Phase 1 teacher participant example

Indonesian years 4-5

Kim Daymond

Western Australia

© Commonwealth of Australia 2007This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above, requires the prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca.

Disclaimer The views expressed in the publication do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training. Acknowledgment This work was funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme (AGQTP).

Attention! TEACHERS AT WORK!

Welcome to an example of teachers’ programmes drawn from their work during Phase 1 of the ILTLP. Teachers were asked to plan, document, teach (at least in part) and share, either a long

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term teaching programme (e.g. a semester long programme or longer) or a short term teaching programme (e.g. a unit or term long programme).

Their work is provided for you to examine, consider and make use of, in expanding your own understanding of intercultural language learning in practice. Not all programmes provided by Phase 1 teachers have been posted on this website. Some teachers did not feel comfortable with sharing their and their students work at this time, others did not manage to obtain the various permissions to include student work and photographs and others did not create programmes that fulfilled the ILTLP requirements.

What kinds of materials can you expect? You will not find models of programming that you can instantly adopt and teach among the

work posted here. That was never the intention. You will find ideas about programming that you can use, however, working in your own context.

You will not find ‘best practice’ or exemplars of definitive programmes for intercultural languages teaching and learning. You will find some outstanding approaches to programming that advance our understanding of how to make intercultural languages teaching and learning a rich and effective learning experience for students.

You may find what you regard as some errors of language use or some hints of pedagogies of which you may be critical. However, you will also find professional educators striving to make sense of their work with students, interculturality and language learning. You will find a great deal to learn from.

What this and other teachers’ programmes show are ‘teachers at work’. The Phase 1 teachers responded to their particular contexts, the curriculum and assessment frameworks they must work within, the particular demands they and their students face in languages education and their own ‘learning-by-doing’ in relation to intercultural language teaching and learning. You will see how a teacher and a group of students working together, taking account of their own identities and cultural understandings, make learning happen. The teacher profiles and reflections generously provided by these teachers provide professional insights into the interaction of programming and ‘what happened’. One teacher asks at one stage during her teaching ‘Do I know what I am looking for here?’ It’s a highly professional question about what learning looks like. It’s a question for all of us.

You will also get glimpses of pedagogies at work to bring the structure, sequence and assessment aspects of teaching into life. One teacher scratches her head and asks her children how we might categorise the groups they belong to, here in Australia and if they lived in Japan, and the words they would use. Others introduce ICT at crucial moments or involve parents and other teachers. Reading across these programmes, you will get a sense of the dynamic that teaching from an intercultural language teaching and learning stance creates, for teachers, for students, for whole schools in some cases, and for communities in others.

You will learn a great deal!

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UNDERSTANDING THE LAYOUT

Teacher participants in Phase 1 of the Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning in Practice project were asked to develop a number of sections in their programmes or units of work. These sections are explained below. Teachers prepared their programmes on an individual basis, and may not have followed these sections in the same sequence.

Teacher profile

In this section teacher participants profile their socio-cultural and linguistic enculturation, consider how this shapes teaching and learning in their programmes and how they apply this in their interactions with students.

School context

In this section teacher participants describe the context of the school and its language programmes. They may describe the demographics of the school, the languages offered, the levels at which it is taught, the number of students taking a language, the number of teachers, resources and facilities, the assessment requirements and the place of languages in the curriculum.

Programme

The programmes provided by the teacher participants in this section may be a unit of work all of which was taught in the classroom or a long term programme of which a part was taught. The module content and assessment procedures follow the teaching policies and instruments and assessment requirements of the state and territory education system.

Reflection

Here teacher participants reflect on what they learned through their programme preparation, identifying the changes that the intercultural focus necessitated in their programme planning, teaching and assessment and the impact this had on their students’ learning.

‘Hari Ali’A one year Indonesian program for Years 4/5

ContextThis program has been designed for year 4/5 students of bahasa Indonesia in Karratha, Western

Australia.

Karratha is a hot, isolated, mining town on the northwest coast of Australia, with a highly transient

population. Students at the school reflect a cultural mix of children from all states of Australia,

India, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, and of Indigenous students with a wide variety of

backgrounds.

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Teachers at the school are also highly transient, 50-75% of staff changing each year. There is also

a high proportion of newly graduated teachers. Indonesian has been taught at the school for two

years, Japanese and Chinese being the languages previously taught there. Student attitudes to

LANGUAGES are improving rapidly, and the perception that it is ‘hard and boring’ is rapidly

dwindling.

Though it is recognised that ‘We have a good Languages program here’, it is in the place of most

language programs in primary schools. It provides DOTT (Duties other than teaching) time for the

classroom teacher. Administration is not unsupportive, but shows little interest in what is

happening with Languages (unless I am in their face telling them). Past frustrations with native

speaking teachers, inability to find any Languages teacher at all- particularly in rural areas and

inconsistent department support has left Languages in a fairly poor light.

The class contains 22 beginning students and learners in both their second and third year of

language study. They have 2 x 40 minute classes per week, in a designated languages room.

There are 3 identified SAER students, 1 learner with ongoing psychological issues.

Learners work through a ‘self access’ system of language practice tasks, where they enter and

have marked off each completed activity as well as whole class activities.

Choosing the task(s)I had initially envisaged using another part of the year long program- which fitted well thematically

with what the learners had been doing. However I changed that as a result of the discussions

which came from the lead up tasks in this unit. The tasks chosen allowed for a pulling together of

language learned throughout the year, and reinforced the underlying intercultural aims.

1) AimsThis program is intended to assist learners to:

1. overcome currently held negative stereotypes of Indonesian people and cultures

(particularly of Muslims)

2. develop awareness of self and own cultures

3. expand their ability to express themselves in bahasa Indonesia

Communication

read / listen to texts about the daily lives of young people in diverse communities (text

inputs)

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talk about what they and others do, and like to do each day, and why (learner outputs)

write a card to express positive sentiments to each other

write a text about their own life/special days

Language

explore the features of text types, e.g. cards/images/magazines

extend their knowledge of language required (vocab , grammar) to explore and talk about

daily life in diverse communities

Culture

investigate what ‘special days’ are celebrated in their community/culture and in other

communities, and why.

explore traditional vs contemporary life. eg- when, where and why different clothing is worn

Interculturality

question stereotypes of diverse peoples and cultures and recognise how these influence

our views of others

reflect on and share own perspectives on self and peoples of diverse cultures and how

these views have been created

reflect on and share ideas on what aspects of ones own culture are reflected in our daily

lives, and in our ‘special days’

compare features of special days – what features are common, why/ what are

particular/why

discover and appreciate diversity in their classroom , in Indonesia, in urban/ rural settings

and within different Indonesian/ Australian cultures / regions

2) Content Language 2

Language functions

describe routine

express opinion (like/dislike/prefer)

use conjunctions

describe appearance

Language

revise and reinforce personal information vocab

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verbs for daily and special day activities

pronouns

conjunctions dan (and) tetapi (but) karena (because)

contextually appropriate nouns for clothing (pakaian), sport (olahraga), hobbies (hobi ) food

(makanan),special days (hari raya)

adjectives to describe appearance and feelings

adverbs of frequency/time/place

Language 1 words in English (and other first languages) to explore concepts- stereotype, discrimination,

perspective , identify with, traditional/contemporary

Culture

stereotypes associated with; a) Muslim people (e.g Muslim= terrorist) b) Australian people –

city / country / indigenous.

special days—celebrated by students in the class –look at how diverse these days are

across Indonesia, how reflect diff cultures and religions/compare with own.

daily routine (kegiatan sehari-hari)– the daily life of an Indonesian / Australian child.

diversity- identify and reflect on 1) negative and positive stereotypes 2) diversity of cultural

life within Indonesia / within Australia/ our classroom.

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SCOPE AND SEQUENCE OF LEARNING (INTERACTIONS) SCOPE

Intercultural concepts

Text inputs Indicative interactions

Explore learners’ current concepts of orang Islam (Muslim people) / stereotypes

Images of Islam / own lifestyles

What are stereotypes? Are stereotypes positive or negative- good or bad?What stereotypes do we have of Australian /Indigenous people? What stereotypes do we have of Muslim people? How do these stereotypes make you feel about Indonesian people?How does this make you feel about learning bahasa Indonesia?

Explore concept of special days

Texts relating to faith/ celebrations

What are special days?What activities and values are reflected in special days? Why?What are the features of Muslim special days? Why?

Explore concept of diversity- in Indonesia and within the classroom

Texts which depict Indonesian life in a variety of contexts

How common are our lives?What is it that makes our lives the similar or different? How do location/environment, wealth, age, faith/ ethnicity affect how you live or what you do?How does this diversity affect stereotypes of Indonesian people?

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SEQUENCE

Module 1: Siapa Ali? (Who is Ali?)

Aim: Learners use target language to talk about self and demonstrate cultural understandings when constructing greeting card.

Learnes focus on the intra-cultural, creating an awareness of the cultural diversity within the classroom and creating a different concept of “us” (kami)

Learners view cultural aspects of Indonesian celebrations within the framework of their own cultures. Learners explore stereotyping and express what they have come to discover about Muslim people.

SEQUENCE TEXT INPUTS

INTERACTIONS LANGUAGE SUPPORTING/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Revision: Siapa saya? (Who am I?)

SIDE intro video- role-play using basic introductory vocab as revision

Learner questions:Who am I? What do I like to do? What do I do with my family ? What do I do that may be different from others in my class? Where do I go?What special days do I celebrate?

Revision of:Nama saya (my name isUmur saya (my age is)Saya tinggal di (where I live)Saya suka (I like)

New lang:Kami – weHari raya-special days

* Siapa Saya ribbonOn long strips of paper, learners paste a picture of themselves at the top and then fill in information about themselves. Nama,(name) umur (age), tinggal di (where I live), saya suka (I like) as well as cultural information i.e. and what special days they observe.Strips hung around room as reminders of diversity.

Siapa Ali? (Who is Ali?)

Ways of looking at the world around us

Picture of Balinese carver- with what appears to be a mask or a statue- scanned on computer- TV connected

What can you see? Who is there? What is there? Can we always trust our assumptions? How can we look at Indonesia and its people differently (and each other), from other perspectives?

Lihat – seeKaca mata- glassesSemangka – watermelonTidak – no Ya – yesBetul- correct

* Learners are shown picture of carved watermelon which looks like a mask- what is it? * Students make and decorate own kaca mata spesial (special glasses) to look at the world through different ‘eyes’ and ‘notice’ things about Indonesian life

Hari Ali-RamadanExploring Muslim practise during Ramadan

Learners are introduced to Ali’s daily life via Pak Bun’s PowerPoint (laptop to T.V).

How do our lives compare? Similarities/differences?. why? What would they like and dislike ?What is happening in each picture? What are similar events in our lives, if not exactly the same? What do these pictures tell you about Ali’s faith and practice?

‘berdoa” (pray) ‘berpuasa” (fast) “masjid” (mosque) “Quran” (koran) and “mohon, maaf, lahir dan batin” (request for forgiveness for past transgressions)

* Learners collaboratively put colour panels of ‘Hari Ali’ in order on pinup/felt board. Whole class – discuss and write up similarities and differences on butchers paper lists.Learners place text labels onto pictures* Collaboratively learners complete a “Siapa Saya Ribbon” for Ali- is hung with theirs

Selamat Variety of Idul

Why do we send greeting Selamat-as generic greeting word

* Together learners analyse

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Lebaran/Idul fitri.Positive tenants of Islam reflected in cardsTraditional/contemporary

Fitri cardsTraditional /contemporarycelebrations

Christmas cards- traditional /secular

cards? What values are represented?How are these cards like our Christmas or birthday cards?What sentiments are being expressed? What images are on the traditional cards?What about the ones for young people?How does it feel to receive a card?

Kepada –toDari- from

text of cards for commonly used expressions wishes. Linked to mohon maaf lahir dan batin from Hari Ali text.

Hari RayaOther celebrations in IndonesiaDiversity in Indonesia- compare faith/values/customs

View video –“Hari Raya” depicting Ramadan /Idul Fitri as well as Nyepi (Balinese new year) and Hari Kemerdekaan Independence Day.

Look at these particular festivals – When do they take place, why, what are some particular features about their dress and behaviour that you notice?What similar events take place in our lives. When? Why?

Ramadan (month of fasting)Idul Fitri (celebration ending Ramadan)Nyep i(Balinese new year)Hari Kemerdekaan ( Independence Day)

* Using ‘jigsaw’ strategy, after viewing, learners compile as much information as they can about each special day. Group leader reports back to class where all info is compiled. Group also has to discuss similar events and then whole class discussion

Hadiah (presents)Universality of gift giving

Text- Simple story in Bahasa Indonesia about gift giving for Hari Raya- learners have to guess what could be in the present.

What and how are presents given at different celebrations? What do you feel about getting presents? What do presents mean?Why and how do we wrap presents?

Hadiah (present/prize)

*Deconstruct text.

* Play ‘pass the parcel’ -as each layer is unwrapped each student has to answer a question about hari raya to earn a prize.

Assessment tasks L&R&S - Puppet play- using single word prompts learners tell the class about themselves Writing - Greeting card. Learners construct and write greeting card using phrases and expressing

sentiments reflected in Islam. Reading- Komang– Learners read a simple story about a child’s experience of Ramadan and

illustrate/answer questions to show understanding. REFLECTION OBJECTIVE: How has my image of Muslim people changed? What have I learned

about myself? What have I learned about stereotypes?

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Module 2: Wayan Melakukan Apa? (What is Wayan doing?)

Aim: Learners identify with universal similarities of peoples lives and consider other concepts of ‘we’. Learners talk about their lives and express what they do and what they like to do.

SEQUENCE TEXT INPUTS

INTERACTIONS LANGUAGE SUPPORTING/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Hari WayanDiversity- explore differences between Hindu and Muslim practises

View powerpoint – Hari Wayan

What are the differences/similarities of Wayan’s regular day and your routine / others routines? What influences these routines? How does his day differ to Ali’s?What do you feel about these aspects? e.g. Why does Wayan bathe differently? Is this the same for rural/urban people? With which would most people identify?

Bangun(get up)Gosok gigi(brush teeth)Bermandi(bathe)Makan pagi(eat breakfast)Berpakaian(get dressed)Ke sekolah (go to school)Bermain(play)Various activitiesPulang(go home)Belajara(study)Memonton televisi(watch television)Mendengarkan musikTidur(sleep)

*Learners wear kaca mata spesial and revisit “Wayan” slides and consider Wayan’s daily life.

* Self reflection based on previous whole class modelling, learners write or draw pictures of the differences and similarities of Wayan’s daily life and theirs.* Construct text-Learners collaboratively put colour panels of Hari Wayan in order on pinup/felt board. Attach corresponding verbs to appropriate pictures.Introduce dia (he/she). Learners replace Ali with Dia in text.

Si BertiSimilarities of routine life of Javanese child and Australian children.

Watch video –

Si Berti -A day in the life of a small Javanese child-looking at his environment- and how that might influence his day.

What is Berti’s house like? Do you think it is in the city or the country? Are Berti’s family are rich or poor? What is the weather like where Berti lives? How does this affect what he does? Why does he come home at lunchtime? What responsibilities does Berti have at home.

Bangun(get up)Gosok gigi(brush teeth)Bermandi(bathe)Makan pagi(eat breakfast)Berpakaian(get dressed)Ke sekolah (go to school)Bermain(play)Various activitiesPulang(go home)Belajara(study)Memonton televisi(watch television)Mendengarkan musikTidur(sleep)

* Learners use the text cards from Ali’s day to describe Berti’s day.* Learners then play charade game in pairs. Text of a typical daily sequence is cut up and learners have to put it in order. One pair performs it for the class with one student reading it out, the other acting it out. Then learners can mix up the text and do the same task with the ‘actor’ not knowing in what order the ‘crazy day’ will be described.

Assessment tasks L&R&S – Learners listen as a daily sequence is read out and show understanding by ordering

images or acting it out. L&R&S- Learners use puppets to role-play a typical/special day scenarioREFLECTION OBJECTIVE: How has my image of Indonesian people changed? What have I learned about why I do what I do?

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Module 3: Ali Memakai Apa? (What is Ali wearing?)

Aim: Learners discover the variety of traditional clothing in Indonesia and its role. They consider the difference between rural and urban Indonesian life and

Environmental influences Learners talk about what they and others wear and describe clothing, sing traditional and non

traditional terms.

SEQUENCE TEXT INPUTS

INTERACTIONS LANGUAGE SUPPORTING/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Ali dan Wayan memakai apa? What is Ali and Wayan wearing?Pakaian traditional

Hari Ali and Hari Wayan powerpoints.DVD “Destination Indonesia”- some students wearing jilbab, some not.Books: Lletters from around the world, We’re from Indonesia

SIDE video- pameran mode- diversity of traditional clothing. Story “The Magic Headcloth” from Indonesian Children’s Favourite Stories “The Buffalo’s victory”

How do people dress for different reasons?What are formal clothes and casual clothes?What are formal occasions in our cultures?What clothes do we wear for formal occasins?What do Indonesians wear on formal occasions- Hindu, Muslim,others (is it the same for all?)How does it feel to wear a jilbab/peci, udeng, sarung/kebaya?Why do Muslims wear jilbab and peci- do all muslims wear them?

Baju(clothes/shirt)Celana pendek(shorts)Rok(skirt) kaos(t-shirt) celana panjang(long pants) jins(jeans) celana dalam(underwear) sepatu(shoes) sepatu olahraga(sports shoes) kaos kaki(socks) topi(hat)

*Learners wear kaca mata spesial and revisit “Ali and Wayan” slides and consider what they wear at different times in the day.*Construct text- Using the slides of “Hari Ali” on pinup board, learners collectively construct the text- using Ali memakai … (Ali is wearing…) and then revise Dia (he/she) by incorporating it in the text.* In groups, learners investigate different texts, and discover when Indonesian people wear traditional clothing- differences in rural/urban dressing. Groups then put clothing vocab cards on boards under heading to reflect what they have learned.* Learners listen to folk stories about origins of traditional clothing

Majalah pop

(Youth magazine)s

Read text from Indonesian magazines

What sort of clothes do the young people in the magazines wear?What is being advertised?How do these clothes compare/contrast with what learners wear?Can all Indonesian youth wear these clothes – rural/urban?

Baju(clothes/shirt)Celana pendek(shorts)Rok(skirt) kaos(t-shirt) celana panjang(long pants) jins(jeans) celana dalam(underwear) sepatu(shoes) sepatu olahraga(sports shoes) kaos kaki(socks) topi(hat)Warna- colours

Barrier game majalahUsing Indonesian ‘youth’ magazine, learners choose a picture of an Indonesian person, and use Indonesian to describe it (clothing and colour vocab) to a partner who cannot see the picture. The partner must try and draw what is being described.

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In the classroom…

We began by looking at this photograph- as a PowerPoint on the computer connected to television.What do you think he is holding? Why do you think that? Learners used the visual cues and their background knowledge to decide it was a mask or other wooden carving (he is Indonesian- Indonesians carve wood-there are knives next to him)

What about if I give you more information? (colour version of photo)

Does this change your mind?

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They thought it might be painted. I gave them some more clues.

What if I tell you it is something you eat?

Many guesses, then one student guessed it was a semanka (watermelon). They were amazed that it wasn’t what they had first thought.

Why did the clues help?

One learner expressed that given more information, he ‘saw it differently’.

What is a stereotype?

None of the learners could express what this term meant (building language in first language to express these concepts necessary).

What do you think of when I use the term Muslim?

Most students responded with negative stereotypes of bombs and terrorists.

Why do you think these things?

We discussed that maybe that was because that was the information given to them- through T.V. or listening to other adults, emphasising it was a way of seeing an image. Is this a stereotype?

Yes. Perhaps there is another way of seeing ‘Muslim’.

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Learners then made their kaca mata spesial (special glasses). Though this idea was originally intended for a target year 4/5 class, and I thought these students may think it rather ‘lame’; they all responded very well, loved making them and had a clear understanding throughout the unit that they were to help them ‘think about seeing things in a different way’. The kaca mata were worn when we viewed the Hari Ali PowerPoint, looked at other images of Muslim people, wore Muslim clothing and when we discussed the diversity within our own classroom. They were also worn when participating in the final task- forming groups – kami dan mereka (us and them).

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We then revised ‘stereotypes’, and, wearing their kaca mata spesial, the learners viewed the PowerPoint of Hari Ali (Ali’s Day) - special day during Ramadan- NOTICING what he does. (This is a series of cartoon style colour pictures of Ari going about his daily activities during Ramadan. The pictures have not been reproduced for copyright reasons.)

What things does Ali do that is sama (same) as you? What is berbeda (different)?

Learners then COMPARED on large sheets of paper, headed sama and berbeda.

Learners REFLECTED on what they would like about his day and what they might not and why. Interestingly, learners identified many more similarities than differences. One student offered that ‘going to the mosque is like going to church and that could be the same or different because kids do different things’. This activity lead to a discussion that we were operating from a stereotypical view of ‘we’, an assumption that ‘we’ are the same. Another interaction was learners using copies of the PowerPoint slides on a pin- up board to re-order Ali’s day. I elicited what we knew about Ali using questions in the target language (revision).

Siapa nama dia? (what is his name?)

Berapa umurmu?( how old is he?)

Berasal dari mana? (where did he originally come from)?

Tinggal di mana? (where does he live)?

Suka bermain apa? (what does he like to play)?

Suka memakai apa? (what does he like to wear)? (at home- for special occasions)?

As learners answered I compiled the information about Ali on a paper pita (ribbon).This activity created good discussion about Ramadan as the learners had to justify why they thought each slide belonged where.

We revised stereotypes again. Learners looked at images of other Muslim people from children’s magazines – some in traditional dress, others not. They loved the cartoons of the family, so different from the ‘fierce’ notion of Muslims that they had previously encountered. The ‘Selamat Lebaran’ card shows a contemporary/humorous side to Idul Fitri (the feast ending Ramadan) with the play on the words Idul and Aidul (Idol), as in ‘Australian Idol’. Looking at the card lead into a discussion about Hari Raya (special days).

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What are your special days?

Initially the usual ones of Christmas and Easter were mentioned, but then ‘Guy Fawkes Day- still celebrated in Karratha/ Dampier with fireworks etc- was mentioned.

Is the culture here in Karratha different from other places in Australia?

One student recently arrived from Trinidad, and shared her experiences of ‘Carnivale’. There was discussion about the different ways the learners celebrated Christmas.

Are we the same?

Do we all celebrate the same things?

What does it feel like to celebrate a special day?

Do you think everyone feels like that about their special days?

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QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Learners then used the pita Ali (Ali’s ribbon) as scaffolding, and constructed their own pita saya (my ribbon). Two new students were able to use Indonesian for the headings, but write about themselves in English (they had been in the class for 2 weeks with no previous Indonesian experience). Students were encouraged to write as much as they could about themselves and add anything else they could work out how to write. The level of Indonesian demonstrated varied with some being able to use single words to write about each category, some using well practised sentence structures, and some beginning to experiment with their own structures.

Pita were hung together with Ali’s and then used as a focus for considering diversity within the class. With the introduction of SIAPA? (WHO?), we looked at the pita to answer the question:

Siapa berasal dari Australia? (Who originally comes from Australia?)

Siapa merayakan Hari Natal? (Who celebrates Christmas?)

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I introduced the words kami (we or us) and mereka (them) and revised language from the pita activity. I asked the class a series of questions using siapa? (who?) and learners moved into appropriate groups:

Siapa tinggal di Karratha? (Who lives in Karratha?)

Siapa anak perempuan? (Who are girls?)

Siapa punya anjing? (Who has a dog?)

Siapa suka makan pisang? (Who likes eating bananas?)

Siapa merayakan Hari Natal? (Who celebrates Christmas?)

Siapa pergi ke gereja? (Who goes to church?)

The group chosen became kami and the others were mereka.

Discussion followed.

What makes a ‘kami’?

Does it mean we are all the same?The learners could express that when the criteria changed- the way of looking at something- then ‘we’ became something quite different.

What does it feel like to be ‘mereka’? One learner who was on his own as ‘them’ said he felt a bit left out. Another wonderful observation was from a boy who said it didn’t feel very different because ‘kami’ depended on who’s glasses you were looking through!

What has doing this made you think about stereotypes?

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Learners then reflected on what they had discovered by filling out their pemikiran (reflection) sheet. Most could articulate well the concept of a stereotype and, more importantly, some demonstrated a shift in awareness.

The response to How has my image of Muslim people changed? was fairly represented by one learner as: ‘A lot. I thought that Muslim came and shot you.’ (sic)

I particularly liked one response to the question: What have I learned about myself?, which was ‘I learned that its hard to think about yourself’. I believe it was an honest reflection of the beginning process of some of this higher order thinking.

In answer to the sentence starter Looking through my kaca mata spesial has helped me to understand that: one student who frequently used to respond to explanations of Indonesian language conventions (such as reverse noun- adjective order) as ‘dumb’- because it was different, wrote ‘If I was a Muslim, English would look weird to me’. We had not had any explicit discussion about this, but he had extrapolated a new view.

Below are students filling out their pemikiran (reflection) sheets.

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My reflection

The implementation of this unit was in term 4, a shortened term to begin with. We lost time to camp, concert rehearsals etc, where, although learners didn’t lose Languages time entirely, classes were broken up and times altered, so that I often did not have my trial class. Whilst this was a very easy class to deal with, behaviour wise, I found it important to time the discussions when there were fewer conflicts or external distractions.

All of our explicit discussions occurred in English as these learners had from a few days to a maximum of 2 years learning bahasa Indonesia. There is no way they could express or understand the concepts in the target language. I do, however, believe this is something that can be built up with time and will aim to include more and more language each unit for this purpose.

Comparatives, expressing preference etc are all things that can eventually be used in the target language. It is important to note that these learners are still building their first language to be able to express these concepts. This is a lovely cross curricular notion.

This unit also had wonderful cross curricular ‘“values education’ links, and, as noted by their classroom teacher, could very well provide demonstration of these outcomes as well. I see this as vastly important in the current climate where I feel more and more pressure to justify the Languages program, or at least have it make a more valued mark on the whole school planning. The more I can include real links to the school priorities, the stronger the position Languages will have in the school.

Although discussion was often in English, target language use was still of high importance, and English is possibly the most purposeful language use for a while! In the Listening and Responding task, we were using the target language as a means of creating our groups and learning about kami and mereka and the associations between that and stereotypes. The writing task scaffolded and set the base for the listening task.

What did I learn through participating in this project?

I have learned that embracing the intercultural is a journey not easily rushed through, rather something that will continue to evolve and be refined in my teaching over many years, and that my understanding will only increase through the doing of it. I have also learned an alternative to content being my focus (although I have fought against this, in reality, it remained) and providing a much more powerful way of presenting the same content.

What changes did the intercultural focus necessitate in my program planning, teaching and assessment?

I chose to create something entirely new, while still drawing on the content and types of materials I would normally use. Having the intercultural interactions, in the form of a series of questions, at the forefront of my planning, allowed me to construct learning activities that had a greater purpose and kept me clearly focussed on what I wanted my learners to achieve.

Being involved in creating the long term plan reinvigorated my planning, and while I know much will be thrown out for better things in practice, it was a wonderfully professionally rejuvenating exercise to be involved in (though ‘hair-tearing-out’ frustrating at times).

What impact does the intercultural focus have on student learning?

I believe that an intercultural focus enriches student learning in Languages. It encourages higher level thinking, the development of a greater self awareness and I truly hope real empathy that may

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be quite missing for many learners. Whilst the priority of learning to communicate in another language still remains, I believe that learners will take much more than that away with them.

What recommendations would I make to others about implementing intercultural language learning?

• In its implementation, intercultural language learning does not require the loss of target language use or language acquisition as the primary goal. In fact, it enriches these by encouraging purposeful language use

• Clearly redefine your concept of culture if it currently represents static culture learning

• Do not be intimidated by the huge body of knowledge of intercultural language learning ‘out there’ by feeling you have to have your head entirely around it before beginning. Start with small steps.

• By putting the intercultural to the forefront, it does not mean target language use is diminished, but rather that the intercultural will not remain a nice ‘add on’ –something nice to do but in reality, with the pressures of current Languages teaching, we don’t get around to

• Do not throw out what you are doing. Rather, look at where you are already incorporating the intercultural and expand on it

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