Multi-university research suggests that despite efforts to foster intercultural awareness among U.S. engineering students involved in community engagement initiatives, such students do not show ...significant gains - and some show decreases - in intercultural development. Recent research also indicates that even in engineering programs designed to foster public and/or community engagement, U.S. engineering students show evidence of a culture of disengagement. As one approach to address these awareness and engagement gaps, this paper proposes an engineering for social justice framework that, among other factors, promotes identification of underlying root causes of social inequity and enhancement of human capabilities across curricular contexts, including communication courses. Drawing from coded analyses of student papers and evaluations of student discourse, findings from a course in Intercultural Communication suggest the engineering for social justice framework adds value in important ways. Students begin to question and disrupt less agile forms of intercultural awareness, to develop more complex forms of intercultural communication awareness, and to recognize the importance of public/community engagement. Implications for professional communication scholars, engineering curricula, and community engagement initiatives are discussed.
Australia's geographic position in the southeast quadrant of Asia can hardly be disputed, but the historical and emotional ties, until recent times, have been with England and Europe rather than the ...countries to the north. As the nation take steps to adjust awareness of its location and implications for international relationships and economic development, it has simultaneously been revising its understanding of the past, with specific and ongoing concern for redressing past injustices toward indigenous Australians. The University of Technology, Sydney, actively promotes intercultural awareness among its highly diverse staff and student body, with a special concern for providing for indigenous learners and staff. As academics, the authors had an opportunity to design an interactive online learning activity for exploring issues of Reconciliation within this wider context. As they worked on clarifying a design brief, the authors realized that more fundamental beliefs and issues were shaping their discussions. This article reports on what happened when they found that they were unable to continue with the initial brief and instead moved to reconsider their separate and mutual perceptions of intercultural issues shaping the process of Reconciliation in Australia. This led to design of a simulation for values-based learning adaptable to issues of Reconciliation and other ways of achieving cultural conflict-resolution.
Full text
Available for:
NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper reflects a key concern for teacher trainers: how can primary language teachers promote the development of intercultural awareness among their pupils? It addresses the concept of ...intercultural awareness as it applies to young learners and refers more specifically to the context of the Irish primary classroom and its curriculum. It argues that the European Language Portfolio (ELP) provides a valuable framework to develop and describe young learners' experiences, awareness and attitudes in this area and outlines the role of the MLPSI ELP model as a valuable potential instrument for both teacher training and teaching practice in this area.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
La enseñanza de lenguas en el mundo actual requiere nuevos/nplanteamientos en cuanto a la fijación de los objetivos de aprendizaje; su/nprincipal rasgo es el abandono del constructo del hablante ...nativo y su/nsustitución por el de un conjunto de competencias variables en diferentes/nlenguas, que se ejercitarán en contextos y situaciones diferenciadas./nLos enfoques plurilingües pueden ser una apropiada respuesta a estas/nexigencias del mundo actual; tomando como punto de partida el concepto/nde competencia plurilingüe, presentamos un modelo pedagógico basado/nen la hipótesis de la interdependencia lingüística de Cummins y elaborado/npara su aplicación en distintos contextos de la enseñanza de lenguas en/nEspaña. El modelo, que comporta la toma en consideración de la totalidad/ndel repertorio lingüístico del aprendiente y se propone desarrollar/nconjuntamente la competencia plurilingüe y la conciencia intercultural,/nse experimentará en un conjunto de centros educativos de características/ndiferentes en cuanto a nivel formativo y contexto sociopolítico, y se/nvalidará siguiendo una metodología de investigación formativa.
The learning goals in the area of foreign language teaching in/ntoday’s world need to be defined anew, one of their main features being/nthe giving up the construct of the native speaker as the paradigm of/nreference. It needs to be replaced by a set of the individual’s competences/nin different languages,that are variable and will have to be exercised in/ndifferentiated contexts and situations. The plurilingual approaches might/nbe an appropriate response to these demands; taking as a starting point/nthe concept of plurilingual competence, and building up on Cummins’/nhypothesis of linguistic interdependence, a pedagogical model is put/nforward, that is being worked on for its later implementation in some different contexts of the language teaching in Spain. The model, which/nencompasses the whole of the languages repertoire of each individual/nlearner, and aims at developing altogether the plurilingual competence/nand the intercultural awareness, will be tried out in a number of schools/nwith different characteristics as to their educational level and sociopolitical/ncontext, and will be validated following the formative research/nmethodology.
Este artículo se escribe en el marco del desarrollo del proyecto de investigación Diseño y experimentación de un mdelo/ndidáctico para el fomento de la competencia plurilingüe en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras, del grupo Grael de la/nUPF (investigadora principal, O. Esteve), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad del Gobierno español/n(referencia: EDU2012-38452).
The paper sets out to discuss a three stage framework for tackling the European intercultural dialogue and invokes Edgar Morin’s method that consists of three principles: dialogic, recursive, and ...hologrammatic. Firstly, it considers the idea of the consciousness of European intercultural dialogue and the attitudes that influence the changing trends. Secondly, it recalls some of the first peculiar manifestations of European interculturalism. Finally, it points out the idea of Europe through the prism of the universality of science and the specificity of literature, and the importance of the intercultural education.
Stories and games are common elements of both peer culture and educational activities across cultures and suitably presented, may help to foster positive attitudes and matter-of-fact interplay ...between cultures. With reference to the current context of intercultural education in Germany, the paper describes the concept behind a series of specially designed audio-visual media which feature stories and games as the focus of novel forms of presentation. Two cultures and two languages are presented within different kinds of narrative framework. The aim is to raise German children's awareness of and openness towards "other" cultures and languages and, at the same time, to help meet the needs of minority children by strengthening their bilingual/bicultural identity and offering them opportunities to demonstrate their specific skills. Introducing stories and games in ways which convey a message of cultural parity may help to counteract subtle forms of ethnocentrism in everyday settings, to combat negative stereotyping, and to create more complex images of individual cultures.
The authors outline how technology can be used to enhance learning between developing and developed countries/institutions. The QUIPNet Project between Indonesia and Australia was designed to enhance ...language and cultural proficiency. The gap in the literature of detailed and reliable accounts of interactions between the developing and developed countries is specifically targeted by the authors. Importantly, they highlight the interaction between the political, policy and practical levels, and reveal how contextualised processes influence the opportunities. They outline not only the successes, but also the difficulties, from technology-based problems to global political events, that could not have been foreseen. Based on the QUIPNet experience, they provide practical guidelines on developing such a cross-border education. The chapter also investigates the pedagogical practices which develop as teachers and students work with new tools and seek to integrate their use into language programs. In the near future, an additional set of guidelines for the creation of tasks that are appropriate for this level of students will also be compiled. It is hoped that these guidelines and descriptions of practice will help others to undertake similar projects between secondary or high schools - including some in developing countries. Author abstract, ed
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
