Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

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Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Resources for Cultural Language Learning

Joseph Lo Bianco.

Background information and training materials about an intercultural

approach to teaching language.

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

To reflect on and find possible answers to the following questions:

• What are the key aspects of cultural teaching?

• How is culture ‘layered’ in everyday social behaviour?

• What is the third place?

• What is the aim of intercultural language teaching?

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

What do you understand by

“Teaching

culture”?

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

“Teaching culture”

Wortigel

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Key aspects to cultural teaching• Culture is inseparable from language• Culture is part of everyday life• Culture in everyday language is not easily observable• Culture is complex and dynamic• Culture is not fixed and homogenous• Culture is not well taught as a series of facts• Humans are shaped by culture and language• Humans can to some extent step out of their first culture

and language• Successful inter-cultural interaction/relationships are

commonLo Bianco, J. (1999) Sinhala and Tamil: Languages of Sri Lanka. Ministry of Education

and Higher Education, Colombo, Sri Lanka (– p 28 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Three macro layers of culture in everyday social behaviour

• The archaic culture

• The residual culture

• The emergent culture

Jayasuriya, K. (1990) The problematic of culture and identity in cross-cultural theorising. Department of Social Work and Social Administration. University of Western

Australia, Nedlands, Fineline Perth. (pp29 – 30 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Right angle thinking strategy

Interesting information

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Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

The archaic culture

• Connects people to patterns of the past• Is observable in sayings, proverbs and

popular wisdom• Continues into the present

Jayasuriya, K. (1990) The problematic of culture and identity in cross-cultural theorising. Department of Social Work and Social Administration. University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Fineline Perth. (p 30 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

The residual culture

• Is the lived and current patterns of behaviour in daily life

• It encompasses all expressions of culture as ‘ways of life’ to the arts and literature

Jayasuriya, K. (1990) The problematic of culture and identity in cross-cultural theorising. Department of Social Work and Social Administration. University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Fineline Perth. (p 30 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

The emergent culture

• Is the making of culture in the moment

• Draws from archaic and residual patterns

• But also transforms them

Jayasuriya, K. (1990) The problematic of culture and identity in cross-cultural theorising. Department of Social Work and Social Administration. University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Fineline Perth. (p 30 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Three steps / dimensions of Intercultural Language Teaching

• Learning about cultures• Comparing cultures• Intercultural exploration

(P35 – 45 handout)

Crozet, C and Liddicoat A.J(1999). The Challenge of Intercultural Language Teaching: Engaging with Culture in the Classroom”. In Lo Bianco, J., Liddicoat, A.j. and Crozet, C. (eds). Striving for the Third Place. Language Australia. Melbourne (pp 113 – 125)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Intercultural exploration

Intercultural competence is now a wide ranging concept which encompasses all the strategies and approaches any given person might use to shift from a monocultural to a more multicultural view of any subject .

Crozet, C and Liddicoat A.J(1999). The Challenge of Intercultural Language Teaching: Engaging with Culture in the Classroom”. In Lo Bianco, J., Liddicoat, A.j. and Crozet, C. (eds). Striving for the Third Place. Language Australia. Melbourne (pp 113 – 125) (p42 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Intercultural exploration

Intercultural competence is the ability to create for oneself a comfortable third place between one’s first language-culture and the target language-culture.

Crozet, C and Liddicoat A.J(1999). The Challenge of Intercultural Language Teaching: Engaging with Culture in the Classroom”. In Lo Bianco, J., Liddicoat, A.j. and Crozet, C. (eds). Striving for the Third Place. Language Australia. Melbourne (pp 113 – 125)

(p42 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

The role of language teachers is to be supportive of language learners as they articulate and resolve conflicts they will

encounter in trying to reconcile the sometimes opposite values between their native and target languages / cultures (p43)

Native speaker in the target

language-culture

Non-native speaker in his/her own language-culture

3

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Intercultural linguistic space = zone of negotiatedlanguage-culture(p44)

Native speaker in the target

language-culture

Non-native speaker in his/her own language-culture

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Main Features of Intercultural Language Teaching Approach

1. Culture is not acquired through osmosis. It must be taught explicitly

2. The bilingual/multilingual speaker should be the norm

3. Conceptual and experiential learning is required to acquire intercultural competence

4. Roles of teachers and learners are redefined

5. New approaches to language testing are needed to assess intercultural competence

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Aim of Intercultural Language Teaching

“The ultimate goal of Intercultural language Teaching is to help learners…

Finish this sentence and share

…

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

Aim of Intercultural Language Teaching

“The ultimate goal of Intercultural language Teaching is to help learners transcend their monocultural view of the world through the learning of a foreign language.”

Crozet, C and Liddicoat A.J(1999). The Challenge of Intercultural Language Teaching: Engaging with Culture in the Classroom”. In Lo Bianco, J., Liddicoat, A.j. and Crozet, C. (eds). Striving for the Third Place. Language Australia. Melbourne (pp 113 – 125)

(p 34 handout)

Jeanne Gilbert, Adviser Learning Languages, University of Waikato Nov 2005

• Ka tangi te titi The mutton birds cries out

• Ka tangi te kaka The parrot cries out• Ka tangi hoki ko au And I cry out too• Tihe Mauriora Let there be life