DEVELOPING TERTIARY LEVEL CLIL LEARNERS’ INTERCULTURAL AWARENESS WITH A SELF-PRODUCED COURSEBOOK INTEGRATING CONTENT AND LANGUAGE

Wen-hsien Yang

DOI Number
https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP1903329Y
First page
329
Last page
347

Abstract


Integrating content and language at tertiary level has recently become very popular in Asian contexts. Extensive studies have also been done, evidencing that CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) can be beneficial for improving learners’ linguistic outcomes and content achievements. However, cultural awareness, as one core dimension of the 4Cs (communication, content, cognition, and culture) conceptual framework is less addressed in the literature. Often it is assumed that CLIL education can also naturally increase learners’ cross-cultural competence, but hard evidence on the increment of this competence is still lacking in the CLIL literature. Thus, to bridge this gap, the present study used a mixed research method to investigate to what extent a self-produced CLIL culture coursebook can help university students enhance their inter-cultural knowledge in a national Taiwan polytechnic university. One survey was conducted to evaluate the tailor-made CLIL materials and another was administered to measure the cultural competence after the CLIL intervention. The coursebook writers as well as the CLIL learners were also interviewed in the study. The findings showed that the contextualised design met its set educational aims and targets, and the users made significant improvement in their cultural competence. Also, the interviewees showed a high degree of satisfaction with the coursebook and the approach, although the book authors held divided opinions on some issues. Implications and suggestions are provided.

Keywords

CLIL, intercultural awareness, CQ, material evaluation, tertiary level

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ahn, M. J., & Ettner, L. (2013). Cultural intelligence (CQ) in MBA curricula. Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, 7(1), 4-16.

Baecher, L., Farnsworth, T., & Ediger, A. (2014). The challenges of planning language objectives in. content-based ESL instruction. Language Teaching Research, 18(1), 118-136.

Ball, P., Kelly, K., & Clegg, J. (2015). Putting CLIL into practice. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Banegas, D. L. (2014). An investigation into CLIL-related sections of EFL coursebooks: Issues of CLIL inclusion in the publishing market. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(3), 345–359.

Banegas, D. L. (2015). Sharing views of CLIL lesson planning in language teacher education. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 8(2), 104–130.

Bell, J., & Gower, R. (2011). Writing course materials for the world: A great compromise. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 135–150). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Bücker, J. J., & Korzilius, H. (2015). Developing cultural intelligence: assessing the effect of the Ecotonos cultural simulation game for international business students. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(15), 1995-2014.

Bücker, J., Furrer, O., & Lin, Y. (2015). Measuring cultural intelligence (CQ) A new test of the CQ scale. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 15(3), 259-284.

Buchtel, E. E. (2014). Cultural sensitivity or cultural stereotyping? Positive and negative effects of a cultural psychology class. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 39, 40-52.

Byram, M., Nichols, A., & Stevens, D. (Eds.). (2001). Developing intercultural competence in practice (Vol. 1). Exeter, UK: Multilingual Matters.

CIC (Cultural Intelligence Centre). (2019). Culture. Retrieved on 5 October, 2019 from. https://culturalq.com/about-cultural-intelligence/culture/

Chao, M. M., Takeuchi, R., & Farh, J. L. (2017). Enhancing cultural intelligence: The roles of implicit culture beliefs and adjustment. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 257-292.

Coyle, D. (1999) Theory and planning for effective classrooms: Supporting students in content and language integrated learning contexts. In J. Masih (Ed.), Learning through a foreign language (pp.46-62). London: CILT.

Coyle, D. (2007). Content and language integrated learning: Towards a connected research agenda for CLIL pedagogies. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(5), 543-562.

Coyle, D. (2008). CLIL—A pedagogical approach from the European perspective. Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 1200-1214.

Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Cummins, J. (2004) Using IT to create a zone of proximal development for academic language learning: A critical perspective on trends and possibilities. In C. Davison (Ed.), Information Technology and Innovation in Language Education (pp. 105-126). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Diab, A. A. M., Abdel-Haq, E. M., & Aly, M. A. S. (2018). The Effectiveness of Using Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) Approach to enhance EFL student teachers' cultural awareness. Online Submission. 1-27. Retrieved on 3 October, 2019 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED582276.pdf

Douglas Brown, H. (1980) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hall-Englewood Cliffs.

Earley, P. C., & Peterson, R. S. (2004). The elusive cultural chameleon: Cultural intelligence as a new approach to intercultural training for the global manager. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(1), 100-115.

Eisenberg, J., Lee, H. J., Brück, F., Brenner, B., Claes, M. T., Mironski, J., & Bell, R. (2013). Can business schools make students culturally competent? Effects of cross-cultural management courses on cultural intelligence. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12(4), 603-621.

Engle, R. L., & Crowne, K. A. (2014). The impact of international experience on cultural intelligence: An application of contact theory in a structured short-term programme. Human Resource Development International, 17(1), 30-46.

Erez, M., Lisak, A., Harush, R., Glikson, E., Nouri, R., & Shokef, E. (2013). Going global: Developing. management students' cultural intelligence and global identity in culturally diverse virtual teams. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12(3), 330-355.

Farashaiyan, A., & Hua, T. K. (2012). On the relationship between pragmatic knowledge and language proficiency among Iranian male and female undergraduate EFL learners. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 18(1), 33-46.

Farzaneh, N., Kohandani, M., & Nejadansari, D. (2014). A textbook evaluation of socio-cultural contexts in top notch series. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 472-481.

Fenton, A. (2004). Weft QDA. Retrieved from http://www.pressure.to/qda/ on 8 August, 2019.

Fernández-Sanjurjo, J., Fernández-Costales, A., & Arias Blanco, J. M. (2019). Analysing students’ content-learning in science in CLIL vs. non-CLIL programmes: Empirical evidence from Spain. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(6), 661-674.

Fischer, R. (2011). Cross-cultural training effects on cultural essentialism beliefs and cultural intelligence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(6), 767-775.

Floimayr, T. (2010). CLIL in Biology: An evaluation of existing teaching materials for Austrian schools. VIEWS: Vienna English Working Papers, 19(3), 21–28. Retrieved from https://anglistik.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_anglistik/Department/Views/Uploads/Views_0703_specissue.pdf

Holliday, A. (1999). Small cultures. Applied linguistics, 20(2), 237-264.

Holtbrügge, D., & Engelhard, F. (2016). Study abroad programs: Individual motivations, cultural intelligence, and the mediating role of cultural boundary spanning. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(3), 435-455.

Logioio, A. J. (2010). Raising intercultural awareness at primary level through storytelling within a CLIL approach. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

McKay, S. L. (2018). English as an International language: What it is and what it means for pedagogy. RELC Journal, 49(1), 9-23.

Mehisto, P. (2012). Criteria for producing CLIL learning material. Encuentro, 21, 15–33. Retrieved on 5 May, 2019 from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED539729.pdf

Méndez García, M. D. C. (2012). The potential of CLIL for intercultural development: A case study of Andalusian bilingual schools. Language and Intercultural Communication, 12(3), 196-213.

Meyer, O. (2010). Towards quality CLIL: Successful planning and teaching strategies. PULSO, Revista de Educación, 33, 11-29.

Nikula, T. (2012). On the role of peer discussions in the learning of subject-specific language use in CLIL. In E. Soler, & M. Safont-Jordà (Eds.), Discourse and language learning across L2 instructional settings (pp. 133–153). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Rodopi.

Oprescu, M. (2015). Cultural identity through CLIL. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 12(1), 34-39.

Papadopoulos, I., & Griva, E. (2014). Learning in the traces of Greek Culture»: a CLIL project for raising cultural awareness and developing L2 skills. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 8(1), 76-92.

Ramsey, J. R., & Lorenz, M. P. (2016). Exploring the impact of cross-cultural management education on cultural intelligence, student satisfaction, and commitment. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(1), 79-99.

Rodríguez, L. M. G., & Puyal, M. B. (2012). Promoting intercultural competence through literature. in CLIL contexts. Atlantis, 34(2), 105-124.

Sanjurjo, J. F., Blanco, J. M. A., & Fernández-Costales, A. (2018). Assessing the influence of socio-economic status on students' performance in Content and Language Integrated Learning. System, 73, 16-26.

Sherwood, J. (2019). What is cultural competence? Retrieved on 5 October, 2019 from https://sydney.edu.au/nccc/about-us/what-is-cultural-competence.html

Sudhoff, J. (2010). CLIL and intercultural communicative competence: Foundations and approaches towards a fusion. International CLIL Research Journal, 1(3), 30-37.

Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 45(2), 143–179.

Varela, O. E., & Gatlin-Watts, R. (2014). The development of the global manager: An empirical study on the role of academic international sojourns. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(2), 187-207.

Yang, W. H. (2015). Content and language integrated learning next in Asia: Evidence of learners’ achievement in CLIL education from a Taiwan tertiary degree programme. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(4), 361-382.

Yang, W. H. (2018). Evaluating contextualized content and language integrated learning materials at tertiary level. Latin American Journal of Content & Language Integrated Learning, 11(2), 236-274.

Yang, W. H. (2020). Toward a bilingual Taiwan: How can CLIL help? The Journal of Japan CLIL Pedagogy Association, 2, XX-XX. (An invited paper under review).




DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP1903329Y

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


ISSN 2334-9182 (Print)
ISSN 2334-9212 (Online)