Intercultural Connections: Chinua Achebe’sThings Fall Apart in Language Classrooms

Abstract

The teaching and learning of foreign languages includes the teaching and learning of both the linguistic and cultural aspects of such languages. Approaches to incorporating language and culture in foreign language classrooms continue to be discussed and developed in the field of second language acquisition. The benefits of using authentic texts in these classrooms cannot be underestimated, since authentic materials have been credited as one way of developing intercultural and cross-cultural awareness. This paper utilizes the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) concepts when using Chinua Achebe’s (1994. Things Fall Apart. Heinemann Educational Publishers). Things Fall Apart in Swahili classrooms. Although the setting of Achebe’s writings is in West Africa, Nigeria in particular, some of the cultural components, such as folktales, sayings, similes, and proverbs from the texts, not only inform the intercultural connections between students’ own culture, the target culture and the Igbo culture in this case, but they also create cross-cultural learning among these cultures. Using Achebe’s texts, as authentic resources in African language classrooms, promotes global understanding of cultural similarities and differences, and provides another exciting and interesting lens in understanding a different part of Africa. It also motivates learners in their process of cultural and language acquisition as they interpret their learning experiences in the target language. This chapter will therefore examine pedagogical approaches to Things Fall Apart as it has been used in our Swahili classrooms.