What EFL teachers should know about

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE … and what they might find less helpful

Rudi Camerer IATEFL Conference Brighton 16 April 2011

elc – European Language Competence Beethovenplatz 1-3 D – 60325 Frankfurt am Main Bahnhofstrasse 28 D – 66111 Saarbrücken www.elc-consult.com

Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB) Chambers of Commerce: Intercultural Competence in English (ICE) Projekt: Vermittlung interkultureller Kompetenzen im Fremdsprachenunterricht der Schulformen der Sekundarstufe I und II des Saarlandes Englisch & Französisch (2007 bis 2008). Austrian Chambers of Commerce: Intercultural Competence in English (ICE)

Intercultural Competence in English (ICE) Train-the-trainer sessions Assessment Tests and training sessions Teaching & Testing Material Teaching & Testing Material

TEACHER TRAINING COURSES in SAARLAND, NRW and HESSEN

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE?

Edward T. Hall

Geert Hofstede

Fons Trompenaars & Charles Hampden-Turner

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE? • WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND LANGUAGE?

• WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND (HI)STORY?

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE? Language opens doors to the world. Each language provides a particular view of the world. Culture can only be revealed through (hi)story telling, i.e. using language.

“Culture hides more than what it reveals, and strangely enough, what it hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants.” Edward T. Hall

Edward T. Hall

• PROXEMICS • HIGH CONTEXT / LOW CONTEXT • MONOCHRONIC / POLYCHRONIC TIME 1914-2009 American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher

1959: The Silent Language. 1966: The Hidden Dimension. 1974: Handbook for Proxemic Research 1983: The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. 1977: Beyond Culture. 1990: Hidden Differences (with Mildred R. Hall) 1993; Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans. 1995: The Fourth Dimension in Architecture. (with Mildred R. Hall)

Geert Hofstede

IBM Research project in 64 countries • POWER DISTANCE • INDIVIDUALISM / COLLECTIVISM

Dutch psychologist and cross-cultural researcher

• MASCULINITY / FEMININITY • UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

“Culture: the collective programming of the mind.”

• LONG-TERM / SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION 1980: Culture's Consequences 1994: Cultures and Organizations. Software of the Mind 1998: Masculinity and Feminity: The Taboo Dimension of National Cultures. 2008: Exploring Culture.

http://stuwww.uvt.nl/~csmeets/

Fons Trompenaars & Charles Hampden-Turner

Shell project • UNIVERSALISM / PARTICULARISM • INDIVIDUALISM / COMMUNITARIANISM • NEUTRAL / EMOTIONAL • SPECIFIC / DIFFUSE

Dutch author, student of Geert Hofstede‘s

British management philosopher, University of Cambridge.

• ACHIEVEMENT / ASCRIPTION • ATTITUDES TO TIME • ATTITUDES TO ENVIRONMENT

“Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas.”

1997: Mastering the infinite game: How East Asian values are transforming business practices. Oxford: Capstone. 1997: Riding the waves of culture: Understanding cultural diversity in business. London: Nicholas Brealey. 2000: Building cross-cultural competence: How to create wealth from conflicting values. Chichester: Wiley. 2001: 21 leaders for the 21st century: How innovative leaders manage in the digital age. Oxford: Capstone. 2004: Managing people across cultures. Chichester: Capstone.

• Are dimensions / features / descriptors of culture types arbitrary? • How do they relate to each other?

The European Values Study is a large-scale, cross-national, and longitudinal survey research program on basic human values. It provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values and opinions of citizens all over Europe. It is a unique research project on how Europeans think about life, family, work, religion, politics and society.

http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/

1981, 1990, 1999, 2008, [Integrated Values Surveys 1981 – 2004] …

http://www.europeanvaluesstudy.eu/

The World Values Survey is organised as a network of social scientists coordinated by a central body, the World Values Survey Association. Wave

Years

Countries

Population

1

1981-1984

20

4,700,000,000

25,000

2

1989-1993

42

5,300,000,000

61,000

3

1994-1998

52

5,700,000,000

75,000

4

1999-2004

67

6,100,000,000

96,000

5

2005-2008

54

6,700,000,000

Four-wave aggregate data file

80

http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/

Respondents

77,000 257,000

http://www.thunderbird.edu/sites/globe/ 2006

• Are dimensions / features / descriptors of culture types arbitrary? • How do they relate to each other?

How do the findings match? e.g. uncertainty avoidance index:

Uncertainty avoidance index: Based on 3 items: How often do you feel nervous or tense at work? (mean score on a 1 to 5 scale)

Company rules should not be broken - even when the employee thinks it is in the company’s best interest. (mean score on a 1 to 5 scale)

How long do you think you will continue working for IBM? (1) Two years at the most; (2) From two to five years; (3) More than five years (but I probably leave before I retire); (4) Until I retire.

e.g. uncertainty avoidance index:

Jacques Pateau, Une étrange alchimie: La dimension interculturelle dans la coopération franco-allemande (1999). Judith Jahn, Kulturstandards im deutsch-französischen Management. (2006)

INSURANCE POLICIES IN EUROPE Gross direct premiums written (incl. life and non-life insurance business of composite insurance business), EU Member States and Iceland, 2006 Eurostat: Statistics in focus 75/2008

Gross direct premiums written EU 2006

(€m)

UK: 324.416.5

F: 140.868

D: 161.205

UK: 324.416

D: 161.205.0 Gross direct premiums written corresponds to turnover and comprises the totals invoiced by the observation unit during the reference period, which comprise all amounts due during the financial years with respect of insurance contracts.

F: 140.868.5

Questioning culture frameworks: e.g. Hofstede’s methodology:

•Cultures are NOT limited to values. •Values are NOT necessarily cultural. •Cultures are NOT extremely stable. •Culture may be an effect, NOT ONLY the cause. •Geographical boundaries are NOT optimal for clustering cultures. •Mean scores and ranking may create a false perception of cultural homogeneity. •Matched samples (e.g. IBM staff) are NOT ALWAYS helpful to study cultural differences. •Self-response questionnaires do NOT adequately measure culture.

Vas Taras, Piers Steel: “Beyond Hofstede: Challenging the Ten Commandments of CrossCultural Research”. In: Cheryl Nakata (ed.): Beyond Hofstede: Culture Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management (2009), pp. 40-60.

Questioning culture frameworks: e.g. Hofstede‘s and Trompenaars’ use of language The criticism is largely of a) equivalents for terms in different languages, b) questions arising from a difference in degree, e.g. for politeness, c) culture-bound responses and the differences existing in these, d) factors of social desirability. ”The ethnocentric implications of Hofstede's findings have been criticised by others but little attention has been paid to these criticisms so far.” (Haas 2007)

cf. Smith, T. (2003). “Developing comparable questions in cross-national surveys.” In J. Harkness, F. Van De Vijver, P. Mohler (Eds.). Cross-cultural survey methods. Hoboken: Wiley-Interscience. pp. 69-92; Haas, H. in InterCultureJournal 6/5 ( 2007) pp. 3-20. et alia.

Summaries of critical appraisals of statistic-based culture frameworks:

Haas, Helene. “Probleme der kulturvergleichenden Umfrageforschung.” in Interculture Journal 6/5 ( 2007) pp. 3-20. Leila Behrens: Konservierung von Stereotypen mit Hilfe der Statistik: Geert Hofstede und sein kulturvergleichendes Modell. 2007. Vas Taras & Piers Steel: „Beyond Hofstede: Challenging the Ten Commandments of Cross-Cultural Research“ in: Cheryl Nakata. Beyond Hofstede. Culture Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management (2009) pp. 61-77.

TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

INTERCULTURAL

corporate facilitation, mediation, coaching, team management, project management, conflict management, organisation development …

Core skills and knowledge of facilitators • active listening, encouraging open communication • group dynamics • meeting management • problem solving • knowledge of costs of quality, "chain of customers" concepts, role of measurement • project management • political sensitivity and tact

facilitator =/= trainer Supplementary, specialized knowledge

• team building • one-on-one coaching • organizational development • survey and interview techniques • statistical process control, quality function deployment, experimentation http://www.organizedchange.com/facil2.htm

Train-the-trainer courses for …

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

facilitation, mediation, coaching, team management, project management, conflict management, organisation development …

A language-based training concept and test for intercultural communicative competence (ICC)

Intercultural competence means being able to deal with situations like these:

What I do and what I say to Silvio is what counts

Intercultural Competence (ICC): Linguistic & communicative competence

ICC Intercultural knowledge

Features of personality (openness, tolerance …)

CONTEXT

ASPECTS OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IC knowledge A: IC KNOWLEDGE

Country specifics Linguistic competence

B: IC SKILLS

Communicative competence Open-mindedness, tolerance of frustration…

C: PERSONALITY

Intercultural sensitivity

Descriptors of Communicative Competence

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Council of Europe 2001

Domains, scenarios, situations, communicative tasks and objectives, forms of oral and written interaction, interactive strategies, language processes, socio-linguistic skills, intercultural skills…

Interaktion

Kompensieren

C2: Appreciates fully the C1 sociolinguistic and sociocultural implications of language used by native speakers and can react accordingly . … C1: Can recognise a B2 wide range of idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms, appreciating register shifts … B2 Can sustain Mündliche Interaktion Sprecherwechsel relationships with native speakers allgemein without unintentionally amusing or C1 irritating them or requiring them to behave other than they would with a native speaker…

Kontrolle und Reparaturen

Kann aus einem ohne weiteres verfügbaren Repertoire von Diskursmitteln eine geeignete Wendung auswählen, um seine/ihre Äußerung angemessen einzuleiten, wenn er/sie das Wort ergreifen oder behalten will, oder um die eigenen Beiträge geschickt mit denen anderer Personen zu verbinden. 37

Kann n auf vertrautem Gebiet zum Fortgang des Gesprächs beitragen, indem er/sie das Verstehen bestätigt, andere zum Sprechen auffordert usw. 37

B2

B1

B1

Kann etwas paraphrasieren und umschreiben, um Wortschatz– und Grammatiklücken zu überbrücken 70

Rezeptionsstrategien Besitzt die Fertigkeit, von Hinweisen im Kontext und grammatischen und lexikalischen Signalen Schlüsse auf Einstellungen, Stimmungen und Intentionen zu ziehen und zu antizipieren, was als nächstes folgen wird. 78

Kann Versprecher oder Fehler normalerweise selbst korrigieren, wenn sie ihm/ihr bewusst werden. Kann eigene Fehler korrigieren, wenn sie zu Missverständnissen geführt haben. 70

Kann eine Vielfalt von Strategien einsetzen, um das Verstehen zu sichern; dazu gehört, dass er/sie beim Zuhören auf Kernpunkte achtet sowie das Textverständnis anhand von Hinweisen aus dem Kontext überprüft. 78

Soziolinguistische Angemessenheit

Flexibilität

Kann aus einem geläufigen Repertoire von Diskursmitteln eine geeignete Wendung auswählen und der eigenen Äußerung voranstellen, um das Wort zu ergreifen oder um Zeit zu gewinnen und das Wort zu behalten, während er/sie überlegt. 88 / 124

C2: Kann die soziolingusitische u. soziokulturelle Implikationen der sprachlichen Äußerungen von Muttersprachlern richtig einschätzen und entsprechend darauf reagieren . … 121 C1: Kann ein großes Spektrum an idiomatischen und alltagssprachlichen Redewendungen wieder erkennen und dabei Wechsel im Register richtig einschätzen. 121

Kann sich so spontan und fließend verständigen, dass ein normales Gespräch und anhaltende Beziehungen zu Muttersprachlern ohne größere Anstrengung auf beiden Seiten gut möglich ist. 79

Kann in Gesprächen auf angemessene Weise das Wort ergreifen und dazu verschiedene geeignete sprachliche Mittel verwenden. 88 / 124

Kann Beziehungen zu Muttersprachlern aufrechterhalten, ohne sie unfreiwillig zu belustigen oder zu irritieren oder sie zu veranlassen, sich anders zu verhalten als bei Muttersprachlern. 122

B2+: Kann Inhalt und Form seiner Aussagen der Situation und dem Kommunikationspartner anpassen und sich dabei so förmlich ausdrücken, wie es unter den jeweiligen Umständen angemessen ist. 124

Interaktion

Kompensieren

Kontrolle und Reparaturen B2: Can

Rezeptionsstrategien

Kann Teile von dem, was jemand gesagt hat, wiederholen, um das gegenseitige Verstehen zu sichern. 38

Kann ein Wort aus der Muttersprache mit zielsprachlicher Aussprache verwenden und nachfragen, ob es verstanden wird. 70

Mündliche Interaktion allgemein

Sprecherwechsel

Kann ein breites Spektrum einfacher Mittel einsetzen, um die meisten Situationen zu bewältigen, die typischerweise beim Reisen auftreten. 79

Kann in ein Gespräch über ein vertrautes Thema eingreifen und dabei eine angemessene Wendung benutzen, um zu Wort zu kommen. 89 /124

B2: Caninteract interactwith withaadegree degreeofof fluency fluencyand andspontaneity spontaneitythat thatmakes makes regular regularinteraction interactionand andsustained sustained relationships speakers Soziolinguistische Flexibilität relationshipswith withnative native speakers Angemessenheit quite quitepossible possiblewithout withoutimposing imposingstrain strain on oneither eitherparty party… … Kann Fehler bei Zeitformen oder bei Ausdrücken, die zu Missverständnissen führen, korrigieren, sofern die Gesprächspartner signalisieren, dass es ein Problem gibt. 71

Ist sich der wichtigsten Höflichkeitskonventionen bewusst und handelt entsprechend. 122

Kann seine Ausdrucksweise auch weniger routinemäßigen, sogar schwierigen Situationen anpassen. 124

Criteria for intercultural communicative competence 1. 2. 3.

Knowledge about the processes and institutions of socialisation in one‘s own and in one‘s interlocutor‘s country. Knowledge of the types of cause and process of misunderstanding between interlocutors of different cultural origin. Ability to engage with otherness in a relationship of equality (incl. ability to question the values and presuppositions in cultural practices and products in one’s own environment).

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Ability to engage with politeness conventions and rites of verbal and non-verbal communication and interaction. Ability to use salient conventions of oral communication and to identify register shifts. Ability to use salient conventions of written communication and to identify register shifts. Ability to elicit from an interlocutor the concepts and values of documents or events (i.e. meta-communication). Ability to mediate between conflicting interpretations of phenomena.

cf. Council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 2001. Michael Byram, Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communciative Competence. 1997. Jürgen Beneke, Intercultural competence. In: Bliesener, Ulrich (ed.), Training the Trainers. Theory and Practice of Foreign Language Teacher Education. 2000. a.o.

WHAT KIND OF ENGLISH?

Anglo-American English

English

(“Mid-Atlantic”)

as a lingua franca

+

ENGLISH USED IN TOURISM:

2004

David Graddol. English Next 2006. p.29

Training Intercultural Competence in English

Section 1:

Intercultural theory

Section 2:

My own cultural programming

Section 3:

Country specifics

Section 4:

Communicative competencies

Section 5:

Meta-communication

Section 6:

Critical incidents

TEACHING IC THEORY

• NO LECTURES • FOCUS ON USE OF LANGUAGE (Discourse strategies, politeness conventions …) • PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

TEACHING IC THEORY

TEACHING ONE‘S OWN CULTURAL PROGRAMMING

• WHAT IS NORMAL FOR YOU? • FOCUS ON USE OF LANGUAGE (Discourse strategies, politeness conventions …) • PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES

TEACHING ONE‘S OWN CULTURAL PROGRAMMING

TEACHING COUNTRY SPECIFICS

• TRAINEE‘S CHOICE OF TARGET CULTURE • FOCUS ON INTERCULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT FACTS • TRAINING OF PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES • PRACTICAL PRESENTATION EXERCISES

TEACHING COUNTRY SPECIFICS

34. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of a. mineral coal. b. pure gold. c. crude oil. 35. Makkah and Medina are a. trade places in Saudi Arabia. b. historic battle sites. c. Islam’s holiest cities.

…

26. Modern India has been an independent nation since a. 1965. b. 1989. c. 1947. 28. India’s currency is called a. Baht. b. Rial. c. Rupee.

TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

• FOCUS ON USE OF LANGUAGE: repairing, compensating,

cooperating …

• FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS: politeness conventions,

building rapport …

• PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES: face-to-face, telephone, email …

TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

TEACHING METALANGUAGE

• FOCUS ON USE OF LANGUAGE: negotiation techniques, politeness conventions … • FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS: face-saving strategies … • PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES: role plays, simulations, scenarios …

TEACHING METALANGUAGE

TEACHING CRITICAL INCIDENTS

• FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS: politeness conventions,

building rapport …

• PRACTICAL COMMUNICATION EXERCISES: role plays, simulations, scenarios …

TEACHING CRITICAL INCIDENTS

Test of Intercultural Competence in English—ICE WRITTEN PARTS Time

(Levels 1 & 2) Part

Item-Type

No of items

10 min.

1

Critical Incidents

10

10 min.

2

Listening Comprehension

10

10 min

3

Structured Responses

10

10 min

4

Proof Reading

10

10 min

5

Country Specifics

30

10 min

6

Writing

1

60

Rating criteria

cf. ICE Handbook

www.elc-consult.com

min

ORAL PARTS

(Levels 1 & 2)

10 Min. preparation time

Time

Task-type

What is tested?

5 Min.

1

Dialogue on personal background and international / intercultural experience

Ability to discuss personal experience in intercultural encounters neutrally and adequately and to maintain interaction

5 Min.

2

Discussion of input (text, picture, diagram etc.)

Ability to discuss aspects affecting culture-bound behaviour and intercultural communication and to reflect on one’s own culture and experience

5 Min.

3

Discussion of critical incident or text

Ability to discuss critical incidents, to give realistic explanations and pragmatic suggestions

15(+10) Min

Part

Rating criteria

Interaction Intercultural competence Language

Train-the-trainer courses in Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Vienna …

„Sprache – Quelle aller Missverständnisse: No 12/3 (2007) http://zif.spz.tu-darmstadt.de/jg-12-3/beitrag/Camerer.htm

Zum Verhältnis von interkultureller Kompetenz und Sprachkompetenz“ Rudolf Camerer

„Sprache, Kultur und Kompetenz: Überlegungen zur interkulturellen Kompetenz und ihrer Testbarkeit“ Rudolf Camerer in: Anke Bahl (Hg.), Kompetenzen für die globale Wirtschaft. Begriffe-ErwartungenEntwicklungsansätze (2009)

“International English and the Training of Intercultural Communicative Competence” Judith Mader, Rudi Camerer Interculture Journal 12/2010 http://www.interculture-journal.com/

THANK YOU

elc – European Language Competence Beethovenplatz 1-3 D – 60325 Frankfurt am Main Bahnhofstrasse 28 D – 66111 Saarbrücken Tel. + 49 (0)69 – 53 05 59 67 Fax.+ 49 (0)69 – 53 05 65 27 www.elc-consult.com [email protected]