Section outline
-
-
No culture, no language – understanding how culture impacts language learning and teaching
When we teach a foreign language, we teach students from different backgrounds and cultures, and we do that as teachers from different backgrounds and cultures, bringing in our own (first) language and cultural experience from which our learners benefit as often, interaction and communication requires strategies of a lingua franca, i.e. a common language shared by speakers from different linguistic backgrounds.
However, when looking at course materials and testing sheets, we can see that conventions of communication, expressions and politeness are still dominated by a native-speaker model. In this interactive workshop, we will explore to what extent we are moving away and have to move away from those conventions. As language teachers, we need to explore how pluricultural today’s teaching of language is and how important it is to integrate an understanding of the cultural impact factors on both language learning and teaching. We will explore what strategies can help to enable effective communication and collaboration, e.g. the use of questions, demonstrating sensitivity and skills of reflection as well as being able to anticipate certain issues like misunderstandings that might occur. Only awareness of these impact factors will help our learners to interact successfully by taking the sociolinguistic and cultural aspects of their communication and transactions into account. How we can implement such strategies in our language-teaching classroom and how our learners can see that they aremaking progress will be two key takeaways from this workshop.
Reference:https://rm.coe.int/cefr-companion-volume-with-new-descriptors-2018/1680787989
Bio:
Kirsten Waechter has been a business English trainer since 1998 teaching in-company courses and university students. Today she focuses on teaching business communication, ESP and intercultural courses. She is also a materials writer and translator.
-
The ICLE SIG is proud to participate in this year's JALTCALL Conference to discuss the intersection of culture and technology. Please join us!
Basic details:
- When: May 17-19 2024
- Where: Meijo University, Nagoya (Dome Mae Campus)
- Theme: The Impact of AI in Language Education
- Keynote speakers: Takako Aikawa & Joel Tetreault
- More information: https://jaltcall.org/jaltcall-2024
Registration details:
- Now open!
- JALT Member: 15,000 yen
- Non-member: 17,000 yen
- Student: 7,000 yen
- Registration by May 1st guarantees entrance to the Networking Reception
- (Late registrants cannot be guaranteed entrance to the networking reception)
- Registration page: https://events.jalt.org/event/1/registrations/19/
Keynote Speaker information:
- Takako Aikawa (MIT, Senior Lecturer in Japanese)
- AI-Enhanced Language Learning: Cultivating New Perspectives
- Before joining MIT’s Global Languages in 2013, Takako Aikawa honed her expertise in machine translation and natural language processing at Microsoft Research. At MIT she is responsible for directing the Japanese language program while utilizing technology for language learning.
- Takano CALL promo video:
-
Yoko Munezane, from Rikkyo University, and the JALT ICLE SIG is inviting you to register for an exciting event. In the hope to bring to light some pressing issues for the intercultural community of educators and practitioners worldwide, we are honored to announce our guest speakers:
- Jean-Marc Dewaele, Honorary Professor at University College London and is Emeritus Professor at Birkbeck, University of London
- Hamza R’boul, research assistant professor in the Department of International Education at the Education University of Hong Kong.
* click on presenters' names above to see abstracts and bios
Date: February 10 (Saturday), 2024
Time: 16:30 (Japan time)
Place: Zoom (a Zoom link will be sent to all who registered before the event)
Fee: Free
This symposium is supported by Yoko Munezane (Rikkyo University), JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K00923 and the JALT ICLE SIG.
-
Nov 30, 2023: OLE / ICLE Joint Event → Dr. Adriana Diaz presentation
Zoom presentation:
Beyond Textbooks: Unveiling the Potential of Open Educational Resources in Language Instruction
-
Visit jalt.org/conference for more details
-
Conference theme: Intercultural Awareness and Addressing Global Issues: The Role of the Media in Conflict
Deadline for abstract submissions:May 19 (submithere)
Conference date: September 16 (Saturday)
Venue: Kanda University of International Studies
Participation fee: Free
Contact: iclesigprogramchair@gmail.com and gile@jalt.orgVisit the Conference section of this site for more information.
-
My ICLE Share #2: "Becoming a Better Intercultural Observer"
Presenter: Stephen M. Ryan
Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 (10:30am - 12:00pm)
This session is based on a series of activities designed to help students improve their observational skills. It is motivated by the thought that preparing students to encounter the cultural Other entails far more than giving them information about cultural differences and theories based on them. There are skills to be learned (observation is just one example) and attitudes to be formed.
The activities are designed to increase students’ awareness of the importance of being careful observers of their cultural context and to give them practical experience developing and using observation skills within the context in which they now live. By doing so, the students will (hopefully) learn to approach their intercultural experiences in a spirit of open enquiry, basing their interpretation of events around them on observational evidence rather than preconceived notions.
While originally designed to help students prepare to study abroad, these activities are in fact of value to anybody who takes an interest in the world around them and seeks to learn from it. Isn’t that we all want for our students?
-
In 2021, JALT ICLE started the Activity Initiative where we invite members to submit and share activities they use to promote intercultural communication and understanding with their students. In 2022, we invite you to join us to discuss some of these activities. These events will include two basic sections: a short discussion by the event submitter on how to use the event followed by a discussion time for all participants to talk about how the theme and how they could modify the activity for their students. In the first event of this style, we welcome Javier Salazar to talk about stereotypes and nationalities.
When: Saturday April 23, 2022 | 10:30am - 12:00
Where: Zoom → To receive the Zoom link, please pre-register here.
Topic: Stereotypes vs. Nationalities
Presenter: Javier Salazar
Discussant: Michael BoyceClassroom activity overview: Stereotypes are part of human nature ... and this in spite of the fact that they are among the many root causes of social problems such as racism, discrimination, xenophobia and even wars. There is a vast body of research in social psychology that suggests that “cognitive biases” determine how we perceive others that are labeled as the “Other” due to their preferences, interests, affiliations, gender/sexual orientation, ethnicity or nationality. In this sense, although cognitive biases constitute an important mechanism for humans to make sense of their environment (and the people that inhabit it) they inevitably lead to the formation of stereotypes. Even more, these stereotypes tend to be largely unconscious; in the sense that humans are usually unaware of how their own biases shape their perceptions of the “Other”. When it comes to learning a foreign language (and ultimately communicating with the “Other” through it) stereotype awareness becomes an essential element of true intercultural communication. In this activity, students will be “tricked” into making explicit the stereotypes they may (or may not) have of people from other nationalities, as a means to eliciting stereotype awareness.
