Using Technology for Imparting Inter-cultural Competence

1. Using Technology for Imparting Inter-cultural Competence Rajiv Saxena February 24, 2011 | @ Ohio University

2. Concept and illustration Inter-cultural communication and digital technology: Prospects & challenges Page 2

3. Objective Inter-cultural communication – is our aim Inter-active –communication is the way Inter-nalization – by the students is the goal Inter-net – is the medium Page 3

4. Cultural communications breakdown • A General Motors auto ad with "Body by Fisher" became "Corpse by Fisher" in Flemish. • A Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste named "Cue" was advertised in France before anyone realized that Cue also happened to be the name of a widely circulated pornographic book about oral sex. • Pepsi Cola's "Come Alive With Pepsi" campaign, when it was translated for the Taiwanese market, conveyed the unsettling news that, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave." • Parker Pen could not advertise its famous "Jotter" ballpoint pen in some languages because the translation sounded like "jockstrap" pen. • One American airline operating in Brazil advertised that it had plush "rendezvous lounges" on its jets, unaware that in Portuguese (the language of Brazil) "rendezvous" implies a special room for having sex. Page 4

5. Intercultural Misunderstanding(USA-Japan) • On Prime Minister Sato's 1969 trip to Washington, President Nixon insisted that Japan exercise export restrain. Mr. Sato's classic reply, delivered with a heavenward glance, was, 'Zenshoshimasu'. • Literally translated as, 'I will do my best,' the expression really means, 'No way.' Nixon naturally understood it to mean that he had his guest's agreement. When there was no practical follow-up he denounced Sato as a liar. • But unlike Americans, who expect yes or no answers, Japanese are quite happy with the gray areas. 'They hate no, and they hate 'yes'. • Raymond Cohen ( 1997 ). Negotiating Across Cultures. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 113. Page 5

6. How to avoid cultural break-downs? • Imbibing (culture) • Educating (students) • Immersion (by students via internet or stay) • Interactive contact • All this is possible in the virtual world of the internet Page 6

7. Negotiating stereotypes • Avoiding stereotypes is essential. • Materials and books are topical and typical • in their treatment of cultural issues. • Creating awareness of the “other” • culture is the key. Page 7

8. Case study: an Indian experience • Ooh se aahatak(in Hindi) • One of the leading multinational pharmaceutical company Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK) has its presence in over 100 countries. In 2004 launched an Advertisement for IODEX "Pain should not come in the way of your life"in Hindi "Ooh se aahatak” forquick relief from pains and sprains. • Ooh in Hindi signifies the expression of pain. • Aahain Hindi signifies the expression of joy. • The literal translation in English is from pain to joy. • A perfect blend within the Indian culture. Page 8

9. Case study: an Indian experience • Ooh se aahatak(in Hindi) • “Pain should not come in the way of your life” (in English) • Impact Assessment Page 9

10. Language Policy in USA The National Standards for Foreign Language Education (1996). Five Cs: Communication: communicate in languages other than English Cultures: gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures Connections: connect with other disciplines and acquire information Comparisons: develop insight into the nature of language and culture Communities: participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world. Page 10

11. Technology for reinforcing classroom teaching E.mails Chat room Audio and video conferencing, MOO (Multiple-User, Object Oriented Domain) Audio-graphics and lately Mobile learning applications like cell phones and Instant messaging. Page 11

12. Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) • Synchronous: real-time and on-line interaction like • chat, video conferencing etc. • Asynchronous: e.mail, MOO • (Multiple-User, Object Oriented Domain) spaces, etc. • Both can be structured or unstructured discourse and communication as per requirement of the class or the students. Page 12

13. Asynchronous, Synchronous & CMC • Asynchronous and synchronous CMC have different • discourse features which may be exploited for different • pedagogical purposes’ Sotillo (2000:82) • “… few of the programs on the market are intellectually • challenging and many give simplistic views of foreign • cultures…” (Clark: 2001) • The solution is for instructors to devise their own multimedia lessons that today’s communication technology makes possible Page 13

14. Advantages “… email and asynchronous chats build community (teacher-students, student-student, student-native speakers) and … students from different cultures open up in and out of class when email become available” (Chickering, Ehrmann: 2002) Page 14

15. Tools for language teaching-I • WebCT • Blackboard • Hot Potatoes • Testmaker Page 15

16. Tools for language teaching-II • Hot Potatoes by the University of Victoria • (http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/index.htm?hotpot/licence.htm). • WebSpeak is another authoring system with funds from The Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning and the Harvard University’s Provost Fund for Infrastructural Technology. • Instructors can also take advantage of commercial systems like Wimbaand Divace for providing listening practice and testing opportunities for their students. • Learning management systems (LMS), such as WebCT and Blackboard, feature an intuitive interface. An LMS provides a great deal of built-in functionality useful to language learning, such as group/individual communication tools, drill and practice, and assignment submission/management (Goodwin-Jones and Murphy-Judy, 2006:61). Page 16

17. MOO projects • Free download of Pueblo (for Windows)client and MUDDweller(for Mac)for a dual welcome and activity screen http://moo.hawaii.edu/Clients.html • EnCore has a tripartite screen and provides ease of navigation andmanipulation of particular items. • EnCore supported MOOs are: • ATHEMOO: http://moo.hawaii.edu:7000/ • Dreistadt: http://cmc.uib.no:7001/ • Lingua MOO: http://lingua.utdallas.edu:7000/ • MOOlin Rouge: http://cmc.uib.no:9000/ • MOOssiggang MOO: http://moo.vassar.edu:7000/ • SchMOOze University: http://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:9000/ Page 17

18. Web pages of other MOOs • College Town: http://www.bvu.edu/ctwon/ • Diversity University: http://moo.dumain.du.org:8000/ • GrassRoots MOO: http://www.enabling.org/grassroots/ • MOO Francais: http://www.umsl.edu/~moosproj/moofrancais.html • enCore: http://lingua.utdallas.edu/encore • MundoHispano: http://umsl.edu/~moosproj/mundo.html Page 18

19. Podcasting Can easily be used by teachers to provide extracts of authentic audio-visual material. Stanley has produced for study of English as a Foreign Language: http://themetourism.blogspot.com Steve Evans, teaching at British Council in Madrid created this: http://mylcpodcasts.blogspot.com where students listened to dialogues ‘about what other people thought about what they thought was the truth about the Spanish diet, tapas and siestas’. This had a strong motivating effect on the students who then decided to produce a podcast of their own on aspects of Spanish lifestyle. Page 19

20. Spanish Without Walls • On-line courses like Spanish Without Walls launched by Robert Blake in UC-Davis has proven additional advantages for cultural and grammatical achievement for students • The sampling of material using multi-media Tesorosand the on-line courseware has resulted in the finding that students “negotiated through meanings with the native speakers” (Blake and Delforge, 2006: 138-9) Page 20

21. The Cultura project Launched by MIT, USA in association with EcoleSupérieured´Aéronatique de Tolouse, Institut National des Télécommunications and Université de Paris II – Panthéon-Assas. The cross-cultural awareness of the American and French students is being explored and enhanced. “Our own culture is opaque... so we are faced with double invisibility”. Page 21

22. Gateway to China The John Hopkins University in unique partnership with the Blue Shoes Technologies, has developed a series of easily adaptable, integrated multimedia templates within an effective and powerful multimedia courseware package for use in language programs nationwide. Page 22

23. Negotiating cross-culturally Müller-Hartmann (2000), Furstenburg et. al. (2001), Liaw and Johnson (2001) have found that “cultural differences sometimes hindered effective communication” and … participants strove to bridge ‘cultural gaps’ through different discourse strategies… Page 23

24. Technology for cultural bridges “In the hands of professors who know what they are doing, online instruction is superior to face to face instruction. It appears that synchronous electronic discourse is more efficient in terms of time on task than ordinary classroom discourse.” (Sotillo, 2000:83) Page 24

25. Bridging cultural gaps-I Donnell King suggests some general guidelines for bridging the gap between different cultures: Seek information about the culture. Knowledge is power. Prejudice stems from ignorance…do your homework, don't make assumptions. Be other-oriented. As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, we're not in Kansas anymore. You can no longer rely on the assumptions of your own cultural heritage. This is not to tear down the value of your own culture; it is to make you aware of the richness that is available to you in other viewpoints. This also does not mean to try to be something you are not. It does mean allowing the other to be whomever s/he is rather than who you think that person should be. Page 25

26. Bridging cultural gaps-II Ask questions. Be prepared to share information about yourself, and be sensitive in the way you ask (you don't want to be perceived as prying). But open communication helps in reducing the uncertainty that is present in any relationship. Develop mindfulness. This is another way of saying "be aware." Acknowledge that there is a connection between thoughts and deeds, and become aware of your own thinking and assumptions. Be conscious. Be active, not reactive. Be aware of your own self-talk. Page 26

27. Bridging cultural gaps-III Develop flexibility. Tolerate ambiguity. Communicating with someone from another culture produces uncertainty, which can be uncomfortable. Learn to tolerate the discomfort until you come out on the other side. Avoid negative judgments. Resist thinking that your culture has all the answers. It has its strengths; so do other cultures. Page 27

28. Computer Mediated Intercultural Communication All the tools and modalities discussed herein can easily be utilized by the instructors for structured or un-structured activities beyond the class for promoting Inter-active Inter-action and Inter-cultural communication between students and Native Speakers This will result in our aim of Technology Enabled Cultural Communication (TECC) Page 28

29. Mahatma Gandhi I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. Page 29

30. Thank You Rajiv Saxena Assistant Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India @Ohio University| February 24, 2011