scholarly journals Joe’s Laundry: Using Critical Incidents to Develop Intercultural and Foreign Language Competence in Study Abroad and Beyond

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Tama Lea Engelking
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Training Tool

The development of intercultural competence and foreign language skills in study abroad and the FL classroom is often seen as an either/or proposition due to lack of time, training or the availability of materials in the target language. The Critical Incident method (CI) provides an example of an intercultural training tool that can link these competencies in ways that are developmentally appropriate for the FL and IC levels of the students. This method uses authentic intercultural mishaps to develop critical thinking skills as students reflect on the cultural values and attitudes underlying the experience. Drawing on research in study abroad FL pedagogy, this paper describes the CI method, provides a review of best practices in the context of study abroad, and develops an example of a CI from a study abroad program in France to illustrate how cultural incidents can be used to promote both intercultural and foreign language competence.

scholarly journals Maltese as a foreign language educators’ acquisition of intercultural capabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Żammit
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Aspects

AbstractThis study sought to understand how teachers of Maltese as a foreign language (MFL) develop intercultural capabilities by exploring the importance of intercultural competence (IC) to MFL teachers, the characteristics of interculturally competent MFL educators, and the ways in which educators develop IC. The study adopted the interpretivist paradigm and a case study research design to collect qualitative data. Seventeen MFL teachers of adult learners were purposefully selected because they all taught MFL to non-native adults. These educators were interviewed, by answering the researcher’s ten unstructured questions. A smartphone was used to record the interviewees. Findings regarding the perceptions of the teachers who were interviewed are as follows. Firstly, the participants stated that IC is important for MFL teachers because it helps them to embrace diversity, to help adult learners to learn the target language (i.e. Maltese) better, and to be sensitive and accommodative to learners from different backgrounds. Secondly, according to the participants, an interculturally capable person is one who knows their own culture and others’ cultural aspects, respects and accepts other cultures. It was also found that teachers develop intercultural capabilities through learning at a school and by visiting other countries and being immersed in the cultures of those countries. The implications of the findings as supported by existing literature, are that IC is important for foreign language teachers and as a result, intercultural training, learning through interactions with others and visits to other countries are necessary to develop intercultural capabilities.

scholarly journals Maltese as a Foreign Language Educator’s Acquisition of Intercultural Capabilities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Zammit
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Foreign Language Teachers ◽  
Cultural Aspects

Abstract This study sought to understand how teachers of Maltese as a foreign language (MFL) develop intercultural capabilities by exploring the importance of intercultural competence to MFL teachers, the characteristics of interculturally competent MFL educators, and how educators develop intercultural competence. The study adopted the interpretivist paradigm and a case study research design to collect qualitative data. Seventeen MFL teachers of adult learners were purposefully selected and interviewed. Findings regarding the perceptions of the teachers who were interviewed are as follows. Firstly, the participants stated that intercultural competence is important for MFL teachers because it helps them to embrace diversity, to help adult learners to learn the target language (i.e. Maltese) better, and to be sensitive and accommodative to learners from different backgrounds. Secondly, according to the participants, an interculturally capable person is one who knows their own culture and others’ cultural aspects, respects and accepts other cultures. It was also found that teachers develop intercultural capabilities through learning at a school and by visiting other countries and being immersed in the cultures of those countries. The implications of the findings as supported by existing literature, are that intercultural competence is important for foreign language teachers and as a result, intercultural training, learning through interactions with others and visits to other countries are necessary to develop intercultural capabilities.

scholarly journals BUILDING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE. WHAT AFFECTS THE SUCCESS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION?

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (34) ◽  
Author(s):  
N.L TIKHOMIROVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Method Comparison ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Pedagogical Research

Objective of the article is to analyze parts of intercultural competence and to develop a system of intercultural exercises and experimentally test its efficiency. To check that teaching Russian as a foreign language using this system positively affects the success of intercultural communication. Applied methods . Description method; method of analysis; generalization and systematization; experimental pedagogical research method; comparison method. Results . There is no unified model of intercultural competence in language teaching. The main criteria for the success of the intercultural competence are its relevance and effectiveness. Conclusion . It has been experimentally confirmed that students living in the country of the target language and undergoing special intercultural training gain an increase in communicative competence. Possible areas for further work may be the creation of a textbook (system of intercultural exercises), the development of online trainings.

scholarly journals Promoting intercultural competence in study abroad students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Tarchi ◽  
Alessio Surian
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Active Control ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Short Intervention ◽  
Study Abroad Students

AbstractUniversities have been promoting study abroad programmes for a long time to improve intercultural competence. However, the mere exposure to cultural differences while studying abroad does not ensure intercultural competence, unless study abroad students’ reflective processes are explicitly targeted. The article presents the results of a short intervention grounded in the problem-based approach aimed at improving intercultural competence in study abroad students. Students were assigned to three conditions: a video-log condition (in which they have to narrate a critical incident occurred to them), a reflection-induced video-logs (in which they were prompted to reflect on the video-logs produced), and an active control condition. The reflection-induced video-log intervention improved students’ perceived proficiency in Italian and perceived opportunities for cultural reflection, but it did not contribute to improve students’ applicable and conceptual knowledge of intercultural competence.

scholarly journals Wirklichkeitsnah oder stereotyp? Das Bild von Dänemark und den Dänen in ausgewählten deutschen Lehrbüchern für Dänisch als Fremdsprache

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-104
Author(s):  
Józef Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Transfer Of Knowledge ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Communication Situations ◽  
Successful Transfer

Abstract The contemporary teaching of foreign languages assumes the development of the ability to use a foreign language in different communication situations. Apart from language competence, also the cultural competence is developed as it is a necessary component of communication. A successful transfer of knowledge and language skills in the process of foreign language learning is determined by a textbook (in addition to other factors). The goal of this article is to analyze the content and assess three Danish textbooks, which were published in Germany in the years 2008-2010. The textbooks are examined in terms of knowledge about Danish life and institutions, the transfer of intercultural competence and the presence of stereotypes. The textbooks were studied based on the list of criteria and it resulted in stating that the textbooks fulfill the objective of providing the knowledge about the country to a great degree. The intercultural component and the issue of stereotypes are dealt with in a different manner.

Networking-Based Strategies of Intercultural Communicative Competence Development Among Kazakhstani University Students

2019 ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Azamat Akbarov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Intercultural Understanding ◽  
Intercultural Awareness ◽  
Language Communication

This chapter presents an empirical study of the intercultural communicative competence of students of Kazakhstani universities. The study results indicate that students should develop their cultural knowledge, intercultural receptivity, communication strategies, intercultural awareness etc. A number of issues related to the formation of intercultural competence in the process of teaching foreign-language communication, taking into account the cultural and mental differences of the native speakers, which is a necessary condition for a successful dialogue of cultures are also discussed. The concept of communicative competence in teaching foreign languages stipulates development of students' knowledge, skills and abilities that enable them to join the ethno-cultural values of the country of the studied language and use the foreign language in situations of intercultural understanding and cognition in practice. Conjunction of such knowledge, skills and abilities constitutes communicative competence. Based on the results of the research, proposals are made for the curriculum and teaching of intercultural communication and methods of developing intercultural communicative competence of students of Kazakhstan universities in a networked environment.

scholarly journals Pedagogical conditions for the formation of foreign-language sociocultural competence of cadets of educational organizations of the Federal Penal Service of Russia

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 01016
Author(s):  
Nina Shilina ◽  
Galina Aksenova ◽  
Irina Ganishina ◽  
Polina Aksenova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction ◽  
Educational Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Common

Currently it is necessary to learn cultures of other people, and it is therefore important to find new areas and forms of cultural cooperation. One way to meet these challenges is to learn foreign languages. The sociocultural component in the content of foreign language instruction plays a significant role in the development of the cadets personality, as it provides an opportunity not only to familiarize themselves with the heritage of the country’s culture of its target language country, but also to compare it with the cultural values of his country, which contributes to the formation of the common culture of a cadet. The relevance of problem of the formation of foreign-language sociocultural competence of cadets of the educational organizations of the Federal Penal Service (FPS) of Russia is defined by the social order of society which found the reflection in the Concept of Development of the Penal system of the Russian Federation till 2020 and also it is defined by the increased requirements of acquisition of a foreign language and search of the ways of the formation of foreign-language sociocultural competence promoting formation of bases intellectual, the cultural, professional and communicative developed identity of a specialist.

Variable future-time reference in French: A comparison of learners in a study-abroad and a foreign-language context

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad ◽  
Amanda Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency Test

AbstractThis study seeks to advance understanding of second-language (L2) acquisition of future-time reference in French, by comparing the developmental trajectories of learners living in and away from the target-language setting. Study-abroad learners in France (n= 45), foreign-language learners living in the US (n= 37), and native speakers of Hexagonal French (n= 30) participated in this study. They completed a written-contextualized task, a language-proficiency test and a background questionnaire. For each written-contextualized-task item, participants selected from among three responses that differed with respect to the form (inflectional future, periphrastic future, present). Items were designed to test for the influence of three factors on the form selected: presence/absence of a lexical temporal indicator, temporal distance, and (un)certainty. Additionally, two extra-linguistic factors were examined: learning context and proficiency level. The analyses of frequency and the multinomial logistic regressions suggest that, despite developmental similarities between learning contexts, acquisitional paths of study-abroad and foreign-language learners were not identical.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Cultural Research Course Project on Foreign Language Students’ Intercultural Competence and Language Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Yingqin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Language Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Foreign Language Students

This study explores whether using a cultural research course project can positively impact foreign language students’ intercultural competence and language learning. Using a case study method, the researchers recruited 12 student participants from an Intermediate Mandarin Chinese I class and from an Introduction to Mandarin Chinese I class in the Fall 2014 semester at a small public southwest university in USA. The project asked the participants to do a PowerPoint oral presentation on special topics from the target language culture and then to write a reflective cultural comparison English essay on this learning experience during the final exam. The findings show that, through doing the project, the students have improved their intercultural competence in that they have a more positive attitude towards “otherness,” enriched their cultural knowledge of the target language society and  that of their own, and obtained skills in critically appreciating and evaluating both similarities and differences  between the target language culture and their own. The students also expanded their language learning experience beyond the classroom and textbook and acquired better language skills in listening, speaking, and writing Chinese characters while they became more interested in and motivated by learning the target language and culture. Recommendations for future study are discussed.

scholarly journals Culture Studies: A Bridge from Native Cultural Content to Learners’ Intercultural Competence

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2 (1)) ◽  
pp. 87-89
Author(s):  
Gayane Gasparyan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
New World ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Traditional Grammar ◽  
The University

In recent decades the use of communicative methods of foreign language teaching has resulted in tangible changes and teaching has focused on the content of public culture and the further development of its intercultural approach. The traditional grammar-translation method with its linguistic restrictions has developed into a wider methodology of teaching based on the model of “language within culture”/ “culture within language”. The use of this model gives preference to the social environment of the given language in the context of its cultural history, norms and values.The idea of the creation of a “New World” forces the learner to feel more confident in different environments of interchangeable cultures and get acquainted with new cultural values. The university teaching course Culture Studies promotes the so-called “cultural competence” and the perception of a foreign language in the extralinguistic features of “the new world” attaching special importance to the development of intercultural knowledge.

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