Focusing on culture-related episodes in a teletandem interaction between a Brazilian and an American student

Maisa de Alcântara ZakirGraduate Program in Language Studies – UNESPCAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil

Brasília-DF 70.040-020, Brazil

International ConferenceTelecollaboration in University

Foreign Language Education

Universidad de LeónSpain, February 12-14 2014

The Teletandem ProjectUNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista, BrazilCoordinator: Dr. João Antonio Telles

Campi Assis, Araraquara and São José do Rio Preto

2006-2010 Teletandem Brasil: foreign languages for allwww.teletandembrasil.org

2011 – CurrentlyTeletandem and transculturality in on-line foreign language interactions via webcamhttp://teletandemetransculturalidade.weebly.com/index.html

The Teletandem Project

Current phase:

– Institutionalization: Portuguese classes in the foreign universities;

– Mediation sessions: A professor/researcher/graduate student coordinates a reflective talk on the teletandem sessions;

– Virtual platforms: writing activities and discussion forums in Teleduc, Facebook, Blackboard, Moodle etc.;

– General research question: How can the cultural dimension of teletandem interactions in foreign languages be described?

Research topics (Telles, 2011)(1) Ways of understanding the study, the learning and the social use of foreign languages;

(2) Ways of representing the culture of the teletandem partner and the impact of such understanding on the process of learning a foreign language and on the relationship with the partner;

(3) the contribution of the cultural dimension of teletandem to the education of the learner to relate to other cultures;

(4) The impact of the cultural dimension of teletandem on the different views of institutional implementation in the curriculum

AMERICA- UNESP- University of Miami- Georgetown University- Virginia Commonwealth University- University of Georgia- Truman State University- University of Hawaii- University of Washington- Seattle University- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Some partner universities EUROPE- University of Southampton- University of Bonn- Universitè Lille 3- Università del Salento- Università di Bologna- Università di Roma 3

ASIA

- Universidade de Chulalongkorn (Thailand)- University of Yamaguchi (Japan)

Research paper (Zakir, Funo & Telles, forthcoming)

• Introduction: Teletandem as a context to research culture;

• Theoretical framework: Culture definition and dimensions (Kramsch, 1998; Levy, 2007);

• Research participants: a female Brazilian undergraduate student and a male American undergraduate student;

• Data analysis: three out of seven Culture-related Episodes – adapted from LRE (Swain & Lapkin, 1995, 1998; Zhu, 2012) in a teletandem interaction;

• Final remarks: CRE grounded on the personal experiences of the teletandem participants; teletandem interactions as a context to understand culture and its dimensions (mediation sessions).

A definition of culture • “In summary, culture can be defined as membership in a

discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and common imaginings.” (Kramsch, 1998, p. 10)

• “Moreover, any one individual’s experience of culture will be affected by the multiple aspects of their identity—race, gender, sex, age, sexuality, class, caste position, religion, geography, and so forth—and it is likely to alter in various circumstances.” (Skelton & Allen, 1999, p. 4).

• “Thus, culture is both a manifestation of a group, or a community, and of an individual’s experience within it, or apart from it. As a group, members engage with one another in a shared social space. […] Recognising the perspective of the individual in relation to the group is key in developing a pedagogical approach. (Levy, 2007, p. 105)

• LRE – Language Related Episodes are “any part of a dialogue in which language students talk about the language they are producing, question their language use, or correct themselves or others.” (Swain & Lapkin, 1995, 1998).

LRE – Language Related Episodes

CRE – Culture Related Episodes• CRE – Culture-Related Episodes: “moments

when the spoken classroom discourse focuses on the collaborative construction of cultural understanding and cultural knowledge among the participants.” (ZHU, 2012, p. 7).

• CRE - “Any part of a dialogue produced in the teletandem sessions in which the students focus on any interest, explanation or inquisitiveness about their own culture or the partner’s” (Zakir, Funo & Telles, forthcoming)

LEVY (2007) – Culture dimensions

1. Culture as elemental;2. Culture as relative;3. Culture as group membership;4. Culture as contested;5. Culture as individual (variable and multiple).

1. Culture as elemental: the learner is no more a "blank slate"

Sysoyev (2002, p. 510): “learning of foreign culture does not start from ‘an absolute zero’ By the time learners begin the study of a L2 context and its culture, they have already formed certain concepts, stereotypes, and expectations about L2 cultural realities. These expectations are not fixed and immutable. But they will influence the way learners comprehend and interpret a L2 culture (C2).”

Willis (1979, p. 186): “We are therefore most deeply embedded in our culture (…) we are in a very important sense, already, one step away from our real and living culture.”

Levy (2007): “Pedagogical approaches and techniques that help learners to reflect objectively on their own culture are especially important because language teachers and learners need to be sharply aware of their point of departure in culture learning.” (p. 107)

2. Culture as relative: “culture is, fundamentally, a relative concept, not an absolute one.”

Lo Bianco e Crozet (2003) Making generalisations is central in this approach: in other words the belief that what we do and what they do is common to all, across the two respective cultures being compared. Guest (2002, p. 154) identifies a number of problems associated with a contrastive approach in learning and teaching the second culture (C2), and a paraphrased list of problems such as “oversimplification” which leads to "caricature" rather than a deeper understanding.Levy (2007, p. 108) “In essence Guest is recommending a move away from the learner as detached observer towards the learner as active participant in culture learning, and from a view of culture which is static and distant, to a view which is more dynamic and directly engaged. This level and kind of contact becomes more feasible and practical with new technologies, especially synchronous forms of communication such as chat”.

3. Culture as group membership:

Lindsay, Robins and Terrell (1999, p. 26-27): “Culture is everything you believe and everything you do that enables you to identify with people who are like you and that distinguishes you from people who differ from you. Culture is about groupness”. Baldwin, Faulkner & Hecht (2006, p. 17): A group perspective on culture draws attention to the idea of membership and community and leads to questions such as how people identify with groups, how others identify people with groups and how different groups relate and interact with one another.

Hymes (1974, p. 51): “Culture is understood as a "speech community": a group ‘sharing knowledge of rules for the conduct and interpretation of speech’.”Levy (2007): “Online groups, and the ‘digital cultures’ that result provide new venues for groups and communities to be created and maintained (see Kim, 2000). Online groups require us to revisit questions of identity, membership and community and the ways in which individuals become members of such groups, and how their messages contribute to the group’s identity and culture (p. 109).

3. Culture as group membership:

4. Culture as contested:

Culture is contested at many levels: from individual (cultural shock when someone goes abroad) to a broader scale (media).Giroux (1988, p. 171) : “the representation of lived experiences, material artefacts, and practices forged within the unequal and dialectical relations that different groups establish in a given society at a particular historical point. In this case, culture is closely related to the dynamics of power and produces asymmetries in the ability of individuals and groups to define and achieve their goals. Furthermore culture is also an arena of struggle and contradiction, and there is no one culture in the homogeneous sense. On the contrary, there are dominant and subordinate cultures that express different interests and operate from different and unequal terrains of power”. (p. 110)

5. Culture as individual (variable and multiple)

Robins, 2005; Terracciano et al., 2005: “What we call our ‘own’ culture is incomplete and fragmentary” (p. 111)“The teacher’s and the learner ‘s understanding of their own culture (C1) will inevitably be an individual interpretation, modified by such factors as world knowledge, experience living abroad, political awareness and so forth” (p. 111)“If we can say nothing with any certainty about cultures as whole and have to rely on helping the learner develop individual perceptions, the individual is going to acquire a very incomplete and idyosincratic view of the C2.“What one learner will come to understand or learn when observing or engaging in a cultural exchange, another may not” (p. 111).

CRE 1 “Do you like football?”

Will: I will! World Cup, I will come back!

Gabi: Yes, World Cup?

Will: Copa do Mundo, yeah!

Gabi: Oh, yes. Ok. So, it's very good. Do you like football?

Will: Yeah, I do. I definitely like to watch it. I really... I mean, I like watching it in South America, because it's so much... more intense... everybody is... huh... more into it! They're excited about it. Yeah...

Gabi: Yes, I love football!

Will: That's great!

Gabi: Yes, but... but I don't understand anything.

Will: (Laughs)

Gabi: but I love... 

CRE 2 ““They say that you like [música] sertaneja, too, right?”

Gabi: No, I don't like sertanejo (laughs embarrasedly). I study Literature and Letters. Will: Oh, ok. So sertaneja is not good. (laughs)Gabi: So sertaneja is not good.Will: (laughs)Gabi: It's not poetry. (laughs)_Will: That's right. It's a little different.Gabi: Yes. I like poet, good songs. (laughs)Will: We have something like sertaneja here. Huh... it's called "country music".Gabi: Country Music, yes....Will: And, it's kind of like that. Yeah, it's not yeah, it’s poetry by any means. But, it's huh... it's very popular in like... some areas of the country.Gabi: Yes, I know. I think it's very similar. Will: Yeah.Gabi: I've heard some things of country music and... yes... it's very similar.Will: (laughs) That's so funny. (laughs)Gabi: And, do you like country music?Will: I like it more now than I used to. Huh... I think that hum... it...you know... it grows on you. When you... when you listen to it a lot... it's because I have some friends who like it, you start to like it a little more. So... yeah, I guessGabi: Yes, it's the same here. I listen a lot of sertanejo. So... sometimes, I can hear, but I don't like (laughs)

Data analysis• Culture as elemental:

– Will’s assumption about soccer and “sertaneja” music

• Culture as relative: – Watching soccer in North America X Watching soccer in South America– “Caipiras” like “sertaneja” music

• Culture as group membership:– Will shares with Gabi the “passion” for soccer– “Sertaneja” is similar to country music– Will’s friends like country music and influenced him to like it as well– Gabi’s collegues (language students) don’t like “sertaneja” music

• Culture as contested: – “‘Sertaneja’ is not poetry”

• Culture as individual: – Will’s interpretation of the importance of soccer in South America;– Gabi dislikes “sertaneja” music

Final remarks

• Culture dimensions: variable and dynamic;• Teletandem interaction(s): a context to reflect

about culture and CALL;• Mediation sessions after teletandem

interactions: a context to rethink language teachers’ education and the role of foreign language and culture exchanges.

ReferencesKRAMSCH, C. Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: OYP, 1993.

______. Language and Culture. Oxford University Press Oxford, 1998

LEVY, M. Culture, Culture Learning and New Technologies: Towards a pedagogical framework. Language Learning & Technology, v. 11, n. 2, 2007, p. 104-127. Disponível em: <http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num2/levy/>. Acesso em: 13 julho 2011.

SWAIN, M.; LAPKIN, S. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, v. 82, 1998, p. 320-337.

TELLES, J.A. Projeto Teletandem Brasil: Línguas Estrangeiras para Todos – Ensinando e Aprendendo línguas estrangeiras in-tandem via MSN Messenger. Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Assis, UNESP. 2006. Disponível em: <http://www.teletandembrasil.org/site/docs/TELETANDEM_BRASIL_completo.pdf>. Acesso em: 02 setembro 2010.

______. Teletandem: A transculturalidade das interações on-line em línguas estrangeiras via teleconferência. Trabalho apresentado no IX CBLA – Congresso Brasileiro de Linguística Aplicada, Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2011.

WELSCH, W. Transculturality: the puzzling form of cultures today. California Sociologist, 17 & 18, 1999, p. 19-39. Disponível em: <http://www2.uni-jena.de/welsch/Papers/transcultSociety.html> Acesso em 08 julho 2011.

ZHU, J. Weaving language and culture together: the process of culture learning in a chinese as a foreign language classroom. 2012. 456 f. Tese (Doutorado em Second Language Acquisiton), Graduate College of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, 2012.

ZAKIR, M. A.; FUNO, L. B. A.; TELLES, J. A. Episódios relacionados a cultura em teletandem: uma análise de interação entre uma aluna brasileira e um aluno estadunidense. (em preparação).