Towards Cognitive Cultural Didactics in foreign language education

<abstract> This study provides a systematic literature review of research (2001–2020) in the field of teaching and learning a foreign language and intercultural learning using immersive technologies. Based on 2507 sources, 54 articles were selected according to a predefined selection criteria. The review is aimed at providing information about which immersive interventions are being used for foreign language learning and teaching and where potential research gaps exist. The papers were analyzed and coded according to the following categories: (1) investigation form and education level, (2) degree of immersion, and technology used, (3) predictors, and (4) criterions. The review identified key research findings relating the use of immersive technologies for learning and teaching a foreign language and intercultural learning at cognitive, affective, and conative levels. The findings revealed research gaps in the area of teachers as a target group, and virtual reality (VR) as a fully immersive intervention form. Furthermore, the studies reviewed rarely examined behavior, and implicit measurements related to inter- and trans-cultural learning and teaching. Inter- and transcultural learning and teaching especially is an underrepresented investigation subject. Finally, concrete suggestions for future research are given. The systematic review contributes to the challenge of interdisciplinary cooperation between pedagogy, foreign language didactics, and Human-Computer Interaction to achieve innovative teaching-learning formats and a successful digital transformation. </abstract>

Recently, concepts of cultural and global learning have been faced with the challenge of integrating larger digital transformations in society into their scope. This is particularly interesting from the vantage point of Digital Citizenship Education (DCE). As an educational initiative, DCE seeks to empower children–and hence, learners–to thrive in a world that is thoroughly changing in light of digital advancements. While these initiatives and concepts rightly entail aspects as wide as creativity, active participation, information literacy, or critical reflection, their link to cultural and global learning in foreign language education has remained less clear. Questions that spring to mind, for example, include in what ways cultural diversity can become a classroom focus through the aid of digital media, in how far inter- and transcultural learning can be renegotiated or how learners can engage with global topics–including digitalization itself–from a participatory perspective. This article therefore tries to retrace research on DCE, identify how discourses on DCE and cultural as well as global learning can be merged, and present a multidimensional model for anchoring DCE within foreign language education and teaching practice.

Although culture learning is closely connected to language learning and definitely essential to developing students' communicative competence for cross-cultural communication in the global society, the importance of culture learning to EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learning is often ignored by MOE (Ministry of Education) and English teachers in Taiwan. Thus this paper draws upon domestic and international literature to explore the factors that hamper culture learning in a foreign language classroom and the ways that can integrate culture learning into Taiwan's foreign language education. While finding that the stereotypes about culture among the public as well as the limited knowledge of both the target culture and the approaches to culture teaching among educators and English teachers in Taiwan are the main factors that make culture learning separate from language learning in a foreign language classroom, the researcher concludes that with the trend toward globalization and internationalization English teachers in Taiwan need to understand more about the nature of culture learning and shatter the illusion that linguistic knowledge is the most important element in cross-cultural communication. In order to integrate culture learning into Taiwan’s foreign language education, the researcher also concludes that English learning materials and teaching approaches as well as the goals of Taiwan's foreign language education should be adjusted appropriately. 136-Abstract Although culture learning is closely connected to language learning and definitely essential to developing students' communicative competence for cross-cultural communication in the global society, the importance of culture learning to EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learning is often ignored by MOE (Ministry of Education) and English teachers in Taiwan. Thus this paper draws upon domestic and international literature to explore the factors that hamper culture learning in a foreign language classroom and the ways that can integrate culture learning into Taiwan's foreign language education. While finding that the stereotypes about culture among the public as well as the limited knowledge of both the target culture and the approaches to culture teaching among educators and English teachers in Taiwan are the main factors that make culture learning separate from language learning in a foreign language classroom, the researcher concludes that with the trend toward globalization and internationalization English teachers in Taiwan need to understand more about the nature of culture learning and shatter the illusion that linguistic knowledge is the most important element in cross-cultural communication. In order to integrate culture learning into Taiwan's foreign language education, the researcher also concludes that English learning materials and teaching approaches as well as the goals of Taiwan's foreign language education should be adjusted appropriately.

In addition to acquiring the ability to communicate in a foreign language, acquiring an open and tolerant attitude towards the country and people of the language being taught has long been a natural and integrated learning goal of foreign language teaching. In order to integrate this learning goal, it is important to know how specific cultural and intercultural values can be conveyed. This can now be treated from different scientific perspectives. Nevertheless, especially in foreign language teaching, it is interesting and important to look at cross-cultural topics from a didactic perspective. As part of this work, the terms intercultural learning, intercultural competence, intercultural communication and culturally reflective learning were examined and discussed based on the relevant specialist literature. In this regard, a teaching proposal on the topic of “food” was implemented in the Albanian context at the Goethe Center Tirana with the aim of promoting intercultural learning. The teaching suggestion on the topic of “Food” is intended to give teachers systematic and didactic suggestions for the use of culturally reflective learning in foreign language lessons. Intercultural learning has long been a topic in the fields of foreign and second language teaching research, and there is interest beyond it. This work therefore aims to provide a coherent overview that can be used for the development of intercultural language teaching. In addition, it takes into account the aspect of intercultural learning that can no longer be neglected in intercultural foreign language teaching in Albania. &nbsp; Keywords: intercultural communication; culturally reflective learning; GFL lessons; self-reflection.

EDITOR,—I wish to point out serious flaws in Kwame McKenzie and colleagues' study of the prognosis of psychosis in Afro-Caribbean people.1 It is courageous of the authors to tackle this comparative study, but their failure to clarify their sampling leaves their work with glaring methodological flaws. Two groups of people were compared. The first group, the “white” group, was selected by skin colour, place of birth (United Kingdom), and place of parents' birth (United Kingdom). The …

This article reviews the empirical research literature on foreign language (FL) learning and teaching published between 2005 and 2010 in Germany. It focuses on the empirical studies that have attracted the greatest interest among researchers during this period of time. These include research on educational standards, teacher education, early FL learning, content and language integrated learning, motivation and interest, intercultural learning, literacy, learning strategies and cooperative and computer-assisted language learning. The review reveals rich and diverse research studies in the field of FL teaching and learning. As a relatively young discipline without a longstanding research tradition, this field overlaps in its research interests and methods with other research fields such as educational psychology, linguistics and the educational sciences. The review also shows that the research into FL teaching and learning is to a large degree dominated by small rather than large-scale projects and is characterized by its largely practical relevance. The review ends with recommendations for future research as a conditio sine qua non for further development in the field.

Introduction

Culture in the mind's mirror: how anthropology and neuroscience can inform a model of the neural substrate for cultural imitative learning

The Townsville Hospital cares for babies in a large geographical area, many of who are outborn, are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin and have families who reside in areas of deprivation. This study examined the outcomes of babies born at all locations in North Queensland to assess the predictors of poor outcomes. A retrospective observational study examined the survival of 313 babies born from 22 completed weeks gestation to 27 + 6 weeks gestation in North Queensland between January 2010 and December 2016. Additional analyses were performed for the 300 non-syndromal babies whose mothers usually resided in North Queensland, studying demographics of gestation, gender, birthweight, Indigenous status, regionality of maternal residence and adequacy of antenatal steroids. Short-term morbidities of intraventricular haemorrhage/periventricular leukomalacia (IVH/PVL), surgical necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity requiring treatment and chronic lung disease and death were studied in relation to demographic factors and clinical treatment. Adequacy of steroids was significantly associated with a decreased mortality odds ratio of 2.872 (95% confidence interval 1.228-6.715), whilst no difference in outcome was seen by retrieval status or ethnic origin. Babies from remote locations were at increased risk for IVH/PVL, 2.334 (1.037-5.255). Male babies suffered more chronic lung disease, 1.608 (1.010-2.561), and IVH/PVL, 2.572 (1.215-5.445). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies were at lower risk of IVH/PVL. Steroids should be administered wherever there is any possibility of the provision of intensive care for periviable babies. Place of birth and ethnicity of mother should not unduly influence antenatal counselling.

Beyond conflict: Culture, self, and intercultural learning among Iranians in the U.S.

The Cuban population is genetically diverse, and information on the prevalence of genetic variants is still limited. As complex admixture processes have occurred, we hypothesized that the frequency of pharmacogenetic variants and drug responses may vary within the country. The aims of the study were to describe the frequency distribution of 43 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) from 25 genes of pharmacogenetic interest within the Cuba population and in relation to other populations, while taking into consideration some descriptive variables such as place of birth and skin color. SNVs were analyzed in 357 unrelated healthy Cuban volunteers. Genotype, allele frequencies, and ancestry proportions were determined, and the pairwise fixation index (FST ) was evaluated. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) deviations in six loci (rs11572103, rs2740574, rs776746, rs3025039, rs861539, and rs1762429) were identified. Minor allele frequencies (MAFs) ranged from 0.00 to 0.15 for variants in genes encoding xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. They also ranged from 0.01 to 0.21 for variants in DNA repair, growth factors, methyltransferase, and methyl-binding proteins, while they ranged from 0.04 to 0.27 for variants in the O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase enzyme. Moderate genetic divergence was observed upon comparison to Africans (FST = 0.071 and SD 0.079), with 19 markers exhibiting moderate-to-large genetic differentiation. The average European, African, and Amerindian ancestry proportions were 67.8%, 27.2%, and 5.3%, respectively. Ancestry proportions differed by skin color and birthplace for both African and European components, with the exception of the European component, which showed no significant difference between individuals from Western and Eastern regions. Meanwhile, the statistical significance varied in comparisons by skin color and birthplace within the Amerindian component. Low genetic divergence was observed across geographical regions. We identified 12 variants showing moderate-to-large differentiation between White/Black individuals. Altogether, our results may support national strategies for the introduction of pharmacogenetic tools in clinical practice, contributing to the development of precision medicine in Cuba.

The communicative approach to foreign language teaching, based on the concept of communicative competence brought into focus the importance of communication skills. Although there has been increasing interest in intercultural comparative studies among linguists, and intercultural learning is a concept often met in pedagogical literature, the concept of intercultural competence has rather come out of the sciences of persons and societies. The holistic view of learning means that learners are involved in every learning situation with their whole personality: as knowing, feeling, thinking and acting individuals. Understandably, intercultural learning is often identified with growth towards internationalism. When considering the need for, and the nature of, intercultural learning, a number of phenomena such as racism, xenophobia, discrimination needs to be considered. It is typical of human beings' thinking to use categories and classifications such as stereotypes, but with regard to intercultural learning we have to consider how we are to deal with them.

Intercultural learning and teaching with children is attracting increased attention as an emerging field of practice with theorists, educators, and policy practitioners. The Oxford Dictionary (2018) defines the term culture as the “beliefs, customs and arts of a particular society, group, place or time” and intercultural as “taking place between cultures or derived from different cultures.” The growing field of intercultural learning and teaching with children denotes learning and teaching that affords children the opportunity to interact and engage with different cultures. In Intercultural Teaching and Learning: Rethinking Intercultural Learning Processes (Munich: Goethe Institut, 2017) Jurgen Bolten provides a contemporary understanding of intercultural work, noting that culture and interculturality are in a state of flux, with cultures and people acquiring their identities through interactions with humans and non-human actors such as the Internet—a scenario that applies to child learners as well as to adult learners. Further, the bifurcated global context of the Global North and Global South accentuates the disparities in the digital worlds of learner (whether child or adult) and their access to learning opportunities and resources. Put simply, intercultural teaching and learning is both a conceptual approach and a set of practical strategies designed to enable learners, in this case children, to seek and to contribute to cultural diversity and to develop intercultural competence—the focus of Messner and Schafer in their Intercultural communication and collaboration appraisal (London: GloBus Research, 2012). Chlopek argues in “The Intercultural Approach to EFL Teaching and Learning” (English Teaching Forum 4 [2008], pp. 10–19) that its historical antecedents are found in the teaching and learning of foreign languages. Since the introduction of intercultural teaching in foreign language education, recent decades have seen its application in early childhood education, schooling, and teacher education, as addressed by Farrell and Pramling Samuelsson in Diversity in the early years. Intercultural teaching and learning (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2016). Gibson argues in Intercultural business communication (London: Oxford University Press, 2002) that intercultural learning and teaching have been championed, in the fields of business, human relations, and commerce. In short, the field of intercultural learning and teaching with children is international and interdisciplinary, although bounded by local and national legislative, policy, and jurisdictional requirements. This bibliography offers a suite of perspectives, resources, and strategies to open up new possibilities for researchers, practitioners, and policy personnel in the pursuit of intercultural policy and practice.

This study examines pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward cultural diversity. The research was conducted in the framework of a Jean Monnet Module course which focuses on developing students’ better understanding of cultural diversity as well as on fostering their teaching strategies for multicultural education. A mixed-method research design was employed, combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The survey was conducted with 80 pre-service EFL teachers and contained 14 closed-ended and 1 open-ended questions. Quantitative data were collected from the closed-ended questions, whereas the open-ended question provided qualitative data. The findings of this study indicate that participants perceive cultural diversity as a multidimensional concept, reflecting such themes as tolerance and respect, cultural traditions, inclusivity, learning and understanding, variety, and societal unity. A comparison of the pre-test and post-test results indicates that participants developed a better understanding of cultural diversity after the intervention. Furthermore, student feedback revealed satisfaction with the course content and teaching strategies. The study contributes to research on fostering future EFL teachers’ understanding of cultural diversity and developing their perceptions of and attitudes toward it.

Research-oriented programs related to pre-service teacher education are practically non-existent in many countries. Since in Portugal we now have a stable legal system for initial teacher training, how can we help these countries to respond to their teacher training needs and accomplish these same standards? How can we create an international program at MA level that could serve such an objective? What are the research priorities for teachers in primary and secondary education? I will claim for a new general research policy using small-scale research projects in foreign language teaching (FLT), which illustrated a turning point in advanced research in foreign languages teacher training. Presently, researchers no longer narrow their inquiries into linguistic questions or school and student-centered actions. Instead, they focus on a range of issues such as teacher-centered actions, beliefs and policies, and aspects of FLT such as literacy education, special educational needs or methods for teaching gifted students. Despite a lack of funding at all levels, many research projects in teacher education have been undertaken, and new areas have been explored, such as didactic transposition, literary and information literacies, intercultural learning, corpora in FLT, new information and communication technologies in FLT, interlingual inferencing, national standards for foreign language education, FLT for specific purposes, digital narratives in education, CLIL, assessment, and language learning behaviors. This small sample of the many areas covered proves that advanced research in teacher education can also be very useful to promote the growing interest in further internationalization in other sciences (beyond human and social areas) traditionally linked to politics, business and industry (computing, chemistry, biology, medicine, etc.), something that can only be attained by focusing on multilingualism, multi-literacy and lifelong learning.