Transcript The development of EFL students’ intercultural competence

The development of EFL students’
intercultural competence
Hao Qinhai
Introduction
Since 1980, Chinese scholars have been exploring
how to integrate intercultural education with
teaching English as foreign language. Their
researches cover large domains of language teaching
from intercultural perspective.
Revealing the relationship between language
and culture
Discussing the significance of intercultural
language teaching
Interest in cultural word study and crosscultural translation
The latest National Syllabus clearly states that it is
important to develop learners’ intercultural
communicative competence so as to “develop
intercultural awareness, tolerance and flexibility in
managing cultural difference”
Two important trends highlighted in
current ELT in china:
1. goal of language teaching shifting from linguistic
competence to communicative competence modes
of teaching from single skill development to
integrated skill training
2. shifting from English as a foreign language to
English medium education
(Huang, Y. & X., Li. 1999. “Trends in English Language Education in
china.” ESL Magazine )
Intercultural communicative Competence
linguistic competence: the ability to apply knowledge of the rules of a
standard version of the language to produce and interpret spoken and
written language;
sociolinguistic competence: the ability to give to the language produced
by an interlocutor - whether native speaker or not - meanings which
are taken for granted by the interlocutor or which are negotiated and
made explicit with the interlocutor;
discourse competence: the ability to use, discover and negotiate strategies
for the production and interpretation of monologue or dialogue texts
which follow the conventions of the culture of an interlocutor or are
negotiated as intercultural texts for particular purposes.
(Byram, M. 1997: 48)
acquiring intercultural competence
The limitations of the classroom can be overcome to some
degree by learning beyond the classroom walls, where the
teacher still has a role. As FLT is increasingly seen as
linked with education for mobility, there is a corresponding
interest in visits, exchanges and other forms of contact,
both real and virtual, using contemporary and projected
technology. The teacher can structure and influence the
learning opportunities involved, even when not physically
present. The aim may be, for example, to develop learner
autonomy within a structured and framed experience of
otherness outside the classroom.
There are thus three broad and overlapping
categories of location for acquiring intercultural
competence: the classroom, the pedagogically
structured experience outside the classroom, the
independent experience.
The Internet Offers Three Main
Applications in Teaching
1. the possibility for individual search with browsers
before class:
students gather information, and come to the class
meeting to share the results of their search, then to
compare and discuss them with other students. This
kind of assignment gives an opportunity for the
students to be active in their search and to fetch
documents which they find interesting because they
have selected them for a reason and because the Web
site of a university on the Internet is something
dynamic and interactive with images, sounds and
videos.
2. the use of Internet as a source of information in
class to analyze the quality of a Web site in a given
sector and to elaborate, for example, a comparative
grid.
To be successful, this application requires
computer access for the students in the classroom
and teacher guidance on specific sites. After some
experience in this kind of courses, students can
start building their own criteria for the analysis of
the sites and work in groups to compare and share
their impressions.
3. the use of forums and other chatrooms for
communication and exchange across the net.
Once given access to this medium, students do
not need assignments to communicate and write in
English; they do it on their own, which is another
good sign of “active learning”
E-mail for Communication in Two Directions
First of all, we use e-mail for internal use by
connecting teacher and student outside of the
classroom, and between the sessions of a given
course for advice, assignments, tutoring,
information and dialogue on the one hand, but also
for distance correspondence and tutoring with
students
The second direction in which e-mail can be used
is for external communication by connecting
cultures via individual and personal exchange with
foreign correspondents or by organizing
collaborative work
Collaborative Work Through the Internet
The aim of this course is to train students in using
the Internet to collaborate on a common project in
a cross-cultural context. It involves research on the
different sites of the net (or elsewhere) to gather
specific information as well as the use of
electronic means of communication (e-mail and
possibly PC-based video). Teams of students from
different cultural background in Cambridge.
Course tasks
1. to learn how to use resources accessible through
the Internet;
2. to train students to work in teams and to
collaborate through electronic media;
3. to get in touch, to communicate and to work with
students of different cultural backgrounds;
4. to learn project management techniques;
5. to improve linguistic communication skills both in
writing and oral competence in the context of a
multinational project.
the course is highly interactive and students
participate actively.
leaving a lot of room for autonomous
work and initiative;
Students are responsible for carrying out
their projects to terms within the constraints
assigned. Teachers are there to help upon
the needs and demands of the students
rather than "feeding" them
Analysis of the Students' Comments
Personal comments
I felt for the first time that I could really communicate with a foreign
friend
I enjoyed the privacy of our conversation on e-mail between courses
When I read your first message to me, it was like receiving a personal
letter, then I felt I was talking to you face to face when reading or
writing a mail
It was really helpful to be able to contact you at any time with e-mail
We liked the contact within the team; it helped understand the messages
better
We had a hard time to agree on a topic but once we started, things went on
really well
Negotiations with distant partners were very complex; we had to adjust
but we achieved our goal
We ended up speaking English among ourselves without even noticing it
we feel that such courses develop a real team spirit
and a real sense of responsibility. Secondly, as
regards the development intercultural competence,
it turns out to be more productive and
communicative in both quantity and quality. It is
also more genuine and the effectiveness of the
students' oral presentations is another sign of
accomplishment.
Making the students use English out of the
classroom through the use of e-mail shows them
that speaking English is not only useful for
internal communication with a teacher: the contact
with foreign students is a real incentive. Yet,
students also discover that English can be used in
a professional environment by way of
presentations on the basis of their work done
under the supervision of the teacher. We can then
see the changes involved in the relation between
the students and their teacher as the latter becomes
a guide, a supervisor, a coach and a partner in a
process which implies some work in the classroom
and much work OUTSIDE the classroom
Thanks!