What is Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching?
“A language learner who has learnt only the grammar and vocabulary of a language is,
therefore, not well equipped to communicate in that language” (Liddicoat, A., p. 278,
2008).
Do you agree or disagree?
If I ask you what they should learn besides grammar and vocabulary, you are likely to
name other skills and subskills of language such as listening and speaking, reading, writing,
and pronunciation.
But, if you didn’t know the title of this video, how many of you would say culture?
In the quote above, Anthony Liddicoat is actually referring to culture.
Right before the opening quote, he states: “Every message a human being communicates
through language is communicated in a cultural context.
Cultures shape the ways language is structured and the ways in which language is used”
(Liddicoat, A., p. 278, 2008).
There is growing emphasis on intercultural communicative language teaching (iCLT), also
known as intercultural language learning (IcLL), which unites intercultural lessons with language
focus.
For years, culture was taught as a separate subskill of language.
When instructors taught about culture, they focused on culture.
When they instructed on language, they concentrated on language.
iCLT seeks to integrate these two aspects so that culture becomes a natural part of
every language classroom.
This series of videos will seek to highlight the six principles of iCLT that Jonathan Newton
laid out in a report for the Ministry of Education in New Zealand in 2006.
Principle 1: iCLT integrates language and culture from the beginning.
So, the first principle starts by making two points.
First, it emphasizes the connection between culture and language, which we have briefly
discussed already.
But, perhaps just as importantly, it adds the words “from the beginning.”
In my experience, culture in the language classroom has been left for upper levels of
fluency.
But it is the beginning language learner who learns greetings, family labels and housing
terms.
These all provide ready access for cultural exploration.
For example, when you teach greetings, do you include appropriate behavior when we greet
or do you expect learners to pick up on that on their own.
If I say, “What’s up?,” will I shake hands with the individual usually?
What if someone says, “What’s up?,” and they come at me with a fist?
Will the new language learner know about “fist bumps” as greetings among friends and in
some ethnic settings in the US without explicit instruction?
Many language learners have told me of their frustration when they first moved to the US
and were asked: “How are you?”
They wanted to answer the question and were offended when the speaker did not wait for
a response.
It took time before they understood that “How are you” is simply a greeting and is not
a request for information.
Something an instructor easily could have assisted with.
And, why not compare and contrast the way different countries greet through words and
behavior.
What an easy way to introduce the idea that “different does not mean wrong.”
More important than just setting a precedent of cultural openness in the classroom is preventing
current and future cultural ignorance.
Consider this quote based upon research:
“Language is not learnt in a cultural vacuum that can be filled in later, rather learners
create their own cultural assumptions as they learn.
Ignoring culture does not leave a vacant cultural space which can be filled in later.
Rather, it leads to a cultural space which is filled by uninformed and unanalysed assumptions”
(Jim Dellit, 2005, “Getting Started in Intercultural Language Learning”).
“Ignoring culture does not leave a vacant cultural space which can be filled in later.”
As language teachers, we get used to presenting new information – new vocabulary or new
grammar, or maybe a new way to politely request something.
But when dealing with culture, it is important to realize that learners will fill in the
blanks themselves.
Without explicit instruction, they will make their own assumptions which may be right or
wrong.
By incorporating culture and interculturality (the comparisons) from the beginning, then
there are fewer learner assumptions to overcome.
In summary, iCLT believes culture and language cannot be taught separately; thus, they should
be incorporated from the very beginning classes.
The next video will look at Principles 2, 3 and 4.