Using Flipped Learning to Facilitate Cross‐Cultural Critical Thinking in the L2 Classroom

Abstract

The article proposes using the flipped learning approach to gain more classroom time for activities that help learners interact with cultural content so that they may achieve critical cultural awareness, one of the components of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). It first distinguishes between the terms “flipped classroom” and “flipped learning,” and then suggests how the 2017 ACTFL Intercultural Can‐Do Statements can enrich the cultural offerings of conventional L2 textbooks. The second segment of the article describes the practical implications of using flipped learning and provides sample assignments from a flipped learning module that promotes cross‐cultural critical thinking as a means to arrive at the ICC dimension of critical cultural awareness. The third part of the article encompasses reflective analyses from the student and instructor perspectives as well as four pedagogical recommendations for using the flipped learning approach to enhance critical cultural awareness by promoting higher cross‐cultural critical thinking skills.