedagogy for Autonomy and English Learning: Proceedings of the 1st Conference of the Working Group – Pedagogy for Autonomy. Braga: Universidade do Minho. • OSLER, A. & STARKEY, H. (2003) “Learning for Cosmopolitan Citizenship – theoretical debates and young peoples experiences”. Educational Review, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 243-254. • OSLER, A. and STARKEY, H. (2005) Changing Citizenship. Democracy and Inclusion in Education, Berkshire: Open University Press. • RISAGER, K. (1999) “Language and Culture: Disconnection and Reconnection” in VESTERGAARD, T (ed) Language, Culture and Identity, Aalborg, Denmark: Aalborg University Press. • SEN GUPTA, A. (2003) “Changing the focus: A Discussion of the Dynamics of the Intercultural Experience” in BYRAM, M. et al (eds) Intercultural Experience and Education, Clevedon: Cromwell Press. • SKUTNABB-KANGAS, T. (2004) “Murder that is a threat to survival” in The Guardian Weekly (online) • TING-TOOMEY, S.C. (1999) Communicating across Cultures, New York: Guilford Press.http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/mar/22/tefl3 on 28th February 2007.

  37. Questions, suggestions, opinions • sofiaraujo76@gmail.com Thank you

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