Professional paper
DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF CROATIAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON A STUDY ABROAD BY MEANS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH TASKS
Tihana Bagić
; Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes, Croatia
Yvonne Vrhovac
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Department of Romance languages, Croatia
Abstract
In today’s multicultural world, apart from acquiring linguistic competence, students should also acquire and develop intercultural competence if they want to live, study or work successfully in different cultures. In their reflection upon the ways in which intercultural competence may be acquired the authors of this article propose the study abroad of foreign language learners as a good context in which one can successfully develop one’s intercultural competence.
This article describes the importance of using ethnography in foreign language teaching for students' development of intercultural competence while on a study abroad. The article gives a detailed description of activities, aims and materials of three tasks used for the development of the intercultural competence of Croatian high school students while on a study abroad in the UK. The tasks involve keeping a guided diary while on a study abroad and recognizing cultural similarities and differences between English and Croatian cultures, languages and their speakers. The aim of these tasks is to sensitize students to cultural differences through ethnographic techniques such as: detailed observation and analysis of everyday life in the field, raising the awareness of cultural specificities in the foreign and their own cultures and critically examining foreign culture stereotypes.
These tasks have been designed to help foreign language learners acquire and develop intercultural competence and are of particular interest to foreign language teachers who can use them with their students while on a study abroad.
Keywords
ethnography; interculturalism; learning foreign languages; mobility; stereotypes
Hrčak ID:
84130
URI
Publication date:
27.6.2012.
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