L. Activity 3.5. Intercultural Competence (how to implement it in class)

1- Describe an example of exercise, or unit, from a book, dealing with intercultural competence.

    Looking for information about how intercultural competence is actually included in the textbooks, we've found a very interesting unit to analyze. The unit is called "Culture Vulture", a direct allusion to the topic it covers, as well as to the feeling it aims to arise in the students: curiosity towards other cultures, together with the realization of the enriching value of diversity.

            Indeed, what has caught our attention is the warm-up, a speaking activity in pairs entitled: Test your culture knowledge with this culture vulture quiz!  The activity includes images and short clues about cultural icons related to different arts (such as Kylie Minogue, the play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare or the painter Salvador Dalí) and students must guess the name and the country of origin of each one. Then, they share their answers with the whole class, and anyone who may know any further details about one of the given topics will be welcomed to share the information with the rest of the group.    

               OpenMind2. Level A2. London: MacMillan (2014).   

2- In your opinion, has the subject been dealt with appropriately? Explain why it has or why it has not.

           From a general perspective, the activity is positive since it covers cultural aspects from different regions and different areas (i.e. England, Spain, Italy...). At the same time, it directly appeals to the background knowledge of the learners on this topic, so the activity may arise their curiosity.

       However, we think that it will be more appropriate (and more enriching for the students) if the authors of the book had included some cultural notions belonging to less known countries. For instance, being a book to work on the English language, it could include images and clues about cultural icons from the different English speaking countries (such as India, New Zealand or Ireland), broadening thus the students perspective while dismantlement the myth that the English world only consists of the UK and north America. After all, we believe that the more and most varied information we give to our students, the better for them to mature as responsible citizens of our current, globalized world.    

3- How would you present/include it in your teaching?

         We'll include this activity while studying the names of countries and nationalities, so by doing the quiz students can put into practice the lexical items they have just learnt. Even though it is aimed at a A2 level, it can also be useful for practicing the grammatical point of comparative and superlative adjectives, encouraging students to make comparisons between the pictures and their own reality.  

          On the other hand, as it is a team-work, interactive sort of task, we will use it at the end of the lesson, when students are more tired and need an incentive to pay attention to the explanation. Thus, we believe that the competition factor will assure the active participation of the whole group.

          We can also take the activity a step further by asking the students to research at home the characters or countries they liked the most from the activity, and then prepare their own quiz to be answered by their partners in the following session. 

L. Activity EGL 1-5. I.C. - Group Discussion

                                                 Intercultural Competence 

1-What is “Intercultural Competence” (I.C.)?

 According to Deardoff, it could be understood as the capacity to communicate (both to utter and to understand) and to adapt oneself to an intercultural context. Moreover, this should be done in a way in which not only is it possible to get one’s point across, but also to do so in the most adequate fashion. This idea could be summed up by the English idiom “When in Rome, do as the Romans”.

2- Is I.C. important for communication?

Yes, it is. On the one hand, it is important in a very practical way. In our experiences as EFL speakers, there will be and have been many instances in which we have had to speak with people coming from different cultures. Therefore, we have had to adapt the way in which we communicate. Not only regarding actual utterances which need to be adapted as well, but also regarding body languages and ways of expression which are much more linked to culture. On the other hand, we also spoke about how interesting this intercultural competence was and what its study could offer concerning the linguistics and the degree to which culture affects language.

3-  How  does  I.C. relate to identity?

It goes without saying that one’s original culture shapes his or her personality. Hence, we have thought that I.C. and the opportunity to interact with other cultures allows people to negotiate and question the roles that might have been assumed.

4-How  does  I.C.  relate to the use of a language as a lingua franca? 

Firstly, we considered that I.C. was of the uttermost importance in the EFL classroom, for English is the likeliest language to be used in an intercultural context. Therefore, this competence has to be fostered and encouraged so that students can thrive in these situations.

5-How would you include  I.C.  in your teaching of  English as a global language?

Discussing this topic, we came to the conclusion that it would be important for students to understand and gain insight into other cultures, while at the same time reaffirming themselves as product of their own. Thus, we though it would be interesting to study different cultures and establish links with the one they belong to, and to study similarities and differences and try to account for them. Nonetheless, we also talked about how the best way to improve this competence would be, of course, to travel. This not being affordable for everyone, other options such as telecollaboration where mentioned.

L. Activity 2. Languages

-How many languages do you speak, apart from your mother tongue or L1?

Besides our L1 or mother tongue, which varies from Catalan to Spanish in each member of our team, we are all also fluent speakers of English. In addition, the whole group has studied a second language during the degree: Enrique, Alba and Maria Calabuig can converse of almost any topic in French, whereas Maria Jiménez and Andrea are as well quite fluent in German. 

-Is your mother tongue your L1?

In the case of Alba, Maria Jiménez and Maria Calabuig, their mother tongue and the L1 is the same: Catalan; although they can also be considered native speakers of Spanish almost since they started talking, due to the bilingual context of the Valencian Community. When it comes to Andrea, it's rather difficult to establish her mother tongue, because her father speaks Catalan and her mother Spanish, thus, she has been raised indistinctively in both languages. However, she herself acknowledges Catalan as her L1, being this the language she feels more identified with. On the other hand, the most interesting case of our group will be Enrique. Born in Belgium, his mother tongue is French, which he still uses at home or when talking to his relatives. Nevertheless, his family moved to Massamagrell when he was a few years old, growing in this manner in a completely different bilingual context. This fact explains why he considers Catalan (or even Spanish) his L1, the language through which he has expressed his inner thoughts and concerns during most of his life. 

-Are there things you find easier in one language than the other?

Even though all of us are bilingual from birth, there are some fields in which we feel more comfortable using one particular language. For instance, in relaxed atmospheres with family and friends, Catalan comes natural to our minds as the best tool to express our inner selves; whereas for official or academic purposes, we tend to use Spanish, as it seems more 'formal'. In general, for us it is easier to talk about feelings and personal experiences in our mother tongues -having a higher command of the language (vocabulary, structures, idioms, connotations), we feel more confident when using it when it comes to convey important messages. 

In the case of English, it is natural for us to use it in any context related to our degree or the Masters. As we have studied linguistics and literature using the English terminology, many times we find it hard to find the correct equivalent in Spanish or Catalan, because our minds process this sort of information directly in English. It is the same when we think about our Erasmus experience and friends: having lived in English, it is much easier for us to express our feelings and impressions of the period using that language. 

To sum up, the feeling of easiness or difficulty that a language causes on us depends very much on the context, the people we are with or even the topic of the conversation, but in general we all tend to switch to the language in which we feel more confident of our linguistic abilities.

-In language use terms, how would you describe the society you live in? Are the people in that society plurilingual?

We consider the Spanish society rather narrow-minded in language use terms, because even though there are several co-official languages recognised in different regions (Catalan, Valencian, Euskera, Galician) the general trend is to impose Spanish over all of them, particularly in the public atmosphere. 

At the same time, although studying a foreign language is compulsory in our academic system, very few individuals can be considered true plurilingual. In our current society, many people claim proudly to have a 'good command' of a foreign language, namely English, French, German or Chinese. In general, this 'good command' means that they are just able to mutter some basic, stereotypical sentences (which in many cases native speakers are unable to understand), but still people tag themselves as plurilingual individuals for business purposes. In our view, being a real plurilingual is one of the hardest status to attain, as long as it means being able to switch from one language to another in any context without hesitation, not just murmuring words without order or coherence. The problem with our current society is that titles and fake impressions are more important than a real control of the language. 

In the case of the Valencian Community, many people claim to be bilingual in Spanish and Catalan, but when it comes to real speaking, most of them are unable to express themselves fluently in the second language -which means that they have studied the language at school, but they haven't really learnt how to use it in real situations. This fact is usually explained by the personal lack of interest of some individuals who consider learning a second language as a useless task. 

-How would you encourage ‘bilingualism’ in your classroom?

First of all, it is important to make students (and parents) aware of the great benefits of being bilingual. If learners realize that a second language will help them progress in their future careers, if they see it as part of their nature, they will no longer see the second language just as an academic subject, and as so, they will be less reluctant to improve their linguistic skills. In other words, the first step will be presenting languages as the key tool for personal success. 

At the same time, we should encourage bilingualism in the classroom through a great variety of interactive activities, in an attempt to make languages seem appealing for the students. For instance, we can ask them to write an essay about themselves (likes and dislikes, family, hobbies, hopes) in their mother tongue, so they can express their inner thoughts in a more coherent and fluent way. Then, we can try to move them a step away from their area of comfort (meaning their mother tongue) by asking them to translate the text in the second language. The idea is to make them aware of their innate creative abilities, while they learn new vocabulary and structures (improving thus their bilingual linguistic competence). By mixing both languages in the same exercise, we want students to look for similarities and differences, so they can notice that all languages are similar to some point, but still, they have particularities which make them unique. 

Another key point will be arising students' awareness of the richness of being bilingual in communicative terms. By mastering two languages, they will be able to communicate with a wider social group, enlarging thus their personal opportunities -for instance, through the second language they will gain access to a huge variety of content (films, books, news) in the original version. Furthermore, once they have learnt a second language, it will become much easier for them to study new ones, because they will be able to make comparisons among languages, or even apply studying strategies that have been useful for them before. 

All in all, the best technique to encourage bilingualism in the classroom is based on activating students' self-esteem towards their bilingual nature. 

-Do you feel some languages have a higher status in the classroom?

In the case of our region, Spanish has a higher status in the classroom than Catalan, although the legislation establishes both as equally important. This imbalance is particularly noteworthy in the province of Alicante, as well as in Valencia city, where the vast majority of pupils just use the regional dialect in the Catalan course. 

In the case of public institutions, the law establishes that half of the subjects should be taught in Catalan, and the other half in Spanish, but from our personal experiences we can claim that there's a general trend of predominance of one over the other. This can be explained through different factors: the educators own ignorance of the Catalan language; the students' reluctance to study in a language which most of them feel alienated from their own reality; and most importantly, the authority's support to our current context of diglossia. In other words, being Spanish the official language of the country, the language of 'culture and authority', many educators and parents discourage learners from using Catalan, even at school, because this language has been stigmatized as 'provincial' (representative of a minority). Surprisingly enough, in many cases a foreign language such as English or French has a higher status inside the classroom than the regional one, because their international prestige is more valued than the real context in which we live. After all, this imbalance of languages inside our classroom responds to political interests.

On bilingualism, global language and mixed identities (9/12/16)

What do we understand by being bilingual? Is it an advantage or a disadvantage? This was the topic of today's class, in which we all have shared our personal vision about the notion of bilingualism. The discussion started after watching a very short and fun clip called "The importance of being bilingual", which tells the story of a golden fish who escapes from being devoured by a cat because he is able to speak 'dog'. Silly as it may seem, most of us have felt identified with the anecdote, as long as the fact of mastering a second language has saved our lives in more than one occasion -not literally, of course! Indeed, this topic is part of our nature, since the vast majority of the class are innate bilinguals able to switch from Catalan to Spanish without hesitation.

After this group discussion, we've moved to a quiz about English varieties in which the teacher has checked our knowledge of the different Englishes spoken around the world. Quite an amusing exercise, though, since it has served to dismantle many stereotypes - as the idea of the English as a 'fixed' language only spoken in the global powers such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The quiz provided information about the different English varieties and particularities of each region, as well as the number of speakers. 

Finally, we've watched a video in which David Crystal argued about the importance of teaching English as a global language.. In fact, we agree with him that there is a real need to expose learners to as many different pronunciations as possible, so they can be able to understand a message and interact with natives of the most varied origins. Even though course books are usually based on RP or American accent, it is our duty as teachers to create a huge variety of activities in which students can get in touch with a wider perspective of the English world, in terms of spelling, content and culture. As always, the more the merrier! 

P.S. If you are interested in the topic, here are some extra links! 

Why bilinguals are smarter

Learn British accanets and dialects

Discover the History of English

English as a global language

Food for thought! 

Talking about bilingualism, we reflected upon the fact that speaking a language meant having a given identity, and thus speaking more than one languages involved having many identities, and being more likely to empathise and understand people with different backgrounds. We were talking about this when the class finished and we remembered a teacher at University telling us about The Quijote being written in Spanglish, and we decided to do some research. 

Ian Stavans, who adapted El Quijote to Spanglish, is considered to be the father of Spanglish himself. This synthesis of Latin-American Spanish and English is wildely spoken in the US, and it is vindicated by many as “the language of the future”. By adapting El Quijote to Spanglish, Stavans brought the Spanish language and culture closer to their own. He wrote the Chicano culture into being through this new approach to the most famous Spanish Novel. He managed to assert the Chicano Identity through this linguistic hybridisation. Isn’t it amazing what we can create through language? 

Here is the beginning of Stavans translation, hope you enjoy it! 

“In un placete de La Mancha of which nombre no quiero remembrearme, vivía, not so long ago, uno de esos gentlemen who always tienen una lanza in the rack, una buckler antigua, a skinny caballo y un grayhound para el chase. A cazuela with más beef than mutón, carne choppeada para la dinner, un omelet pa’ los Sábados, lentil pa’ los Viernes, y algún pigeon como delicacy especial pa’ los Domingos, consumían tres cuarers de su income. El resto lo employaba en una coat de broadcloth y en soketes de velvetín pa’ los holidays, with sus slippers pa’ combinar, while los otros días de la semana él cut a figura de los más finos cloths. Livin with él eran una housekeeper en sus forties, una sobrina not yet twenty y un ladino del field y la marketa que le saddleaba el caballo al gentleman y wieldeaba un hookete pa’ podear. El gentleman andaba por allí por los fifty. Era de complexión robusta pero un poco fresco en los bones y una cara leaneada y gaunteada. La gente sabía that él era un early riser y que gustaba mucho huntear. La gente say que su apellido was Quijada or Quesada –hay diferencia de opinión entre aquellos que han escrito sobre el sujeto– but acordando with las muchas conjecturas se entiende que era really Quejada. But all this no tiene mucha importancia pa’ nuestro cuento, providiendo que al cuentarlo no nos separemos pa’ nada de las verdá.”