Exploring intercultural competence through the lens of self-authorship

Intercultural competence among educators has long been recognised as important, especially in contexts characterised by growing and shifting cultural diversity such as Australia. However, the capacity to be interculturally competent has only recently been enshrined in teacher standards in Australia, and research into this field among early childhood educators is fledgling. Through the theoretical lens of self-authorship, this case study integrated a developmental model of intercultural maturity with a compositional model of intercultural competence. Combining these two models allowed for a holistic exploration of the complexities of intercultural experiences in an early childhood educational setting. This new integrated framework is applied to a case study that focuses on Heidi, an early childhood educator in a culturally diverse kindergarten. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations and analysis of philosophy, policy and observational documents. The findings indicated the importance of critical reflection and internal meaning making, as part of a self-authored identity, in relation to intercultural competence. Implications are discussed with a focus on the potential significance of the integrated framework to explore as well as enhance educators’ critical reflection about their intercultural experiences.     

跨文化非言语交际的语用研究

跨文化非言语交际作为跨文化交际的一个重要分支,其重要性已获得共识。如何在跨文化交际中正确运用和理解非言语手段关系到交际的成败。提出了跨文化非言语交际的语用功能,跨文化非言语交际的异同,以及跨文化非言语交际的语用对策,希望能对交际者非言语交际能力的提高有所帮助。     

L1 versus L2 online intercultural exchanges for the development of 21st century competences: The students’ perspective

The myriad of possibilities brought about by the advent of Web 2.0 in terms of communication and interaction have revolutionised educational practices over the past few years. One of the most promising educational approaches resulting from this revolution is online intercultural exchange or telecollaboration, which has been reported to contribute towards the development of 21st century competences. Many of the benefits of online intercultural exchange have been extensively explored in the literature and numerous studies have been carried out. However, very few studies have looked into the differences between an L1 or mother tongue exchange and an L2 or lingua franca exchange as far as the development of 21st century competences is concerned. This paper aims at filling this gap by exploring and comparing the results of two configurations of Online Intercultural Exchange carried out over a period of 4 months with 125 participants. The results indicate that the L1 exchange was perceived as more beneficial than the L2 exchange for most of the competences studied (linguistic and communicative competences, Language for Specific Purposes learning, learner autonomy and teamwork). Meanwhile, the L2 exchange was considered as more beneficial for the development of intercultural competence. Furthermore, no significant differences were observed regarding digital literacy.     

符号学观照下的跨文化交际语用失误研究

符号学作为一门崭新的方法论,在各个学科中起到了指导作用,跨文化交际作为一门新兴学科,亦引起越来越多学者的关注和兴趣,而符号学和跨文化交际研究的结合更是为研究者提供了广阔的探索空间。本文从符号学这一全新的视角分析跨文化交际中的语用失误,探讨符号学、跨文化交际和语用失误三者间的具体关系,希望通过所指意义、语用意义和言内意义三个方面的实例分析,对实现成功跨文化交际予以启迪。     

‘Korea … it's not really actually an Asian country’: Australian children's experiences of an intercultural school partnership programme

ABSTRACT

In Australia, intercultural understanding has been prioritised in education and curriculum documents at both federal and state levels. Alongside this educational priority, schools have also been encouraged to demonstrate ‘engagement’ with ‘Asia’, such as through a partnership with another school in the Asia-Pacific region. My research findings are based on an ethnographic study of Year 5 and 6 Australian children's experiences of an intercultural school partnership initiative through on-line classroom exchanges over a two-year period. Through a critical analysis of ‘complexity reduction’ I draw attention to the processes through which children made sense of perceived racial and cultural differences as part of their involvement in partnership activities and conclude with some reflections on the extent to which educational initiatives such as intercultural school partnership programmes that aim to foster intercultural understanding can do so without reinforcing unequal intercultural relations and stereotypes.     

高职国际贸易专业学生跨文化交际能力的培养

随着多媒体的诞生和Intemet的普及,“地球村”的概念已经被人们广泛的接受,人们意识到跨文化交际在现实社会中的重要性。而跨文化交际能力的培养对于个人的生活、公司的发展、国家的进步乃至整个世界的和平和稳定所起的重要作用已经得到广泛关注。然而,跨文化交际能力包括情感、心理、认知和行为多个层次,以及价值观念、生活方式、交际模式、语言等多个侧面,仅靠短期的跨文化培训显然是不可能完成的,它需要许多相关学科的积极参与,其中外语教学对跨文化交际能力的培养潜力尤为突出。     

Educating World Teachers for Cosmopolitan Classrooms and Schools

This essay responds to the question of what it might mean to educate “world teachers” for cosmopolitan classrooms and schools through an examination of an ethnographic play entitled Satellite Kids. The author begins with the idea that teachers need to develop or build up “intercultural capital”, that is, knowledge and dispositions that will help them in intercultural exchanges of teaching and learning. The author then explores what such knowledge and dispositions might entail through an analysis of Satellite Kids. The play's focus on issues of power, identity, and intercultural conflict within a Canadian cosmopolitan school makes an interesting case study for exploring what intercultural knowledge and dispositions might look and sound like, and how the educational project of building intercultural capital is different from the project of multicultural education that has been dominant in Western teacher education throughout 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.     

Interkulturelles Lernen — Zur Grundlegung eines didaktischen Prinzips interkultureller Begegnungen

In the Federal Republic of Germany there have in recent years been many varied encounters between Germans and representatives of other cultures, particularly those from Third World countries. These have increasingly been organized with an awareness of global interdependence and have as a result opened the door to the influence of foreign cultures and to an unmistakeable movement in the direction of a multicultural society. An intercultural pedagogical approach and didactic theory are faced with the task of resolving the consequent problems related to education and training. The author firstly attempts to systematize as a typology the practice of learning as it occurs in intercultural encounters in so far as this relates to the Federal Republic of Germany. He suggests that ‘intercultural learning’ should be seen as the didactic principle underlying the organization of learning in such encounters. Through a detailed discussion of his central concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘learning’ and of the issue of ‘interculturalism’, and by sketching a theoretical model of the stages and goals of the learning taking place, he then makes plain the necessary enlargement of the German concept of ‘Kultur’ and the process of differentiation which the concept of learning will have to engage in if it is to be applicable to educational activity in international or intercultural contexts.     

Being a teacher educator: professional identities and conceptions of professional education

Background:?In the context of Cyprus’ accession to the European Union (2004) and a noteworthy increase in immigration towards Cyprus, the Cypriot state was called upon to build more complete and coherent policies addressing culturally diverse educational settings. Cypriot education has historically enforced the nation-building project. However, since its accession negotiations to the EU, Cyprus received calls for harmonising its intercultural education to European standards.

Purpose:?This study aims to examine the content of intercultural policies in Cyprus, which have been initiated and/or developed by the national state and particularly the Ministry of Education and Culture. Furthermore, it explores the ways in which Cypriot policies are shaped by European influences, and the implications of this process for national constructs of intercultural education.

Sources of evidence:?We collected a purposive selection of thirty policy documents regarding intercultural education that were produced by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus. In addition, six Cypriot policy-makers working in the MEC's departments were interviewee participants. They were selected purposively according to the level of their involvement in the development of Cypriot intercultural policy.

Design and methods:?Data were coded to identify groups of concepts, issues, perceptions and behaviours and interrelationships within a theoretical model. Data triangulation contributed to the development of thematic categories that emerged from the data.

Results:?The analysis of the documentary evidence in this study suggests that the language of European policy has imbued the Cypriot socio-political environment with inclusive discourses enhancing intercultural education. Analysis in this study identifies that the Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture maintains an assimilationist orientation in its broader educational goals, despite adopting such (inclusive) discourses.

Conclusions:?This study argues on the basis of this evidence that Cypriot intercultural policy appears symbolic, indicating ‘simulated’ development and implementation processes. Arguably, there remains a high degree of ambivalence towards the process of transformation needed to Europeanise intercultural policy in Cyprus.     

论跨文化交流意识及其在外语教学中的培养

跨文化交流已成为不同文化国家交往的必然选择,跨文化交流意识则是交流的重要基础。在简要介绍文化、跨文化和跨文化交流的概念的基础上,重点论述了跨文化交流意识的内涵和主要特点,在此基础上,探讨了跨文化交流意识应该培养的主要方面,并针对当前大学外语教学,提出了跨文化交流意识培养的建设性意见。     

Intercultural competence among sports and PE teachers. Theoretical foundations and empirical verification

As intercultural competence among young people is one of the educational missions at European schools, teachers should themselves be able to deal constructively with cultural diversity, as well as encouraging and shaping intercultural learning processes in their classes. This article focuses on the intercultural competence of physical education teachers. ‘Intercultural competence’, often used as a ‘container term’, will be theoretically founded in reference to the challenges physical education teachers meet. Based on these theoretical assumptions, a special education course was developed and conducted with physical education teachers to further their intercultural competence. With a mixed-method approach, i.e., a systematic interlocking of qualitative and quantitative data, the efficiency of the course has been empirically proved: knowledge competence and methods competence as sub-competencies of intercultural competence are enhanced while educational beliefs and acculturation attitudes as performance indicators are changed.     

Intercultural bilingual education in Nicaragua: Contextualisation for improving the quality of education

For the past 35 years, various models of intercultural bilingual education (IBE) have been implemented in Latin American schools and adult education. While Spanish is the official language in Nicaragua, many indigenous languages, such as Miskito and Sumo-Mayangna, are also spoken ?C especially in the Atlantic coastal region. The Nicaraguan Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport recognises the need for a flexible curriculum that reflects individual local and regional linguistic and socio-cultural characteristics, through the use of mother tongue and second language learning. The contextualisation model applied in the Atlantic coastal region of Nicaragua is therefore based on the use of a languages strategy in preparing textbooks and basic technical materials with an IBE approach, as part of the process of improving the quality of education. Thus intercultural communication is enhanced, and the need to strengthen the systematic teaching of languages, differentiating between mother tongue, second language and foreign language, is recognised. As well as explaining the contextualisation process in detail, this article discusses the conceptual differences between intercultural bilingual education (IBE) and bilingual intercultural education (BIE). The paper concludes with several recommendations for the further development of BIE in Latin America.     

Probing into the Sino-American Cross-National Marriage Failures:An Intercultural Perspective

The open policy initiated in the late 1 970 s notonly brings abouta great boom in economy,but al-so accelerates the transmutation of Chinese people‘s traditional attitude towards marriage.In thepast,affected by Cultural Revolution ( which regards overseas relations as an evil thing) ,people hav-ing overseas relatives felt rather uneasy and had a sense of inferiority,not to say having a foreignspouse.However,with China‘s opening to the outside world,people‘s attitude toward marriage is un-dergoing great chan...     

Reproducing,disrupting and reforming understanding of cultural diversity: theorising future subject teachers’ pedagogical reflections

Despite the growing demands for carrying out intercultural education as part of all teaching and learning, little attention has been given to the ways in which future subject teachers understand the meaning of ‘cultural diversity’ and how teacher education programmes prepare future teachers to consider intercultural aims in education. Therefore, this study investigates how future subject teachers, studying in an international teacher education programme in Finland, conceptualise the educational aims related to cultural diversity in reflective group discussions. For theorising the student teachers’ reflections, this study applies the idea of cultural reproduction depicted in the theory of communicative action by Habermas as an analytical framework for identifying how student teachers reach agreement or disagreement in issues regarding educational aims related to cultural diversity. This study identified three main forms of cultural reproduction from the student teachers’ discussions and showed that the underlying understanding about ‘cultural diversity’ and the educational aims related to it are in a state of disruption. This study highlights the need to clarify the theoretical concepts and aims used to guide intercultural education and to further emphasise issues of cultural diversity during teacher education. The findings are important for developing practices within subject teacher education internationally.     

从接触假设视角研究高职师生跨文化交际能力的培养

跨文化交际能力的培养作为英语教学的一个重要内容已经得到国内英语教师的广泛认可,有关此能力培养的研究和探讨层出不穷,该文作者基于对Thomas K.Nakayama的接触假设理论的研究,从高职院校英语教师的角度,尝试提出了高职院校英语教师跨文化交际能力的培养,尤其是关于文化投射的阐述,以此提高教师克服师生间刻板印象的能力,避免由教师自身原因造成的矛盾和障碍。在最后作者介绍了针对学生的跨文化交际培训的几种模式,拓宽学生的视野,进一步理解文化对其交际的影响,提供识别和欣赏文化的相似性和差异性的能力。     

Interculturalism,Intercultural Education,and Chinese Society

Globalization is bringing about a new paradigm of super-diversity which is resulting in all societies becoming more culturally diverse. Interculturalism, as a new model which responds to this increasing diversity, rejects all forms of discrimination based on differences, instead embracing reciprocity and accommodation. Interculturalism theory is characterized by integration, cohesion, and intercultural dialogue. Compared to multiculturalism theory, interculturalism theory discusses how to make a society more cohesive and accommodate people from different cultures. Interculturalism features a stronger sense of whole. Therefore, in intercultural education, intercultural competence is highlighted in order to catalyze dialogue between people from different groups. Interculturalism has a role in increasing the current level of diversity within contemporary Chinese society. Furthermore, Confucius’ ideal of Great Harmony, which values integration while respecting differences, echoes the tenets of interculturalism. In conclusion, interculturalism can serve as an effective theory for cultivating a shared society.     

An analysis of the use of autobiographical narrative for teachers’ intercultural learning

The currency of intercultural education has risen worldwide in response to increased diversity within societies resulting from migration and global flows of populations. As intercultural education becomes a core responsibility of schooling, critical, detailed analysis of pedagogies for teachers’ own intercultural learning is largely absent in education research, in contrast to attention to developing students’ intercultural capabilities and theoretical and policy analyses. In beginning to address this limitation, this article offers a critical, reflexive analysis of our use and the efficacy of using autobiographical narrative for teachers’ intercultural learning. Framing theories include interculturality, autobiographical narratives for teachers’ professional learning, reflexivity, and the effects of silence and silencing in relation to diversity and intercultural relations in schools. Three instances of teacher autobiographical narrative elicited as part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of intercultural education in Australian schools are deconstructed to elucidate their explicit and hidden meanings and effects. The analysis reveals that while autobiographical narrative has productive potential as a strategy for stimulating teacher reflexivity about cultural identities and intercultural relations, it also contains hidden dangers and traps that caution against viewing it as a pedagogical cure-all in the development of teachers’ intercultural knowledge and skills.     

试析中国传统文化与跨文化交际教学

在我国不断加强国际交流与合作的今天,我国跨文化交流处于空前繁荣,许多人只是热衷于跨文化交际中对西方文化的学习,却忽视了对我国传统文化的学习和继承.文章就文化与跨文化交际的关系,中国传统文化在我国跨文化交际中的重要性进行了论述,同时就如何提高年轻一代特别是大学生跨文化交际素质,继承和发扬我国传统文化提供了有效的方法和途径.     

Learning to Live Together: the contribution of intercultural education

This article reflects the 17 years of experience of the 'Entreculturas project' in Portugal, where the 'Learning to live together' dimension has played a central role. It questions how intercultural education and training can contribute to promote and model an intercultural citizenship societal project and looks back at the history of the Entreculturas process in two different settings i) within the Ministry of Education (1991/2003), aimed at building and developing intercultural education in the educational system, and ii) at present, within the ACIDI — High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue —'upgraded' into a broader transversal dimension of immigrants' integration public policy.     

Learning intercultural communication through group work oriented to the world beyond the classroom

Competence in intercultural communication has become a necessity for functioning effectively in our increasingly globalised and multicultural society. This study reports the use of a group project to enhance students’ learning of intercultural communication. Participants were from a large undergraduate class in an Australian university. The aim of the course is to encourage students to develop knowledge of intercultural communication by orienting themselves to the world beyond the classroom, and by learning from each other’s experiences and perspectives. In a group project assignment, students used the knowledge and skills gained in class to resolve practical problems that they encountered in intercultural interactions outside the classroom. This paper focused on students’ experience of working in groups, and links between this experience and performance on the group project. Our study confirms previous research that demonstrates active engagement in group work can enhance learning outcomes. It also goes further in showing that groups that more highly rated their learning of intercultural communication through the group work experience obtained higher grades on the project.