The intercultural approach

Pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures … are didactic approaches which use teaching/learning activities involving several (i.e. more than one) varieties of languages or cultures.

Four pluralistic approaches Integrated didactic approach to languages Intercomprehension between related languages Awakening to languages The intercultural approach

Culture – a definition dynamic open complex transnational - culture(s) - context/situation - person transnational complex

Intercultural pedagogics Intercultural education is for all children. Intercultural education is embedded in knowledge, skills and attitudes. Intercultural education is integrated with all subjects and with the general life of the school. Language is central to developing intercultural competences. Intercultural education requires a real-world focus. Intercultural education takes time. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Irland, 2005

Byram (1997) Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Competence

Byram (1997) knowledge (savoirs) attitudes (savoir être) skills of interpreting and relating (savoir comprendre) skills of discovery and interaction (savoir apprendre/faire) critical cultural awareness/political education (savoir s’engager)

Attitudes: objectives willingness to seek out or take up opportunities to engage with otherness in a re- lationship of equality, distinct from seeking out the exotic of the profitable; interest in discovering other perspectives or interpretation of familiar and unfami- liar phenomena both in one’s own and in other cultures and cultural practices; willingness to question the values and presuppositions in cultural practices and products in one’s environment; readiness to experience the different stages of adaption to and interaction with another culturer during a period of residence; readiness to engage with the conventions and rites of verbal and non-verbal communication and interaction.

Intercultural and plurilingual competences Attitudes (savoir être) e.g. Critical Cultural Awareness (savoir s’engager) Skills (savoir faire) Knowledge (savoir) Learning to learn (savoir apprendre) Based on Martinez (2012), Daryai-Hansen/Stobbe (2013)

FREPA: A comprehensive list of descriptors to describe intercultural competences to define learning objectives to develop curricula within the field to find teaching materials in the FREPA database to design teaching materials to self-assess intercultural competences?

Agenda Two activities from the FREPA database Discovering the FREPA descriptors Discovering the FREPA teaching materials

This is the history of Wladimir, a young man from Moscow… A co-operative story This is the history of Wladimir, a young man from Moscow… Tell Wladimir’s story

Wladimir knows Hans, a German boy. Hans … A co-operative story Wladimir knows Hans, a German boy. Hans … Tell Hans’s story

Knowledge? Attitudes? Skills? All different. All equal. http://eycb.coe.int/edupack/index.html

Knowledge? Attitudes? Skills?

Where to find teaching materials? http://carap.ecml.at/Teachingmaterials/DB/tabid/2700/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Irland