Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence in the EFL Classroom: A Didactic Proposal Using the Picturebook My Two Blankets

In a world of increasing globalization and ethnic diversity, intercultural education plays a crucial role in promoting respect, open-mindedness and mutual understanding. With reference to Byram’s five-faceted model of intercultural learning, this paper discusses the potential of picturebooks in developing intercultural communicative competence as well as visual and verbal literacy skills in the English as a foreign language classroom. The picturebook My Two Blankets (2014) by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood is used in a sequence of pedagogical activities to explore questions of cultural and linguistic identities, as well as the challenges to learn a new language in an unfamiliar environment

Visual TICASS2: The colours of the intercultural dialogue–primary schools (Kenyan experience)

This section of the book presents some of the best practices in the fields of visual languages and art education developed in the TICASS project. All partners involved wrote technical entries describing the activities conducted in interdisciplinary ways. The aim is to outline the implementation of the programme, stressing the proposals, objectives set, targeted recipients, and evaluations. The following practices are completed with photographic documentation to characterise some meaningful steps of the experiences carried out during the research

Enhancing Indigenous content in arts curricula through service learning with Indigenous communities

Executive summary At the heart of this project has been the desire to enhance the way in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural content is embedded in higher education arts curricula. It comes at a time when higher education institutions are facing growing pressure to make curriculum content more representative of and responsive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. In response, many Australian universities have established formal initiatives to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and intercultural competency across the curriculum. This has taken the form of policies and reconciliation action plans, community engagement initiatives, networks and councils of Elders. Despite the proliferation of such initiatives, the incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into higher education curricula and cultures remains a challenging political, social and practical task. This project has sought to address this challenging task by positioning arts based service learning (ABSL) as a strategy through which Australian higher education institutions can promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural content for students in ways that also directly support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Wayang Authoring: A Web-based Authoring Tool for Visual Storytelling for Children

This research focuses on the development of the Wayang Authoring tool as it aims to assist children in creating and performing stories, developing an appreciation for cultural artifacts, and enhancing intercultural empathy while building a young storyteller community in a virtual world. This study seeks a framework of interaction design of an authoring media which is appropriate to support children s narrative development. The concept of the tool is based on the narrative element of the ancient Indonesian art form wayang, a traditional two dimensional shadow puppet theater. To understand the user s requirements and the cultural dimension, children and professional story performers who use wayang have been involved in the design process. In order to evaluate the tool, several workshops have been conducted with children from different cultural backgrounds as well as with their teachers. Wayang Authoring is composed of three elements: the imagination-building element, the creative acting element and the social interaction element. Children take existing materials as an inspiration tool, imagine what they themselves want to tell, create a story based on their own ideas, play with their creations, share their stories and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences at the end. This virtual creative production tool is expected to provide a space for young people to change their role from a simple user to a (co-)creator in the virtual and narrative worlds. The core contributions are in the field of web technology for storytelling. The uses of web-based authoring media enable children to put themselves into the process of developing stories. When they are connecting stories, they are connected and immersed with other children as well. They have to act and play by themselves or with others within the stories in order to experience the narratives. They train to have the skills to interact, to share their ideas and to collaborate constructively. This makes it possible for them to participate in today s media-driven culture. This research found that a better understanding of how stories are crafted and brought to life in a performance tradition offers a better design of interaction of an authoring media. The handling of cultural artifacts supports the ability to understand different cultural codes and to pursue the learning process surrounding the original culture behind these artifacts

Exploring embodiment in drama therapy for enhancing intercultural communication

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts by coursework and research report in the field of Drama Therapy, in the faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. March 2017This qualitative research study examines the ways in which embodiment in drama therapy can be an effective intervention aimed at enhancing intercultural communication amongst South Africans. South Africa is a multicultural society owing to the diverse cultures people belong to. Communication is required in order for multiculturalism to succeed and peaceful coexistence to be stimulated. This study involved six participants who engaged in a series of six drama therapeutic group sessions focused on embodiment. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis the study found that the participants were able to enhance the intercultural communication amongst them as well as develop cross-cultural relationships. This research report consists of an exploration of the South African context. Thereafter embodiment, culture and communication are discussed to understand how these aspects influence the participants and their daily lives. Chapter three is the exploration of both globalisation and intercultural communication. Chapter four gives an explication of embodiment as a drama therapy approach and what embodiment offers the individual, followed by chapter five which demonstrates the methodology applied to investigate the method of embodiment. The main chapter of this study is chapter six and discusses the embodied drama therapy process and how it became a comfort zone for the participants in which they could communicate and develop meaningful relationships with the fellow participants. Chapter seven concludes and discusses the limitations and recommendations for the research. The drama therapy methodologies empowered participants and enabled them to think about themselves, their behaviour and how they communicate in a different way. It further enabled unconscious material to surface to the conscious mind, thereby evoking introspection and reflection.MT 201

The Role of the Empathic Function of Literature in Dismantling Stereotypes and Eliminating Discrimination in the Classroom

The coexistence of students in the classroom from different cultural backgrounds is a challenge. Literature as a cultural product may contribute to the cultivation of intercultural empathy and acceptance of diversity in various ways. This study examines how literature may contribute to the treatment of issues related to stereotypes, gender discrimination, and how it may eliminate prejudices in the classroom. Initially, through the bibliographic review, the effect of literature on the psycho-emotional development of the individual, the strengthening of resilience and on the development of emotional intelligence is investigated as a key element for the development of healthy interpersonal relationships. Then, this study presents the results of an action research that utilized literature to break stereotypes in a pluralistic class. The action research took place at schools in Chania (Crete, Greece), and it highlights the empathic function of literature in removing stereotypes and discrimination in the classroom through various experiential activities and cooperative role play. Literature cultivates empathy and students may get into “others' shoes’’, accepting diversity. Through structured literature-based programs, a teacher may cultivate intercultural understanding and empathy, promoting human rights and enhancing the learners as future citizens with an inclusive and humanitarian attitude.

Cohesion, commonality and creativity: youth work across borders

No abstract available

A Quest for Literature in the EFL 21st Century Classroom and its Merging with Gamified Experiences

Màster Universitari de Formació del Professorat de Secundària Obligatòria i Batxillerat, Facultat d'Educació, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2017-2018, Tutor: Enric Monforte RabascallABSTRACT The debate on using literature in the EFL classroom is not a new one. Yet, the relationship between language and literary material in the context of second and foreign language learning still is a central point of controversy which should not be ignored. After a long period of neglecting the use of literature in EFL courses, a movement towards integrating literary texts and language seems to have taken place in recent decades. In this respect, this paper sets out to argue how using literature as a language teaching material in the EFL classroom helps developing crucial skills for successful communication. Not only does literature act as a powerful change agent improving students’ intercultural awareness and emotional intelligence, but it also fosters critical thinking skills through the use of authentic material and enhances students’ motivation. Ultimately, literary texts have also been proven to develop language enrichment. Therefore, literature does have a place in the EFL curriculum. On the other hand, this paper also aims to shed more light on how literature and language teaching may benefit from emerging teaching methodologies such as game-based learning or serious games. On the basis of increasing students’ participation and involvement, these methodologies may become promising tools for educators.RESUM El debat sobre l'ús de la literatura a l'aula d’anglès com a llengua estrangera (ALE) no és nou. Tanmateix, la relació entre el llenguatge i el material literari en el context de l'aprenentatge de segones llengües i llengües estrangeres continua sent un punt central de controvèrsia que no s’hauria d’ignorar. Després d'un llarg període de desatenció de l'ús de la literatura en els cursos d’ALE, en les últimes dècades sembla haver tingut lloc un moviment cap a la integració dels textos literaris i el llenguatge. En aquest sentit, aquest estudi es proposa argumentar com l'ús de la literatura com a material per a l’ensenyament de llengües a l'aula ajuda a desenvolupar habilitats crucials per a una comunicació exitosa. La literatura no només actua com un poderós agent de canvi que millora la consciència intercultural dels estudiants i la seva intel·ligència emocional, sinó que també fomenta les habilitats de pensament crític mitjançant l'ús de material autèntic i millora la motivació dels estudiants. Finalment, també s'ha demostrat que els textos literaris contribueixen a l'enriquiment del llenguatge. Per tant, la literatura té cabuda en el currículum d’anglès com a llengua estrangera. D'altra banda, aquest projecte també pretén aclarir com la literatura i l'ensenyament de llengües poden beneficiar-se de metodologies pedagògiques emergents com ara l'aprenentatge basat en el joc o el joc seriós. Prenent com a objectiu l’augment de la participació i implicació dels alumnes, aquestes metodologies poden convertir-se en eines prometedores per als educadors

China in Classics: Narrative Construction of Multiple Texts and the Value of the Times

As a spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation, traditional culture is the spiritual power and support for the survival and development of the Chinese people. In the new era, China emphasizes cultural confidence. Its inheritance and promotion of traditional culture have made cultural programs flourish. More recently, specific to multi-dimensional text, learning Chinese culture and extracting spiritual nutrients from TV programs has become an advantageous choice for the broad masses of people to enrich their spiritual life. Through the reconstruction of the text of classics and the narrative construction of the integration of multiple texts, China in Classic Books gives voice to ancient books. By expressing people’s humanistic feelings towards classics, it attracts young people’s attention and realizes mainstream values with its unique charm. Based on the creation rules and communication effects of China in Classics, this paper analyzes the exploration of the contemporary communication of traditional culture of TV programs