ERIC Number: ED612271
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Dec-21
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
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Ethnographic Approaches to Developing Intercultural Competence through Intercultural Interactions in the Higher Education Context in China
Wang, Yi'an; Miao, Liyang
Research-publishing.net
With the recent developing trend of redefining 'culture' across disciplines in intercultural and foreign language education (Corbett, 2003; Shaules, 2007; Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2010), it is widely agreed that culture requires a broader definition to improve the teaching and learning of it. Wilkinson (2012) suggests "a redefinition of culture in anthropological rather than aesthetic terms" (p. 302) to ensure that intercultural and language learning leads to Intercultural Competence (IC). Others (Buttjes, 1991; Risager, 2006) also note the importance of anthropological conceptualization when culture is taught in foreign and/or second language classrooms, because motivation to learn the language is increased. Byram (1991) similarly emphasized the need to include active 'cultural experience' in the foreign language classroom, and provided examples including cooking and geography lessons, in which students learn about the food and geography of the country whose language they are studying. A crucial element in research within the anthropology field is ethnography. Thus, to achieve a fuller understanding of culture "as the full gauntlet of social experience that students of foreign languages both learn and participate in" (Wilkinson, 2012, p. 302), including Holliday's (2004) concept of 'small culture', students should take on the role of ethnographer too; ethnography practices, in a variety of forms, have become central to intercultural approaches to culture and language teaching and learning (Corbett, 2003). [For the complete volume, "Virtual Exchange in the Asia Pacific: Research and Practice," see ED610332.]
Descriptors: Ethnography, Intercultural Communication, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Geography Instruction, Anthropology, Learning Motivation, Higher Education, Foreign Countries, Cultural Awareness, Course Descriptions, Teaching Methods, English (Second Language), Teacher Student Relationship, Online Courses, Program Descriptions, Electronic Publishing, Graduate Students, Masters Programs
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Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
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Language: English
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Identifiers - Location: China
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