Do Tasks And Exercises In English Foreign Language Textbooks Promote Intercultural Competence An Empirical Study

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2020 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,5, University of Paderborn (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Since the textbook is a central teaching and learning aid, this work will examine a part of the tasks and exercises of two books. Referring to this, textbook research is a relevant field of study, because a critical look at current teaching material is always needed to ensure that it is appropriate for pupils as well as it is of good quality considering the achievement of educational goals. To give exemplary research findings, the analysis will focus on textbooks of class eight at Hauptschule (Blue Line 4) and Realschule (Red Line 4) in Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany published by Klett, whereupon in each case the recent version of the year 2017 was chosen. To narrow down the research project furthermore, the work will zoom in on the first unit of the books, which is “Gateway NYC”. The main topic of this bachelor ́s thesis will therefore be: “Do tasks and exercises in English Foreign Language textbooks promote Intercultural Competence? - An exemplary analysis based on the topic New York”. The intention of the work on hand is to evaluate the quality of tasks and exercises for the promotion of Intercultural Competence. To answer the main question of this thesis, the work has been divided into two parts. The first one summarises the most important information and theses on the topic. The second one examines the available textbook material in detail by means of an empirical method. In the theoretical chapter, Intercultural Competence with respect to its definition, importance and establishment in didactics will be explained. Thereupon, the relevance of tasks and exercises in class will be discussed and four quality features of assignments promoting Intercultural Competence will be chosen, which will allow an evaluation of these. In the following, the tasks from the Blue Line 4 and Red Line 4 schoolbooks will be analysed. After investigating the tasks ́ quality individually, the findings will be comprehended and discussed. In the conclusion, the fundamental research findings will finally be recapped and the question of the bachelor ́s thesis will be answered.

This book examines the concept of interculturality in English Language Teaching (ELT), using examples from diverse international and educational settings to demonstrate different approaches. Increased contact between multilingual speakers from different cultural backgrounds means that linguistic and intercultural competence must be taught hand in hand, and the approaches featured here will: encourage learners to develop intercultural sensitivity and a critical intercultural attitude; mitigate the limitations of textbooks and extend the learning to global issues, intercultural citizenship, and media literacy; show the potential of telecollaboration and popular culture as pedagogical resources; and demonstrate the value of interculturality in English as lingua franca situations and English for Academic Purposes. The chapters feature empirical studies from around the world, and include questions for reflection and recommended reading so that readers can engage more closely with key concepts, compare and adapt the practices most relevant to them. This book contributes to the literature on (inter)cultural pedagogy, English as a lingua franca, language pedagogy, and teacher professional development, and will be an invaluable tool for English language teachers, teacher trainers and educators seeking to enrich their practice. It will also be of interest to students and scholars of Applied Linguistics, especially language education.

Exploring sociocultural competence and the promotion of intercultural communication, this study aims to clearly define the concepts behind teaching foreign language and the connections between culture and language. As foreign language teaching continues to increasingly focus on the relationship between culture and language, understanding the link and what it means becomes more important. Objective and informative, this examination particularly looks at English as a lingua franca between speakers of different languages and cultural backgrounds from the perspectives of nonnative English speakers and explores how that affects pedagogical approaches to teaching foreign language.

This wide-ranging survey of issues in intercultural language teaching and learning covers everything from core concepts to program evaluation, and advocates a fluid, responsive approach to teaching language that reflects its central role in fostering intercultural understanding. Includes coverage of theoretical issues defining language, culture, and communication, as well as practice-driven issues such as classroom interactions, technologies, programs, and language assessment Examines systematically the components of language teaching: language itself, meaning, culture, learning, communicating, and assessments, and puts them in social and cultural context Features numerous examples throughout, drawn from various languages, international contexts, and frameworks Incorporates a decade of in-depth research and detailed documentation from the authors’ collaborative work with practicing teachers Provides a much-needed addition to the sparse literature on intercultural aspects of language education

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject English - Pedagogy, Didactics, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: Intercultural competence has become the key competence of the 21th century. All German Bundesländer have added this term to their school curriculum and included it in their foreign language learning classrooms. Culture is conceived through language and by that an important element of the foreign language learning process. Communicating with someone from a different part of the world is not only based on knowing his or her language but also on understanding where this person comes from. Therefore it has become essential to help foreign language learners to create a cultural profile as an orientation and a guideline for the diverse cultures of their target language. In particular this is mostly achieved through the work with authentic literary texts and its influence on the learner's knowledge and thought. By regarding language as a "[...] social practice, culture becomes the very core of language teaching." (Kramsch 1993, 8) and has its main goal in conveying tolerance and acceptance for foreign cultures and their way of life.

Diploma Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1, , course: Bachelor in Elementary Education, language: English, abstract: The study was interrelated to the researcher’s field and background experience for this was about teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. The focus of the study was part of communication skills specifically "Interactive English" which was one of the subject taken by the researcher. The study provided sufficient information for this was only focused on assessing intercultural communicative competence among selected Grade 4 learners. The results that were obtained from this study will contribute updated and enhanced discoveries and notions regarding assessing intercultural communicative competence.

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,3, University of Potsdam, language: English, abstract: With Byram's savoirs being represented in the most important documents that deal with foreign language education, do editors choose tasks that promote intercultural communicative competence based on Byram's savoirs? And if yes, to what extent? This paper aims at answering these questions for the Camden Town 4 coursebook for the German Gymnasium. To be able to answer them at the end of this paper, I define intercultural communicative competence. A special focus is placed on Michael Byram's Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence, which will be explained in detail, then examples of how this competence can be implemented in the foreign language classroom will be presented. To round off the theoretical part, critiques that arose on Byram's model will be presented. Before starting to analyze the chosen coursebook, the methodology for this analysis will be explained. The term paper finished off with a conclusion that will answer the above-stated research question. In our rapidly growing and globalized world, more and more businesses require workers that are not only skilled in their areas but also interculturally competent. The lack of intercultural competence manifests itself in the training these businesses provide for their employees to develop it. With this necessity, intercultural competence logically moves into the focus not only of businesses but are also addressed in educational environments and are of special interest to foreign language teachers. Michael Byram already identified the necessity to include this competence in the goals in foreign language teaching in the late 90s. Up to then, the existing goals for language learners disregarded the importance of "the social identities and cultural competence of the learner in any intercultural interaction." (Byram, 1997: 8). He established a new model that had the goal to turn language learners into intercultural speakers. His model consists of five so-called savoirs and is, although developed 25 years ago, still one of the most important and present models concerning intercultural competence.

Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Communication: An International Investigation reports on a study that focused on teachers' beliefs regarding intercultural competence teaching in foreign language education. Its conclusions are based on data collected in a quantitative comparative study that comprises questionnaire answers received from teachers in seven countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Mexico, Greece, Spain and Sweden. It not only creates new knowledge on the variability, and relative consistency, of today's foreign language teachers' views regarding intercultural competence teaching in a number of countries, but also gives us a picture that is both more concrete and more comprehensive than previously known.

This book introduces the reader to the ongoing research on teaching English as a foreign language and highlights recent trends in theories of acquisition, teaching and development of communication and intercultural skills. As English as a third language is increasingly recognised as a common world reality, research around this particular subject certainly provides useful answers to questions regarding the most desirable pedagogical method when teaching it at school, the strategies that students use when learning foreign languages, the best age for introducing additional languages in the school curriculum, and the attitude of pupils when learning a foreign language, and English in particular, given its global significance. The contributions gathered here will give the reader a general idea of where research on English as a foreign language is heading now in the areas of teaching, pedagogy, intercultural and multilingual studies and teaching students with learning difficulties. The authors situate their research in current debates in terms of theory and empirical data. They address issues of English as a foreign language in a wide variety of settings, countries and orientations, coming from Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

This volume focuses on how far the policies, principles and practices of foreign language teaching and learning are, or can be, informed by theoretical considerations and empirical findings from the linguistic disciplines. Part I deals with the nature of foreign language learning in general, while Part II explores issues arising from linguistic, socio-political, cultural and cognitive perspectives. Part III and IV then consider the different factors that have to be taken into account in designing the foreign language subject and the various approaches to pedagogy that have been proposed. Part V finally addresses questions concerning assessment of learner proficiency and the evaluation of courses designed to promote it. Key features: provides a state-of-the-art description of different areas in the context of foreign language communication and learning presents a critical appraisal of the relevance of the field offers solutions to everyday language-related problems with contributions from renowned experts