Intercultural Competence Through Language Education - Literature review Example

Cross-cultural Communication Name Institution Date Introduction Language plays a significant role, as it is a social institution that both influences and is influenced by the society at large, or to be specific by the culture. Therefore, language should be considered as a cultural practice. Language is not an independent construct, rather it is a social practice that creates and is created by the structures and forces of he social institutions in which we exist and function. Language does not exist in a vacuum. Therefore, culture teaching should constitute an essential part of language learning. Noticeably, daily language is marked with cultural traces and bits. We acquire social and cultural roles through talking. Culture defines what its members should assume or study as well as what they should disregard or regard as inappropriate. Language serves to identify people as belonging to a particular race and members of particular cultural roles. Hence, we can say that language has a setting. “Language does not exist apart from culture, that is, from the socially inherited assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture of our lives”, (Sapir, 1929:207). It is therefore logical to say that it is “a key to the cultural past of a society” (Salzmann, 1998: 41), “a guide to social reality” (Sapir 1929: 209). Language and culture from the beginning are inseparably associated. Language learning cannot pursue a universal sequence, rather varies across cultures. The exchanges of language in specific social situations produce culturally competent members of a society. Language learning is culture learning and hence teachers do their learners a great favor by placing more emphasis on culture diversity. Language teachers should go further than just assessing linguistic construction in the classroom and turn out to be conscious of the complex and several processes of intercultural conciliation that any second language student experiences. Culture and communication are indivisible since culture determines who speak to whom, concerning what and how the communication goes on as well as helps to influence how people encode messages, the meanings they attach to messages and the environment and situations in which numerous messages can or can not be sent, discerned or understood. Communication has its basis on culture. Though language is a subpart of culture, it plays a significant role, as it is through linguistic communication that culture being something that is learned is transmitted from one generation to another Holmes 2008). Language is an importance system that is determined by several socio-political processes. A language exist as a linguistic practice, as a set of practices that involve a specific classification of words and grammatical rules as well as a frequently ignored effort over the symbolic power of a specific method of communicating, with specific structures of classifications, address and reference forms, particular lexicons and descriptions. Language serves as a means of entering the world and a way of maintaining associations with those we come across with. The language we speak identifies us with members of a society of thoughts and practices. Hence, language is entangled with culture, as it is an essential window on the world of ideas and a connection between ideas and behavior (Crozet & Liddicoat, 1999). On the other hand, according to Sapir, language and culture are not inevitably associated. He views language and culture as being independent and separate from each other. He also believes that language shapes and influences human thought, that is, linguistic determinism. Taking this view, culture can be defined as what a society carry out and believes. Language is one of the prevailing threads in all cultures. Despite the fact that meanings are found in the mind, they originate and have their importance in the culture in which they are shaped. In addition, people are lexis of a culture. Also certain linguistic characteristics make certain forms of view more probable. How learners view the world is influenced by lexical and grammatical categories of a language. For example, metaphors provide theoretical schemata by which we view the world. To get a full picture, the metaphor ‘ideas are food’ will creates lexis such as ‘it gives me food for thought’. Language provides the grammar upon which culture superimposes itself upon and is revealed in. A grammar of culture comprises of rules for the creation of patterns of behavior. For example, when Japanese sees a car approaching, he/she almost always uses the present perfect; the car has come while an American uses the present continuous; the bus is coming. Considering this case, the variation between the two cultures rests in the theoretical organization of the mind that they prefer or are conditioned to follow. We can be conditioned to perceive things just as we can be conditioned to execute obvious acts as crying, waving or salivating. Culture is inextricably and absolutely associated with language (Sapir 1929). Many teachers and researchers have been concerned with the role of teaching culture in foreign language classroom. This has sparkled considerable debate and still its validity as an equal complement to teaching language has frequently been ignored or still impugned. Foreign language learning consists of various elements such as language expertise, grammatical competence, cultural competence and communicative competence. Cultural competence refers to the proficiency of the rules, traditions, values and structures of meaning of a foreign country. No doubt then that cultural competence is a vital part of foreign language learning. As a result, many educators have taken it as their aim to integrate the learning of culture into the curriculum of foreign language. Grammatical competence is complemented by communicative and cultural competence (Byram 2008). Apparently, learning a foreign language is the same as learning a foreign culture and there is no doubt that culture has been taught in foreign language classrooms in one form or another. In fact Kramsch noticed that “culture in language learning is not an expendable filth skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the good language learner when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them” (Kramsch, 1993: 1). Foreign language learning entails learning how to communicate as well as finding out the flexibility the target language permits students to influence grammatical structures, sounds and implications and to reveal ignorance, socially agreed upon customs at work both in their own or target culture. Culture learning should not only be integrated into the foreign language curriculum but as well into students’ repertoire and view of life. Teachers cannot teach foreign languages exclusive of providing some insights into its learners’ culture. Similarly, cultural competence cannot be fostered devoid of the diverse views and perceptions of people in diverse cultures that can improve or hinder communication. Furthermore, communication entails understanding while understanding involves fitting into the shoes of the foreigner and examining her cultural baggage, though constantly “putting the target culture in relation with one’s culture” (Kramsch 1993: 205). It is important for teachers to note that if they teach language exclusive of teaching the culture in which it functions, they are teaching empty symbols or code that the learner connects with the incorrect meaning. Teaching culture in foreign language classroom helps shun stereotypes and it also enables learners to have control of their own learning as well as to attain independent by examining and questioning the broader context inside which the learning of the target language is rooted (Gallagher, 2003). Teachers can make learners conscious that there is no better and substandard culture and that there are diversities among people inside the target culture as well by bringing to the front several components of the target culture and emphasizing on those qualities and features that are of significance to the members of the target society. Foreign language teachers should avoid taking an outsider’s outlook when teaching. They should not validate the prejudices of their learners or hit their deeply detained convictions. Their role is to arouse the learners’ interest in the target culture and to assist create the foreign language classroom as one where opportunities for learning of different types are offered through the communications that occur between the members and not as a place where language is taught (Kramsch 1993: 245). When teaching culture, the goal of teachers should be to raise the learner’s knowledge of their own culture and to offer them with several type of metalanguage so as to speak about culture and to develop a degree of academic independence important in cross-cultural communications. In addition, they should promote the perception of the target culture from an insider’s outlook, that is, a considerate perspective that allows the learner to correctively understand foreign cultural conduct. Culture teaching must be proportionate with the dynamic characteristics of culture. While learners certainly want to acquire knowledge of and regard the second language or culture, they also want to acquire proficiency in culturally suitable communication and conduct for the target culture for them to be culturally competent. For learners to expand their understanding of the dynamic character of the target culture and of their own culture, cultural awareness is a must (Wardhaugh, 2002). Teachers should avoid ‘a laissez-faire strategy’ in their teaching methodology and adopt a systematic and structured way of teaching culture. Foreign culture curriculum should have an evaluation of culture learning as one of its components. Learners should be provided with feedback while teachers should be responsible for their teaching. Cultural competence provides a means of attaining and consulting country’s political and economical identities in an ever-shrinking universe. Just as our world is changing so should our schools. Linguistic and cultural skills should be at the front of our ever-changing world. We should not shun away from tackling these valid global necessities. Teachers should endeavor to produce students who glimpse their global tasks and shift easily from one cultural setting to the other. Nowadays, to be politically successfully, it call for the use of persuasion instead of armed force, whereas successful persuasion needs one to understand the other party’s beliefs and way of creating relationship. Clearly, culture has become third if not second superpower replacing justice and assisting in sustaining solidity and stability where necessary (Stern 1992). Language teachers must foremost combat and eliminate stereotypes. They should avoid openly criticizing the students’ present hetero-stereotypes and trust that bringing up the constructive metaphors of the foreign country will offset their negative connotations. Stereotypes can be persistent as people from diverse cultures have their own schemata by which they view and comprehend the universe. Teacher should use evaluation so as to offer a different view of the foreign culture, with the aim of finding out common ground inside or between cultures (Byram 2008). As a matter of fact, students will not renounce their ‘cultural baggage’ and start to view the universe in the Japanese, Spanish or French view so to speak. However, they can recognize that any academic antinomies originating from their experience of the target culture are normal and not destructive. Students must first of all become familiar with their own culture before learning another culture. Learners can only be able to reflect upon the beliefs, norms, customs and traditions of another culture with a high degree of academic independence if they are able to explore their own culture, that is, discover the very beliefs, rituals, norms and values that they unconsciously engage in (Stern 1992). The age and level of the students determines the form this task can assume. For instance, adolescent beginners learners should be allowed to take part in specific activities that are part of their own culture, like local sports, social celebrations, before they begin to discuss those of the target culture. In this case, the focus should be on the latter. Learners who are beginning to learn a foreign language want not only to hear the language of foreign people but also to feel, touch, smell and see the language. The foreign language classroom should not become a ‘cultural island’ (Kramsch 1993), where the pronunciation is on ‘cultural experience’ instead of’ cultural awareness (Byram 2008). For learners to develop ‘ a mental image’ of the target culture, teachers should bring with themselves, from the first day, class posters, images, maps, etc. The most effective and motivating activity is for teachers to send learners on “: cultural errands”, for example shops and superstores, and have them note down the names of imported products. In addition, teachers can call guest speakers to speak about their knowledge of the foreign country (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). Another stimulating activity can involve dividing the class into groups of four or five and let them come up with a list of those features and qualities that evidently differentiate their own and target culture. This can be in terms of clothes, music, sports, race, arts, food, and customs among others. This makes it easier for the teacher and learners to discover any stereotypical drifts and predetermined thoughts that they require to get rid of. After establishing the major differences, the teacher can introduce learners to key terms, for example divorce, homosexuality, and death among others, and hence be helped in taking an insider’s perspective of the overtones of these terms and concepts. This is to say that students can be able to question their own suppositions and attempt to see the fundamental importance of a specific term in the target culture and language. For instance, in the Hispanic culture, there are great differences between animals and human beings and bullfighting is highly valued where as western spectators may see it as a waste of time. In Spanish culture, a bull is not the same as the person who slay it; this belief has the impact of clearing, so to speak, the bull slaughter from all responsibility. According to Spanish people, the bull can be strong but not intelligent or competent; these are traits associated with human beings. In theses two cultures, concepts like cruel, kill, and weak have different connotations (Maines, 2001). In addition, culture teaching in the foreign language classroom should take into account the way language and social variables interpenetrate. The fundamental basis is that language differs depending on social variables, like race, ethnicity, class, age, etc, and should take into account the affiliated recorded difference. For instance, learners may be taught that there are particular terms that are used more often by men compared to women and vice versa and that there are as well different dialects that cannot have the same respect and status (Smith and Osborn, 2007). The learners can be able to describe some contrast between their own culture and target culture by exposing them to foreign culture. The best way of providing learners with cultural information is through a dint of culture cluster, which are a sequence of culture capsules, for example a tale on the good manners during family mealtime. Learners can practice how to eat and learn how much the members of the foreign culture value a meal with outsiders by using tale as a facilitator for debate and experimentation. However, learners should be cautious not to lose the view that not all members of the foreign community think and act in the same way (Wardhaugh, R. 1998 There are several methods that can be used to provide cultural information to learners; cultural assimilators, cultoons and cultural problem solving. Cultural assimilators involve short descriptions of different situations where an individual from the home culture interact with an individual from the target culture. After that, we derive four likely analyses of the connotation of the conduct and dialogue of the interacting, particularly those from the target culture. Learners read the description and then select one of the four alternatives they feel is the accurate analysis of the situation. Once every student has selected their option, they debate why some alternatives are accurate or inaccurate. Cultoons are visual culture assimilators where learners are given a sequence of four pictures stressing points of misinterpretation faced by individuals who get in touch with the target culture. Learners are then asked to assess the character responses in terms of suitability. Then students read short messages clarifying what was taking place in the cultoons and why there was misinterpretation. Cultural problem solving involves putting the learner in a dilemma situation to solve it. For example, taking learners to a restaurant where they are anticipated to order food. Here, students are offered the opportunity to put themselves into the shoes of a member of a target culture (Lantolf, J. P. & Poehne, 2008). Conclusion The language teachers have a role to play as far as emphasizing what unites people across cultures as well as recognizing the differences that exist in these particular cultures. Just knowing what unites the different cultures is not enough without appreciating the differences that exists and hence being able to appreciate every culture with its own significance and value on the global world and particularly to the people of a specific culture. The strategy of the language teachers is to reach out to all individuals within different cultures and be able to incorporate them in the education program. While looking at the unifying factors, it is equally important to study the differences within the cultures and make the particular students appreciate the other students’ cultures and hence be able to learn in the same environment without feeling left out or offended. The language teachers should have in mind the multicultural differences as they go on to develop the lesson plans. References Byram, M. 2008. From foreign language learning to education for intercultural citizenship: essays and reflections. Cambridge: Multilingual Matters. Crozet, C. & Liddicoat, A.J. 1999. The challenge of intercultural language teaching: Engaging with culture in the classroom in Striving for the Third Place: Intercultural Competence Through Language Education, Eds J. Lo Bianco, A.J. Liddicoat & C. Crozet, Language Australia, Melbourne. Gallagher, C. (2003). On the fault line: race, class, and the American patriot movement. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Holmes, J. 2008. An introduction to sociolinguistics. London: Pearson Education Limited. Kramsch, C. 1993. Teaching language along the cultural faultline, in Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lantolf, J. P. & Poehne, M. E. (2008). Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages. Jakarta: Equinox Pub Maines, D.R. 2001. The split of perception: a view of interactions in sociology. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. Salzmann, Z. 1998. Language, Culture and Society. An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. USA: West view Press Sapir, E. 1921. Language. An Introduction to the Study of Speech. London: Rupert Hart-Davis. Stigler, J.W. & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap: best ideas from the world's teachers for improving education in the classroom. New York: Simon and Schuster Stern, H. H. (1992). The intralingual-crosslingual dimension in Issues and Options in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smith, D. I. &, Osborn, T. A. (2007). Spirituality, social justice, and language learning. Berkeley: IAP. Wardhaugh, R. 1998. Ethnography and ethnomethodology in an Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell. Wardhaugh, Ronald, 2002. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Mass.: Blackwell. Read More