A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING LEARNERS’

INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS
Titela Vilceanu,
University of Craiova
 Working hypotheses

Need to interculturalise language teaching

•1. What is intercultural competence? Is it separable from

communicative competence?

•2. To what degree is intercultural awareness incorporated

in English language teaching for real life purposes?

•3. What are the most effective strategies and techniques

for developing intercultural awareness with different types
of learners?
• 
 Towards an intercultural frame of mind
Intercultural awareness is a multilayered concept:

•cognitive dimension,

•behavioural dimension,

•value dimension,

•skills dimension,

•critical dimension.
 Towards an intercultural frame of mind
• There is no culture-free communicative competence.
Checklist:
•language proficiency - communicative, action-based, learner-centred view of
language learning;

•sensitivity to culture power differentials, appreciation of and respect for other

cultural patterns;

•intrapersonal dynamics skills - the ability to select relevant cultural knowledge

and use such information creatively and interactively, curiosity about new
cultural settings, the ability to plan ahead and to hypothesize, problem-solving
strategies;

•psychological adequacy and interpersonal dynamics skills: extroversion,

motivation, self-confidence, tolerance for ambiguity, conflict avoidance,
openness, the ability to interrelate co-operatively and to empathise, the ability
to adjust to different more or less familiar circumstances, etc.
(Vîlceanu, 2008: 90-93).
 English language teaching as an
interdisciplinary landscape
•Focus shift to ethnographia mundi, to the culture underwriting of all
human institutions and signifying practices, culture becoming a concept
of paramount importance, comparable to gravity in physics.

• “How far does the cultural dimension of language learning lead to

intercultural learning rather than to monocultural learning?”

• Kelly (2011: 414) advocates contrastive and comparative approaches

in ELT .

• As long as pluriculturalism and multiculturalism are encouraged, the

teaching of the English language and culture will contribute to the
development of intercultural awareness through both a reflective- and
action-oriented approach.
 From theory to practice

Activity 1. Challenging gender stereotypes

•The teacher provides the students with the quotes below. The quotes are accompanied
by questions acting as hints for identifying the gender stereotype. Students are
encouraged to compare and contrast different cultures they are familiar with, and detect
culture universals in point of women’s and men’s roles.
•“A man does what he can; a woman does what a man cannot.” (Isabel Allende) - Can
you name three things that a woman can do and a man cannot? What about the other
way round?
•“Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with
men.” (Joseph Conrad) - What do you think are two main difficulties when women deal
with men?
•“Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the
hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.” (Albert Einstein) - What
do you think men expect women to change after marriage? What about women's
expectations?
•“In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a
woman.” (Margaret Thatcher) - Can you name three successful women politicians?
What are they famous for? Can you name three successful politicians? What are they
famous for?
 Activity 2. Critical incidents as cultural assimilators

From theory to practice

Activity 2. Critical incidents as cultural assimilators
The Smiths, a middle-aged American couple, invite Mr. Osaka, Mr. Smith’ boss over
dinner at their home. Mrs. Smith takes great pains in preparing rice, miso soup and
sushi. She even decides to wear a kimono for the occasion. Mr. Smith leads the
discussion to business matters and Mrs. Smith actively takes part in the conversation,
paying utmost attention not to disagree with Mr. Osaka on any topic.
•Do you think that Mr. Osaka will be flattered? Why / Why not?
After each group of students report their answer, they are provided with culture
capsules about the USA and Japan in point of food, habits and interaction patterns in
order to check their answers and compare and contrast the various interpretations
and perceptions surrounding culture.
Follow-up - project work. Studens are asked to collect information about different
European countries (the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Scandinavian countries,
Romania) with reference to traditional food, eating habits and interaction patterns, and
answer the questions below:
•If you invited foreigners at your place, would you try to cook their traditional dishes or
the your home country ones? What is the reason of your choice?
•Would you invite your boss over dinner at your place? Why / Why not? Do you think
that’s acceptable behaviour in countries across Europe?
 From theory to practice

Activity 3. The intercultural awareness library

Every month students are asked to bring in 2 homegrown materials related to raising
and training their intercultural awareness. This involves team work. They are asked to
select and classify the culture-related materials (i.e., written passages - famous quotes
(literary or non-literary), samples of functional writing (emails, text messages, letters,
narratives) and audio-video materials) according to the particular cultural thematic area
covered (e.g., relationships, sports, food and eating habits, taboos, etc.). Together with
the students, the teacher creates a digital library where contributions are stored. From
time to time, some of these materials may be exploited during the class - for instance,
before playing a video on time management (someone is often late for meetings), the
teacher provides the students with questions concerning attitudes to punctuality and time
perception:
•What does “being late” mean in your culture?
•Suppose you are late, what would you do?
•How do you react if someone else is late?
Next, the teacher plays the video and the students are invited to comment on the
recorded material taking into consideration their personal viewpoint expressed earlier.
• 
 Wrap-up

If we look at a building from the outside, we will know that there are
things inside the building, and we can see things outside of the building

If we are inside a building and we look through a window, we can see that
there are things outside, and we can also see that there are things inside
the building, including ourselves.
 Bibliography

Byram, M. et al. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Competence in Language

Teaching. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Kelly, M. (2011). “Second language teacher education”. In Jackson, Jane (ed.).
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication.
London: Routledge, 409-421.
Nieto, S. (2010). (2nd ed.). Language, Culture and Teaching. Critical
Perspectives. New York and London: Routledge.
Sercu, L. et al. (2005). Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural
Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Räsänen, R. (2007). “Intercultural Education as Education for Global
Responsibility”. In Kaivola, Taina and Melén-Paaso, M. (2007). Education for
Global Responsibility. Finnish Perspectives. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press,
13-33.
Vîlceanu, T. (2008). Intercultural Communication Prerequisites for Effectiveness
and Efficiency. Craiova: Universitaria.