INTERCULTURAL LEARNING THROUGH BLOG EXCHANGES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

The Role of Culture in Language Learning and Teaching 1 Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture 2 A case study 3... The Role of Culture in Language Teaching and Learning “The need for

INTERCULTURAL LEARNING THROUGH

BLOG EXCHANGES

IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

Nguyen Thi Hong Nhat

The Role of Culture in Language Learning and Teaching

1

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture

2

A case study

3

The Role of Culture in Language Teaching

and Learning

“The need for cultural literacy in ELT

arises mainly from the fact that, most

language learners, not exposed to

culture elements of the society in

question, seem to encounter

significant hardship in communicating

meaning to native speaker.”

(Bada, 2000)

“The need for cultural literacy in ELT

arises mainly from the fact that, most

language learners, not exposed to

culture elements of the society in

question, seem to encounter

significant hardship in communicating meaning to native speaker.”

(Bada, 2000)

The Role of Culture in Language Teaching

and Learning

Dictates who talks to whom, what/ how the

communication proceeds

Determine how people encode messages

Culture -Communication:

Inseparable

(Samovar, Porter, & Jain, 1981)

The Role of Culture in Language

Teaching and Learning

Effects of the culture class

1 Did this course

contribute

to any of your language skills?

Item No Item Responses Frequency %

Chi-Square

2 To which skill did the

course contribute most?

Listening 10 26.3

( Bilal Genc & Erdogan Bada, 2005)

The Role of Culture in Language Learning and Teaching

1

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching Culture

2

A Case Study

3

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching

Culture

2 Fear of Not Knowing Enough

Awareness

 Definition: Blog is “an online journal that an individual can

continuously update with his or her own words, ideas, and thoughts.” (Campbell, 2003 p.1)

 Blogs have potentials to be a valuable tool because of:

 easy-to-use accessibility (Campbell, 2003)

 space for learners’ voice, awareness of audience (Leverett, 2006; Ward, 2004)

 high learners’ autonomy (Hanson-Smith & Egbert, 1999)

 effective teacher–student communication and peer interaction (Arslan & Sahin-Kizil, 2010; Dippold, 2009)

2 Blogs as a tool for language learning and teaching

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Design of the study

3.1

Data collection and data analysis

3.2 Data collection and data analysis

3.2

Research questions

Research design

Participants: 40 intermediate-level EFL students in a

cultural class and 10 Fulbright American teaching

fellows.

American people American history

Public holiday Custom and tradition

Instruments and data analysis

Wri ting

tas ks (12 )

Te ac

he r m

ark ing

sh ee

ts (6)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

L ea rn in

g d ia rie

s ( 4)

Wri ting

tas ks (12 )

Int erv

iew s

R efl ec tio

n e ssa ys

1

Wri ting

tas ks (12 )

Pre

-Qu est

ion nai

res Po

st-qu es tio nn air s

2 3

Results: Vietnamese students’ intercultural

competence improvement through blog exchanges

Characteristics of blogging

Elements enable students to establish successful intercultural relationships with their partners via blogging

Teaching Culture: Strategies and

Techniques

Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia

Posters, pictures, maps, signs, and realia

Assigning students foreign names

Assigning students foreign names

Building and maintaining

Authentic social cultural network

Building and maintaining

Authentic social cultural network

CULTURE ISLAND: MAKE STUDENTS BE WET IN THE WATER OF CULTURE

CULTURE ISLAND : MAKE STUDENTS BE WET IN THE WATER OF CULTURE

Teachers’ Difficulties in Teaching

Culture: Suggested Solutions

Teachers’ role

is not to impart facts but to help students attain the skills that are necessary to make sense out of the facts

Teach culture,

grammar,

vocabulary in

an integrative

fashion, not

serial one

Curriculum

Fear

Of Not Knowing

Enough

Lack

Of Adequate Training

Measurement

Create a framework with a list of activities such

as writing reflection, writing diary, presentation Ever -

learning

Analysis in the Second Language

language: From theory to practice New York:

Simon and Schuster

Strategies and Techniques, Virginia: Arlington

University Journal of Social Sciences

(6),100-110

and Helping Students Understand Culture (Web document)