Cultural knowledge is a key factor in the acquisition of a foreign language. This paper focuses on the development and advancement of intercultural competences of learners through literature. The main focus lies on the possibility of a change of perspective which can be stimulated by literary texts and is of great importance for the school and extracurricular context. For this purpose, a theoretical part is given in which definitions and explanations regarding intercultural competencies, literature in class, and a combination of these two approaches are given. In the second part of the thesis, a practical implementation of the theoretical knowledge will be presented. This will be done by preparing a lesson plan and presenting didactical considerations. In addition, learning objectives are formulated and indicators are determined. The lesson plan is intended to show exemplarily how intercultural competencies can be taught through literary texts. For this purpose, the lesson plan is based on the novel "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas.
Table of Content
1. Introduction
2. Intercultural Competences
2.1. Importance of Intercultural Competences in Foreign Language Teaching
2.2. Teaching Intercultural Competences: Guidelines for Effective Teaching and Teaching Objectives
3. Literature in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom
3.1. Relevance of Teaching Literature in EFL
3.2. Literary Communicative Competences: Teaching and Learning Aims
3.3. Teaching Literature
3.3.1. Principles of Text Choice
3.3.2. The Role of the Teacher
3.3.3. Methods of Teaching Literature
4. Intercultural Competences through Literature
4.1. Reasons for Teaching Intercultural Competences through Literature
4.2. Aims of Intercultural and Literature-oriented Teaching
5. Lesson Plan: Practical Example on “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
6. Conclusion
8. Appendix
Abstract
Beim Erwerb einer Fremdsprache kommt kulturellem Wissen eine bedeutende Rolle zu.
Diese Arbeit fokussiert die Entwicklung und Förderung interkultureller Kompetenzen von Lernenden durch die Anwendung von Literatur im Unterricht. Im Vordergrund steht die Ermöglichung eines Perspektivwechsels, welcher durch literarische Texte angeregt werden soll und sowohl für den schulischen als auch außerschulischen Kontext von großer Bedeutung ist. Hierfür erfolgt ein theoretischer Teil, in welchem Definitionen und Erläuterungen in Bezug auf interkulturelle Kompetenzen; Literatur im Unterricht und eine Verbindung dieser beiden Ansätze erfolgen. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit erfolgt eine praktische Umsetzung des theoretischen Wissens. Hierfür wird ein Unterrichtsentwurf erstellt und methodische sowie inhaltliche Erwägungen dargestellt. Außerdem werden Lernziele formuliert und Indikatoren für diese bestimmt. Der Unterrichtsentwurf soll exemplarisch darstellen, auf welche Weise interkulturelle Kompetenzen durch literarische Texte gelehrt werden können. Für diesen Zweck orientiert sich der Unterrichtsentwurf an dem Roman „The Hate U Give“ von Angie Thomas aus dem Jahr 2017.
Cultural knowledge is a key factor in the acquisition of a foreign language. This paper focuses on the development and advancement of intercultural competences of learners through literature. The main focus lies on the possibility of a change of perspective which can be stimulated by literary texts and is of great importance for the school and extracurricular context. For this purpose, a theoretical part is given in which definitions and explanations regarding intercultural competencies, literature in class, and a combination of these two approaches are given. In the second part of the thesis, a practical implementation of the theoretical knowledge will be presented. This will be done by preparing a lesson plan and presenting didactical considerations. In addition, learning objectives are formulated and indicators are determined. The lesson plan is intended to show exemplarily how intercultural competencies can be taught through literary texts. For this purpose, the lesson plan is based on the novel 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas (2017).
List of Figures
Figure 1: Iceberg Analogy of Culture
1. Introduction
“Black Lives Matter” is probably one of the best-known slogans from 2020. A large number of young people marched in many countries around the world to demonstrate for equal rights and against police violence towards black people. This proves that intercultural awareness is of increasing importance in a growing multi-ethnic society. Therefore, the learning of a foreign language, in this case English, should be combined with the acquisition of intercultural competence oriented towards the target language countries. An important approach to intercultural competence is to work with literature in the classroom. Hence, this paper will analyze how and whether intercultural competence can be taught through literature in English as a foreign language. The aim of this paper is to prove that intercultural competence can and should be taught through literature. According to the curriculum, intercultural competencies are defined as the ability of students to reflect on their own and other cultures and to be aware of differences. In addition, the ability to change perspectives, openness, and respect for foreign cultures are part of cultural competence (2020, p. 9).
To achieve the aim of the paper, it is divided into two parts. The first part is the theoretical part, where a definition of intercultural competences is given as well as a picture of the iceberg analogy of culture of Weaver (1993), an analysis of why they are important in foreign language teaching takes place and a depiction of guidelines and teaching objectives for teaching intercultural competences can be found. This is followed by a definition of literature and its importance for the teaching of English as a foreign language as well as teaching and learning aims in terms of literary communicative competences. The principles of text selection, the role of the teacher and teaching methods in literature teaching are presented afterward. The theoretical part closes with chapter four which focuses on teaching intercultural competence through literature. Reasons, for teaching intercultural competence through literature, are given as well as learning objectives.
The second part of the work consists of a practical part in which a fictitious lesson plan is created. This lesson plan focuses on the acquisition of intercultural skills through the work with the novel 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas (2017). It presents content and methodological considerations as well as the learning aims of the lesson. The theoretical basics from the first part of the term paper are included in the practical part. The work concludes with a conclusion. In the appendix, a table of the planned lesson can be found.
2. Intercultural Competences
Before discussing intercultural competences in detail, it is necessary to define this term. The following definition is based on the Hessian curriculum for the secondary school (gymnasiale Oberstufe) in English. According to the curriculum intercultural, competences include the competences to meet people from different socio-cultural contexts and cultures without prejudice and in a reflective manner; be aware of culturally different identities, including one's own; respect the inviolable and inalienable human rights and orientate oneself towards the essential traditions of enlightenment; adopt changing cultural perspectives, experience the other in an empathic and open manner; practice tolerance of ambiguity (2020, p. 9). According to the curriculum, these intercultural competences are interdisciplinary competences.
There are different approaches that should be considered when linking intercultural competences with the FL classroom. Firstly, intercultural learning should have meaningful content for students. This could be a cultural comparison of holidays or which gestures have a different meaning in other cultures. On the other hand, intercultural learning should not only focus on linguistic content, but also on other content that is culturally significant, such as rituals. In addition, care should be taken to ensure that the content of lessons is not too political, but understanding, respect for other cultures, and discrimination play a central role in the acquisition of intercultural competence (Grimm, Meyer & Volkmann, 2015, p. 158).
Another concept, regarding intercultural competence and the associated intercultural learning, is the assumption that language and culture are closely related. Therefore, it is assumed that the communicative part has a significant role to play in the acquisition of intercultural competence. This competence, which combines language and culture, is called intercultural communicative competence. These intercultural communicative competences can be described as follows:
- The ability to develop and consolidate intercultural communicative action competence. This means, for example, taking unwritten values and norms during a conversation into account.
- The ability to reflect. The ability to reflect critically on one's own culture and to recognize cultural conditions.
- Showing a tolerant, open and respectful attitude towards other cultures.
- The willingness to meet other cultures in a cultural space in between (a more detailed explanation of this will follow later in this paper) (Grimm, Meyer & Volkmann, 2015, p. 159)
The curriculum also reflects the importance of intercultural communicative competences and lists them as a competence field (2020, p. 15). This competence field will be discussed in chapter 2.3. of this paper.
2.1. Importance of Intercultural Competences in Foreign Language Teaching
To be able to learn and use a foreign language correctly, it is necessary to deal with the cultures of the target language, as language and culture have a close relationship with each other (Grimm, Meyer & Volkmann, 2015, pp. 154-155). A simplified example of this would be that a German student might think of Christmas morning as the morning of December 24th, whereas in the United States of America the Christmas morning is December 25th, and gifts are unpacked then. Without this basic cultural knowledge, misunderstandings could arise in communication. Even this simple example shows why, from a linguistic point of view, it is essential to integrate the teaching of intercultural competences into foreign language teaching.
Another approach to explaining the importance of intercultural competences in foreign language teaching originated in the 1960s under the name of intercultural learning. Students should learn to live in a multicultural and multiethnic society by being taught values, norms, and taboos (Grimm, Meyer & Volkmann, 2015, pp. 157-158). This approach can be very well related to the present, as the world is constantly changing and the multicultural society continues to grow, especially through migration. Therefore, it is very important to continue introducing intercultural skills to the students. Finding orientation in a multiethnic and multicultural society involves the ability to understand and be open to other cultures. This can be called the Bredella concept of understanding others. Grimm, Meyer and Volkmann (2015) describe this phenomenon as follows:
Building on a hermeneutic notion of cultural exchange as a melting of horizons' of two perspectives (Horizontverschmelzung), Fremdverstehen defines those involved in intercultural understanding as highly complex entities, engaging in an ongoing cross-cultural 'negotiation of meaning'(Bedeutungsaushandlung). (p. 158)
In order to fulfill this concept of understanding foreign cultures and the melting of horizons, it is absolutely necessary to rethink the approach to teaching intercultural understanding. It is of enormous importance to give the learning content meaning for the students. To ensure this, the learner must no longer be fed with information, but must be given a personal connection to the content and be involved in discovering cultural aspects of the English-speaking cultures (p. 158) . For this purpose, the example from the previous chapter can be used, where students compare their own culture with a foreign culture in order to have personal access to the learning content. This also helps to guide and motivate students to see the world through different eyes and to change their perspective. This change of perspective is one of the most vital elements in the acquisition of intercultural competence and serves to expand horizons. This change of perspective has also a key role in this paper and will be discussed in more detail in connection with the use of literature at a later stage, as it can be difficult for a white European young adult to see the world through the eyes of a migrant or a member of a minority group. However, this is exactly the purpose of successful intercultural learning and learning scenarios (pp. 158-159). The complexity of this change of perspective stresses the importance of teaching intercultural competence in foreign language teaching, where students are encouraged to explore other cultures and reflect on their own culture. Furthermore, it allows students to overcome prejudices and offers them an authentic view on the culture of the target language.
To demonstrate the importance of intercultural competence in foreign language teaching even more strongly, the iceberg model and analogy of culture, according to Weaver, is briefly described at this point (1993, p. 159). This model clarifies that culture reaches much deeper than it appears at first glance. The iceberg model is divided into three zones (see Figure 1 below). The first zone is above the surface and contains obvious things that are observable. These include external features or appearances, such as culturally influenced clothing or headgear. It is most accessible for students to explore these visible components of cultures. However, this part is only the smallest part of a culture. The second zone is the hybrid zone, which includes things that can be seen in part and from which cultural affiliations can be deduced. To this hybrid zone belongs, for example, religion because it can partly be seen from outside. This zone is particularly vulnerable to becoming a victim of stereotypes and should, therefore, be made aware to pupils. The third zone is located below the surface and represents the largest part of the iceberg. It is here that values, norms, feelings and cultural patterns of thought can be placed (1993, p. 159) . Since this part of culture cannot be seen, it is especially difficult for students to understand it. It is the task of foreign language teaching to make students aware and sensitize them to this part of culture, as explained in the previous chapter 2. and as stated in the curriculum (2020, p. 9).
Figure 1: Iceberg Analogy of Culture
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
(Iceberg picture adapted from https://www.photofancy.de/themen/eisberge.html, self-modified)
2.2. Teaching Intercultural Competences: Guidelines for Effective Teaching and Teaching Objectives
After presenting the importance of intercultural competence in the previous chapter, it is essential to define which principles should be followed to ensure effective teaching and learning of intercultural competence. The following ten principles are based on the guidelines of Grimm, Meyer and Volkmann (2015, pp. 168-171). These guidelines are essential as they can support the teacher in the difficult task of enabling students to change perspectives.
1. “From knowledge transfer to acquiring cultural competence” (2015, p. 168): For the acquisition of cultural competence it is insufficient simply to transfer knowledge about the country and culture. Teachers and students need to become aware of the knowledge they need for action-oriented and communicative situations in order to orientate in the culture of the target language. Therefore, it is the teacher's responsibility to create authentic and action-oriented teaching content.
2. Exemplary learning is the key: As teaching units are limited in time and content, the teacher has to create exemplary learning arrangements. Thus, for instance, an explicit case becomes an example that also stands for other cases and can be transferred to them (2015, p. 168). If, for example, 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas is read and analyzed, the content is exemplary for discrimination against certain ethnic groups and can be applied to other cases. After all, this is one objective of intercultural learning.
3. Finding the right perspective: The ability to change perspectives is a vital element of intercultural competence. However, according to Grimm, Meyer and Volkmann: “two opposite poles need to be avoided: while the egocentric or ethnocentric perspective merely regards one's own perspective as the true and valuable option, a complete adaption of the foreign perspective might be just as limited”. (2015, p. 168) This means that a balance has to be achieved where both perspectives are equally important. It needs to be an interaction between both perspectives. Here again, the above-mentioned example could be used, where differences and similarities between the own and other cultures are elaborated.
4. The individuality of learners and learning groups must be taken into account: Individual parameters such as age, ethnicity, or classroom atmosphere must be taken into account when planning and implementing lessons (2015, p. 169). Particularly in the case of sensitive issues related to culture, the aspect of individuality should be respected. This also contributes to the pupils' ability to link professional content with personal experience.
5. Multiculturalism: The lessons must make it clear that culture is heterogeneous rather than homogeneous. Students should be made aware that there is no single British or American culture and that other English-speaking countries are home to different subcultures.
6. Prevention and combating of biases: There are often prejudices against certain countries. It is the teacher's duty to design the lessons in such a way that no further prejudices arise and that previous prejudices are overcome by the change of perspective and authentic material. This could be achieved, for example, by explicitly looking for approaches in other cultures that could solve the problems of the own culture (2015, pp. 169-170).
7. Holistic approach: Culture and language are often taught separately. This also applies to textbooks used in English lessons. Therefore, students have difficulties in combining the contents with each other. However, a holistic approach is essential for successful learning, which means that linguistic and cultural content have to be combined. Hence, further material has to be provided by the teacher. This material should be authentic and allow students to learn and use language and culture altogether.
8. Using various media: In order to avoid a one-sided approach to the communication of culture, different media should be selected with which culture can be brought closer. Apart from texts, films, or interactions, these can also be objects such as food or clothing. By using different media, different perspectives become possible and it is also prevented that students are too strongly influenced by the perspective of a single medium (2015, p. 171). For example, if a book is read, a short video on the same topic could be watched, which would show a different perspective than the one of the book.
9. Multidimensional representations: As mentioned in 8., it is important to offer the students multidimensional representations of culture and culture related topics. Different opinions and perspectives should be considered within a topic in order to encourage students to think critically. For a critical reflection on a topic it is necessary to create an atmosphere which is characterized by empathy and tolerance (2015, p. 171).
10. The student as the center of learning: It is very important that teachers are constantly informed about the target cultures and at the same time have the awareness that it is a life-long process to understand culture. On the other hand, the student should be in the center of attention and, therefore, the lessons should be process and action-oriented (2015, pp. 171-172). Furthermore, tasks should be product-oriented and the results should be appropriately valued, for example through a presentation.
If these principles are taken into account in the teaching of cultural competences, the way to successful competence acquisition is opened.
At the end of this chapter, teaching objectives are briefly defined based on a model by Byram. These teaching objectives can be divided into three categories: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Knowledge is understood to mean that students have an understanding of the target culture and sub-cultures and the problems associated with them. Furthermore, historical and social background knowledge should be existing. Skills include the identification of cultural phenomena and their critical reflection as well as creative and cooperative problem-solving strategies. Attitudes are the most complex teaching objective and include the motivation to discover other cultures, openness, tolerance, empathy, social justice, and the will to act and communicate according to the 'think globally, act locally' principle (Grimm, Meyer & Volkmann, 2015, p. 167).
It should be added that the teaching objective attitudes is a life-long learning process and is highly difficult to test since, for instance, empathy or tolerance are attitudes which cannot be assessed by standard tests such as exams (2015, p. 167).
As mentioned previously, intercultural communicative competences are part of the curriculum. These competences are divided into ten levels of competence which are valid for basic and advanced English courses. One of these areas of competence is, for example, that students recognize, question, relativize and, if necessary, revise their perceptions and prejudices (2020, p. 27). An overview of all competence levels for intercultural communicative competences can be found in the curriculum (2020 p. 27).
3. Literature in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom
Different encyclopedias give different definitions of literature. Thaler defines literature according to Grabes (1981) and distinguishes between broad and narrow definition as follows: “In the broadest sense, literature comprises all forms of written communication, i.e. written, printed works”. On the other hand, “narrower definitions reduce the scope by focusing on various criteria, very often referring to the poetic and imaginative quality of literary texts”. (Thaler, 2008, p. 16)
Literature can be classified into different genres. This work will be limited to literary texts in the form of a narrative text (2008, p. 18). This narrative text is the novel 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas (2017). A characteristic of a novel is that it contains more than 50,000 words (2008, p. 100).
3.1. Relevance of Teaching Literature in EFL
For a long time, literature was considered unnecessary in foreign language teaching, as it did not create concrete communication situations that were previously the focus of foreign language teaching (Nünning & Surkamp, 2006, p. 12). This changed with the increased significance of literary texts and the fact that learning objectives such as adopting a perspective or empathy became more important. In addition, reading was no longer seen as a passive act that only serves to extract information, but as a creative act of meaning formation with student orientation. The process of interpreting and understanding literature is based on the interaction between the reader and the text itself. The hermeneutic concept of understanding (hermeneutischer Verstehensbegriff) is also applied here. Through previous knowledge and experience, a world is created in the reader's mind which can open up new perspectives. This emphasizes the importance of literary texts in foreign language teaching because, in contrast to factual texts, their multi-dimensionality encourages the reader to creatively activate his or her understanding. In addition, reading and understanding are accompanied by imaginative, affective and ethical moments (Nünning & Surkamp, 2006, p. 13).
One important argument why literary texts are useful in foreign language teaching is that they provide authentic opportunities to speak, for example by discussing the text in terms of positions or interpretations. Thus, an action-oriented form of text work can trigger a communicative situation in the classroom (Nünning & Surkamp, 2006, p. 14). Several foreign language skills, such as reading and speaking, are directly addressed and supported. This results in language development. Furthermore, the expansion of the students' individual horizons leads to personal enrichment. In the best case, a literary text also arouses interest and has a motivating effect on the students (Thaler, 2008, pp. 23-24). It should also be taken into account that literature has a high status in society and, therefore, benefits social prestige.
As a result, in teaching literary texts, a mixture of decoding words and text structures (bottom-up processing) and applying prior understanding and experience (top-down processing) is created (Nünning & Surkamp, 2006, pp. 19-20).
Since schoolbook texts hardly address the students personally and do not ask them to react or take positions, also their experiences are not questioned, it is important to integrate literary texts into foreign language teaching, in order to promote fascination, a creative process, and authentic speaking situations for the students (Nünning & Surkamp, 2013, p. 149).
The arguments mentioned above are examples of many other arguments why literature is important in foreign language teaching. Another important reason for teaching literature is that literature is also part of the curriculum. The Abiturerlass, a decree on the contents of the final examination in Hessen, stipulates that certain literary texts must be a fixed component of the curriculum, as the contents can be queried in the examinations (Kultusministerium, 2018). An example of this is that Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is to be read in both the basic and advanced courses. This will specify that literature must be taught in English foreign language teaching.
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