López Barrios, Mario Luis & Villanueva de Debat, Elba (2007).
Intercultural reflection79
in
CULTURAL AWARENESS IN ELT
EFL coursebooks. In Cultural Awareness in ELT (pp. 79-86). Córdoba AR: Comunic-arte.
(ISBN 978-987-602-070-1).
Intercultural Reflection
in EFL Coursebooks
MARIO LÓPEZ BARRIOS
ELBA VILLANUEVA DE DEBAT
Facultad de Lenguas
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
1. Of knowledge and skills in intercultural reflection:
mapping the territory
In a previous contribution on the treatment of the target culture in for-eign
language coursebooks (López Barrios et al, 2003) we refer to the fact that
learning a foreign language presupposes a hermeneutic process that
Bassnett (1997) equates to “embark[ing] on a voyage of discovery, during
which perceptions are altered, unquestioned assumptions about culture and
identity are challenged” (p. xvii). For this to happen, mate-rials should strive
to make the learner reflect critically rather than simply make him or her
consume unquestioned facts about a ‘superior’ culture to the detriment of
the learners’ source culture, which in our case is usually deemed to be
inferior or subordinate to the target culture. The development of
intercultural reflection should unfold as a planned rather than as an
incidental or marginal process as a component part of the development of
foreign language competence.
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The different components of this competence are present in the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The CEF is “a
reference tool for use in (i) planning language curricula, (ii) de-signing
language courses, learning materials and activities, and (iii) developing
tests and examinations to assess communicative language proficiency”
(Little, 2003, p. 130). Since its publication it has become an influential
instrument in shaping foreign language instruction worldwide and across
languages. Even if it is a European enterprise, its globalizing objective can in
this case be deemed as a positive characteristic in that the CEF sets
standards in foreign language teaching that are translated into teaching
materials and international examinations that should produce a beneficial
washback effect in language classrooms.
Especially interesting is the description of the competences language
users are expected to develop at the different levels. These are rooted in
particular skills and knowledge areas: declarative knowledge (savoir), skills
and know-how (savoir-faire), existential competence (savoir être) and ability
to learn (savoir apprendre). Developing skills and know-how presup-poses
automated procedures (procedural knowledge) such as those applied in oral
or written communication. Since foreign language devel-opment is
expected to make a contribution to the learners’ general abilities, i.e. a
preparation for life after school, the ability to deal with in-tercultural
situations – not necessarily in the context of foreign travel or communication
in a foreign language – is a part of one’s existential com-petence. The
ability to learn entails “being disposed to discover ‘otherness’ –
whether the other is another language, another culture, other people or
new areas of knowledge” (CEF, p. 12). As Little (2003) notes, unlike the
language competences, intercultural competence is elu-sive and therefore
not easily amenable to scaling. Nevertheless, it is an indispensable
competence for successful communication. For example, the description
of spoken interaction at level B1 states “I can enter un-prepared into
conversation on topics that are familiar” (CEF, p. 26). For this to happen,
awareness of turn-taking conventions on the part of the learner as well as
strategies used to join a conversation are of vital impor-tance. This implies
that a much broader view of foreign language
CULTURAL AWARENESS IN ELT
81
learning, one that encompasses not only products (customs, literature,
art, etc) but also values, beliefs and behaviours (Pulverness, 2003, Tomalin
& Stempleski, 1993)
2. Intercultural reflection
As Pulverness (2003) points out, to develop intercultural awareness ped-
agogic practices and materials need to take account of the learners´
cultural identity “and address more thoroughly the kind of cultural ad-
justment that underlies the experience of learning a foreign language” (p.
427). Intercultural competence involves attitudes (tolerance of diver-sity,
respect), as well as awareness (of behavioural, cognitive and
sociocultural backgrounds of learners and native speakers), in other words,
the opportunity not only to appreciate and understand other cul-tures but to
look into one’s own from a different perspective. Therefore, its development
necessarily includes the possibility of reflection upon and expression about
divergent and convergent aspects of the target cul-ture and that of the
learner (Lopez Barrios et al, 2003). However, this should be understood as
providing “opportunities for learners to go be-yond the mere comparison
of facts, which often result[s] in an unfavourable assessment of the
students’ own culture and a glorification of the foreign one”(López Barrios &
Villanueva de Debat, 2006, p. 16). This reallocation of perspective
should aim at empowering learners “to empathize with and understand
other persons on their own terms which also deepens an appreciation of our
own heritage” (Fantini, n.d., p. 8, italics in the original)
3. Promoting intercultural reflection:
What EFL coursebooks offer
Activities that promote intercultural reflection make the learners notice
and (more or less) critically respond / react to other cultures, languages and
their speakers. The degree of reflection can be illustrated as follows:
C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 C2
Situation 1 Situation 2 Situation 3
82 XXXII FAAPI CONFERENCE
In Situation 1 the materials do not make the learners compare or con-
trast C1 and C2 but treat them separately. This is the case of the
activities in the “Culture Corner” section in Blockbuster 1 . For example,
Culture Corner 6 deals with the topic of “Eating in England”. After doing
some reading comprehension activities related to the text, stu-dents are
asked to write a short text about eating habits in their country and to
illustrate it with pictures. No opportunities are offered for stu-dents to
compare the habits and to think of reasons for the differences. The same
topic is dealt with in “Culture Flash 1” in New Snapshot Ele-mentary. Again,
the same approach is followed (reading comprehension plus activities) and
students are asked to consider the topic from the C2 perspective only.
Likewise, Dream Team Starter in the “Cultural Studies” section provides
information about the C2 regarding food, sports, land-marks, etc. without
requiring students to make any links with their own contexts. The texts are
followed by comprehension questions and a few language tasks. The effect
of this is, in Pulverness’ words “often unpro-ductive in terms of cultural
understanding, with texts and visuals serving primarily as contextual
backdrops to language tasks” (2003, p. 429). Explorer 2, a book published
in Argentina and written by Argen-tine authors, includes Argentine
characters that speak and write about their habits, likes and dislikes.
However, there is no attempt to use that resource to develop some kind of
cultural awareness. The book also in-corporates some brief motivational
texts about several cultural issues such as the diary of Anne Frank (unit 1b),
the Taj Majal (unit 8b), the lives of Perito Moreno (unit 5b) and Martin Luther
King (unit 9b), etc. Nevertheless, students are not given the chance to ask,
compare or re-flect. One of those texts is about "Ghosts in English literature"
(p. 17). After reading it students are asked to write their own story without
first being required to relate the information to ghost stories in their own
language, for example.
In Situation 2 the materials attempt some degree of comparison be-
tween C1 and C2 leading to a moderate degree of reflection. New
Snapshot Elementary attempts to make learners gain intercultural aware-
CULTURAL AWARENESS IN ELT
83
ness by making them compare factual information about school time-
tables (Culture Flash 2) or possessions (Culture Flash 3).
In Situation 3 the materials promote a higher degree of crosscultural
confrontation. In this case, learners are made to analyse information
critically. An example is included in Culture Flash 3 of New Snapshot El-
ementary. One of the activities asks learners to discuss in groups to
determine whether the rooms in the photos belong to teenagers and to find
reasons to state that the young people shown in them are British: “How do
you know the teenagers are British?”. It is, in fact, not infer-able that the
teenagers are British since the rooms could be considered to belong to a
middle class family anywhere in the western world. The two teenagers
portrayed (a fair haired girl and a coloured boy) reveal a multicultural
composition of the society, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the picture was
taken in Britain.
What the activities lack so as to qualify as belonging to Situation 3 - in-
tercultural awareness activities – is providing learners with an
opportunity to act as “cultural mediators” between their own culture and
the target culture as well as the chance to deconstruct stereotypes. This
aim belongs to the field of “existential competence” and bears on affect-tive
factors rather than on plain knowledge acquisition.
The coursebook could be supplemented by designing tasks that will help
students to
challenge stereotypes
reflect on values and attitudes by using songs, for instance, to discover
the social and cultural values reflected in them, whether they are uni-
versal or specific to a culture. For ways of using song lyrics with this
purpose see Tomalin and Stempleski (1993)
explore critical incidents (exploring sociocultural differences and
sim-ilarities through role-plays). For an excellent sample activity of
this type see Intercultural Resource Pack, activity 2.4.
examine communication patterns (and compare and contrast them to
their own)
go beyond content and look at language as a reflection of culture
(connotations, proverbs, lexical phrases, etc.)
84 XXXII FAAPI CONFERENCE
become aware of different rhetorical patterns in writing
defamiliarize as modification of “monocultural awareness” (Byram,
1990 in Pulverness, 2003) by, for example, using stories that force
learners to look at their own contexts from a different perspective
In this section we show how an intercultural perspective can be incor-
porated in an elementary class. The aim is to reflect on differences in
habits in different groups – not only across nations but within the stu-dents’
own community. Based on the informative texts about eating habits in the
coursebooks analysed, we propose the following activities:
Lunchtime habits in my class
Answer these questions for yourself:
What time do you generally have lunch?
I generally have lunch at …)
Who do you have lunch with?
During the week / On weekdays I generally have lunch with …
At weekends I generally have lunch with …
Where do you generally have lunch during the week?
At school / in the school canteen / at home / at my grandparents’ / …
What do you usually have for lunch?
During the week / on weekdays I generally have / eat / drink …
Now ask some friends and compare your answers. Then compare your
answers and those of your friends with the information in the text. What
similarities and differences do you notice?
4. Conclusion
In general, the development of declarative knowledge tends to dominate the
approach to the treatment of cultural information in the course- books
analysed. All coursebooks analysed develop two types of declarative
knowledge: factual knowledge and sociocultural knowledge about certain
aspects of English-speaking cultures. A few activities that foster Intercultural
awareness can be found in New Snapshot Elementary but they are
completely absent in the rest of the sample under analysis.
CULTURAL AWARENESS IN ELT
85
Since this lack means that neither intercultural skills and know how nor
existential competence are developed, there is a need to supplement the
coursebook by adding activities that foster intercultural reflection.
References
BASSNETT, S. (2007). Introduction. Studying British cultures. In
Bassnett, Susan (Ed.). Studying British cultures. London and New York:
Routledge, xiii-xvii.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: CUP.
FANTINI, A. (n.d.) A central concern: developing intercultural competence.
Retrieved May 20, 2007, from
http://www.sit.edu/publications/docs/competence.pdf.
Intercultural Resource Pack. Latin American Perspectives. British Council
(2006), from http://interculturalvoices.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/icrp-
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LITTLE, David. 2003. The Common European Framework: principles,
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LÓPEZ BARRIOS, M. & VILLANUEVA DE DEBAT, E. (2006). Minding the needs of
the Argentine learner: global textbooks and their adapted versions for the
local context, in Folio 10.2, 14-16.
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ABBS, B., FREEBAIRN, I. & BARKER, C. (2003). New snapshot
elementary. Student’s book. Harlow: Longman
86 XXXII FAAPI CONFERENCE
DOOLEY, J. & EVANS, V. (2004). Blockbuster. Student’s book 1. Newbury:
Express Publishing.
GARCÍA CAHUZAC, S. & TIBERIO C. (2000). Explorer 2. Student’s book.
Buenos Aires: Macmillan.
WHITNEY, N. & PYE, D. (2000). Dream team starter for Argentina.
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