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

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)

people create experiences through language

facts, ideas, experiences that others share

tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions, etc.

Language expresses and embodies cultural reality:

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)

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)

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)

Living in the Global Ecumene*

Overlapping communities of fate (Held, 1999: 445, 2001)

CommunitiesCommunities

locallocal

regionalregional

national national

internationalinternational

virtualvirtual*Hannerz (1992: 217)

Intercultural Communication and Citizenship

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

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)

locallocal

regionalregional

national national

internationalinternational

virtualvirtual

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

The concept of citizenship is pivotal

Language education:

flexible content ranges from literature to debates media studies or diversified activities on focus topics

Plurilingualism: an important tool for educating for democratic citizenship

The transnationality of EnglishThe 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 languagesIntercultural and citizenship skills can be

exercised*Crystal (1997: xiii)

#Phipps and Gonzalez (2004: 3)

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

English as a tool for citizenship

Intercultural Competence for

Citizenship in ELT

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)

The intercultural English The intercultural English teacherteacher 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

Questionnaires: teachers and students

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;

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

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.

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)

Course books – pictorial content

Log in 10 5 units 240 pages 304 pictures

New Aerial 11 4 units 224 pages 327 pictures

CategoriesEuro-American cultureOther culturesCivic and social issues

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

constructed

Other cultures Other cultural realities

Civic and social issues Citizenship education Environment Racism Discrimination Xenophobia The homeless Immigration People with special needs

Log in 10 – 304 picturesEuro-American culture – 302 pictures Examples:

2- Log in page 15- “The Holiday” film- Jude Law and Cameron Diaz

21- Log in 10 page 167

18- Log in 10 page 170- Destiny’s Child



Other cultures – 1 picture


Civic and social issues – 1 picture


Log in 10 – Overview

Fig. 59- Log in 10- Overview

Log in 10 - Overview

302

1 1

Euro-American culture

Other cultures

Civic and social issues

New Aerial 11 – 327 picturesEuro-American culture – 282 pictures Examples:

3- New Aerial 11 page 49- U2

5- New Aerial 11 page 28




Other cultures –20 Examples:

7- New Aerial 11 page 206- New Aerial 11 page 27



23- New Aerial 11 page 126- Vietnam

Civic and social issues – 25 pictures Examples:



New Aerial 11 – Overview

New Aerial 11- Overview

282

20 25


Other cultures


Fig. 64- New Aerial 11- Overview

Log in 10 and New Aerial 11 overview

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

Log in 10 and New Aerial 11 Overview

584; 93%

26; 4%21; 3%


Other cultures


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

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.

Questions, suggestions, opinions

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intercultural competence for citizenship in english language teaching: a portuguese study

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