Interculturality and the English Language Classroom

315 Pages·2021·7.47 MB·

by  Mabel Victoria, Chittima Sangiamchit

Interculturality and
the English Language
Classroom
Edited by
Mabel Victoria · Chittima Sangiamchit
Interculturality and the English Language
Classroom
·
Mabel Victoria Chittima Sangiamchit
Editors
Interculturality
and the English
Language Classroom
Editors
MabelVictoria Chittima Sangiamchit
The Business School Department of English
Edinburgh Napier University University of theThai Chamber of
Edinburgh, UK Commerce
Bangkok,Thailand
ISBN 978-3-030-76756-3 ISBN 978-3-030-76757-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76757-0
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Preface
We are both teachers and researchers of English as a foreign language.
In the last few years, we have become aware of our students’ growing
needs to be able to communicate with people from different linguistic
andculturalbackgrounds.Increasedmobilityandhighinterconnectivity
have made communication across cultures an important part of their
daily lives. Thus, we felt that it is no longer viable to teach English
without, at the same time, equipping the learners with the knowledge
andskillsthatwillhelpthemnavigateinterculturalencounterseffectively.
This challenge has inspired us to put this volume together.
Inthiscollection,wehavecollectedenthusiasticvoicesandexperiences
ofEnglishlanguageteachersandresearchersfromaroundtheworld.The
contributions in this volume have been written for English language
teachers by English language teachers and practitioners from Brazil,
Czech Republic, Iran, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland, Tunisia,
Thailand, the United States and the United Kingdom. The chapters
reflect a wide diversity of perspectives from local contexts with global
relevanceandapplicability.Thereaderswillbeabletocomparetheirown
v
vi Preface
localcontextsandadapt/adoptwhatotherpractitionershavereportedin
their chapters.
We envisage the collection to be useful in teacher training/education
programmes. The strong pedagogical component is reflected in the
‘Engagement Priorities’ and ‘Recommended Texts’ of the core chap-
ters. We hope that English teachers and practitioners will find ideas
in this volume that will challenge and inspire them to incorporate
interculturality in their classrooms and in their research.
Edinburgh, UK MabelVictoria
Bangkok,Thailand Chittima Sangiamchit
Acknowledgements
Our sincerest thanks to the people who have been part of this book.
We are very grateful to Prof. Fiona Copland and Dr. Sue Garton for
drawing our attention to the possibility of publishing a collection on
interculturality in ELT. We are very thankful for their valuable feedback
in the initial stages of this collection.
We would also like to thank Ananda Kumar Mariappan for coordi-
nating the production of this volume. His prompt responses to all our
queries and active monitoring of each step of the publication process
are much appreciated. Our gratitude also goes to Cathy Scott, our
Commissioning Editor, for her guidance and support.
Our heartfelt thanks go to the contributors of this volume. Despite
the gut-wrenching challenges and real fears brought on by the covid-
19 pandemic during the writing, re-writing and review process, they
never wavered in their commitment to forge ahead. Besides working on
theirownchapters,thecontributorsalsoparticipatedinthe(blind)peer-
reviewsystem,givingeachotherhelpfulfeedback.Thismeansthatevery
chapterinthiscollectionhasbeenreviewedatleasttwotimesbydifferent
vii
viii Acknowledgements
authors. Our appreciation also goes to Palgrave Macmillan’s reviewers
whosevaluableinputenabledustomakeimprovementstothecollection.
Finally, we would like to thank our families for their understanding,
patience and support throughout the project. To you, we dedicate this
work.
MabelVictoria
Chittima Sangiamchit
Contents
1 Introduction: Interculturality and the English
Language Classroom 1
MabelVictoria and Chittima Sangiamchit
Introduction 1
English LanguageTeaching and Culture 4
Essentialism and Non-essentialism 4
Neo-essentialism 8
Defining Interculturality 10
What theVolume Is About? 14
Structure ofThisVolume 15
References 20
Part I Teacher’s Voices: Exploring Ways to Research
Interculturality in ELT
2 A Cultural Studies Approach to Interculturality
in ELT 27
Lone Krogsgaard Svarstad
Introduction 27
ix
x Contents
Teacher Perceptions and Practices of Interculturality 29
A Cultural Studies Approach to Interculturality 31
Teacher Education: Module in Intercultural Competence 34
A Cultural Studies Case: An Open Letter on Facebook 35
Principles for Intercultural Language Learning 36
Noticing 37
Comparing 38
Reflecting 39
Interacting 41
Exam Synopsis: A Cultural Studies Approach to Work
with Representation and Gender in the EFL Classroom 42
Teaching Interculturality in ELT 46
Implications forTeacher Education 48
Conclusion: A Cultural Studies Approach
to Interculturality and Language Learning andTeaching 49
RecommendedTexts 51
Engagement Priorities 51
References 52
3 ELT and Interculturality: Approaching Such
a (Dis)Connection Through the Voices of Future
BrazilianTeachers of English 55
Sávio Siqueira
Introduction 56
The ELT Scenario in Brazil 58
The Culture(s) of a Global Language 61
Interculturality and ELT 63
ELT and Interculturality:TheVoice of BrazilianTeachers 66
Concluding Remarks 75
RecommendedTexts 76
Engagement Priorities 77
References 78