Transcript DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF …

DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL
COMPETENCE OF ENGINEERING
STUDENTS THROUGH LITERARY
TEXTS
PRESENTED BY:
PROF. D.S.KESAVA RAO
Head, DEPT. OF HUMANITIES
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
WARANGAL
INDIA
OVERVIEW
NEED FOR AND IMPORTANCE OF ICC
TODAY’S CLASSROOM AND WORKPLACE
ENVIRONMENT – A CULTURE MOSAIC
VARIED ROLES –MANY HATS OF
TEACHER
ENGLISH TEACHER TO DEVELOP
AWARENESS OF ‘CULTURE GAP’ IN CLASS
MEANS FOR TEACHING ICC, CASE STUDIES,
LITERARY TEXTS
LITERARY TEXTS THEIR UTILITY AND
RELEVANCE
POINTS TO FOCUS ON
SUGGESTED EXERCISES
BENEFITS
In Globalised World Today ICC in Demand- Everywherepeople of Varied Cultures Coexist- of Different Cultures And
Ethnicities- A Culture Melting Pot - A Mosaic - Boundaries
Shrunken.
Today’s
classroom –
ICC
required
?................
But composed
of varied
ethnicities –
A culture
mosaicnot only
large ,
mixed
class-
According to the Psychologist
Gordon……
Teacher
intelligences
Interpersonalsocial
intelligencework with,
notice goals and
intentions
Communicative competence skills and knowledge that
are collectively needed for effective communicative use
of language.
Groundwork on
identifying
those
component
parts - by
Canale and
Swain
(1980)
Noteworthy the
inclusion of
intercultural
competence as
part of
communicative
competence by
Legutke and
Thomas (1991).
In any ESL/EFL classroom
context
of
composite
cultures,
the
language
teacher called upon to help
students appreciate the role
of culture in their own and
in that of other’s lives
Students need to
understand culture
as a dynamic process
leading
to
intercultural
encounters.
Many Hats of a Teacher
ROLES:
PROVIDER OF INFORMATION ,
ROLE MODEL
ASSESSOR, SURROGATE PARENT,
COUNSELLER
FRIEND, TRANSLATOR, FACILITATOR…
BUT LESS OF AN EMPATHISER
Byram (2008) stresses the importance of
enhancing in learners a “critical cultural
awareness” . ..
such awareness should be comprehensive and deep
enabling critical reflection and consequently leading to
the acquisition of intercultural communicative
competence
Skopinskaja (2003) says that decentring of
perspective is essential if students are to
establish a “sphere of interculturality” through
empathy.
TEACHING MATERIALS
The teaching materials develop
communicative language skills but
the cross-cultural aspect of
communication mostly neglected.
Cultural matters limited to factual
information about target language
cultures but do not develop ICC.
METHODS OF TEACHING ICC
A mix of general, as well as literary
texts now used in classes…..
1. Through Studying PPT’s and Pictures of
Varied Countries
2. Watching Short Films
3.Videos And CD-ROMs
4. Discussions
Comparing Different Cultures and
Associating with Affinities
5. Literary texts
WHY LITERARY
TEXTS ?
A. Offer
interesting
content
B. Readily and
easily
accessible
C. Excite
imagination
D. Promote
personal
growth
E. Help
promote brush
with reality
F. Increase
intellectual
growth
Literary texts .mainly short stories and poems present
excellent classroom teaching materials
Depict in short span cultural encounters full of critical
incidents along with their denouements
In this connection what Gomez says about using literary
texts is worth quoting at some length:
• Newspapers, magazines, and books implicitly loaded with
diverse levels of cultural expression --products of a
particular community essentially depicting cultural content.
• Important to point out that literary texts are considered
difficult material to be assimilated and understood by EFL
learners. Kramsch (2001) notes that teachers are hesitant
to use literary texts in the language classroom
Literature is by
definition authentic text,
and both verbal
response and activity
response are genuine
language activities, not
ones contrived around a
fabricated text.
Moreover, current
methodology favours
group activities, and
learner-learner
interaction
It is vital to reconsider
that literary texts in
EFL are ideal materials
to promote meaning
negotiation and the
access to cultural
knowledge, as
textbooks and other
factual readings do.
Brumfit and Carter
observe:
Amer (2003) -literature acts as
a powerful agent to
develop students’
intercultural
awareness while
nurturing empathy
and tolerance for
diversity.
Kramsch (2001)
suggests that EFL
learners have to be
exposed to
different types of
reading material,
from conventional
texts (text- books,
newspapers, and
magazines), to
literary texts
Examples:
1 The
Other Boat
E.M.Forster
by
2. Sweet Promised Land by
Robert Laxalt
THE OTHER BOAT :
CULTURAL ENCOUNTER- ABOUNDS
IN CRITICAL INCIDENTS
TASKS FOR THE STUDENTS:
Ask
students
to
submit
short
summary of the story
in about
three
paragraphs.
The
objective is to ensure
that
they
do
understand the basic
content.
Role Play: Instruct
students to enact a
situation taking on
the roles of Lionel
March
and
Cocoanut
in
different contexts.
To develop their
empathy,
ask
students to switch
roles.
Pair Work: Students
have to identify “
loaded” words used
by
the
main
characters
and
explain what they
stand
for..Which
words
indicate
ambivalence
and
which imply secrecy
or other negative
tendencies.
TASKS FOR THE STUDENTS:
Contd…
Brainstorming: In groups of ten, students come up with reasons for
prejudice..on the basis of colour, creed, region and social status
Creative work: Tell students to write a different ending and explain
why they think it a better option.
Ask students to write a similar story and discuss it with class.
Ask students to identify which culture group they feel affinity with.
And why
Post-Reading Tasks:
Ascertain from the
students if they grasped
the various dimensions of
the intercultural
competences involved by
inviting oral responses.
Can there be another ending
that shows the maturity of
the two characters involved
and indicate the way to
develop intercultural
competence
4. Divide class into two
groups and set them to
debate if the tragic
ending was justified
and necessary.
Get the students to write
a short critical account of
the significance of the
clash.
Encourage students to
write some imaginary
dialogues between Lionel
and Cocoanut and Lionel
and his mother Mrs. March.
Conclusion
Creativity involves breaking out
of established patterns in order
to look at things in a different
way
THANK
YOU
QUERIES