Sociocultural Competence In Language Learning And Teaching

Exploring sociocultural competence and the promotion of intercultural communication, this study aims to clearly define the concepts behind teaching foreign language and the connections between culture and language. As foreign language teaching continues to increasingly focus on the relationship between culture and language, understanding the link and what it means becomes more important. Objective and informative, this examination particularly looks at English as a lingua franca between speakers of different languages and cultural backgrounds from the perspectives of nonnative English speakers and explores how that affects pedagogical approaches to teaching foreign language.

This book identifies the many facets of culture that influence second language learners and teachers. The paperback edition identifies the many facets of culture that influence second language learners and teachers. It addresses the impact of culture on learning to interact, speak, construct meaning, and write in a second language, while staying within the sociocultural paradigms specific to a particular language and its speakers. By providing a comprehensive introduction to research from other disciplines on the interaction between language and culture, this volume offers an important contribution to the field of second language acquisition.

This book aims to offer insights into cognitive, sociocultural and pedagogical aspects of foreign language learning and teaching. It focuses on different competences, such as communicative competence, intercultural competence and the autonomy of the language learner. A significant feature of this volume is that it bears the fruit of collaboration between researchers and practitioners on both sides of the Atlantic and, therefore, offers a variety of perspectives. The book is divided into four parts, focusing on the following four areas of research: sociocultural theory, communicative language teaching, intercultural competence and learner autonomy. The first chapter of each part covers theoretical issues by outlining the origins and development of a theory and explaining its core concepts. In the second chapter, theoretical, empirical and applied research is reviewed, and the implications for foreign language learning and teaching are discussed. The third chapter of each part is devoted to the application of the theories in focus. It presents either an example of a research project or an application of the theory in terms of developing materials and/or giving suggestions for good practice in the foreign language classroom.

The teaching of culture and interculturality is today viewed as an integral part of foreign language education. This book presents insights from recent research on the role of culture in second/foreign and heritage language education. It contains 14 chapters including an introductory chapter that discusses diachronically the evolving notion of culture and how the sociocultural view of culture as a complex and dynamic concept informs language teaching and language learning research. The chapters following the introduction are organised in four parts focusing on: 1) the teacher's role in integrated language and culture learning; 2) the interrelationship between culture, identity, and language learning and use; 3) the effect of culture on learner characteristics which impact language learning processes and outcomes; and 4) curriculum development aimed at fostering language and culture learning. The chapters in Parts 1 to 3 present contributions from current research - either in the form of the authors' original studies or comprehensive reviews of relevant essential research - which bears important implications for curricular practice in foreign language and language teacher education. This close link between research, theory and practice is also maintained in the two chapters in Part 4, which present developmental projects based on well-grounded theoretical frameworks.

The introduction of communicative competence as the goal of second and for eign language teaching has led to recognition of the role of context in language learning and use. As communicative competence is defined by the social and cultural contexts in which it is used, no single communicative competence can serve as the goal and model for all learners. This recognition has had an impact on program design and materials development. One significant change is that the choice of a teaching method is no longer the primary concern. Instead, the first step for the program designer is becoming familiar with the social and cultural features of the context of the language being taught. This includes a consideration of the uses speakers make of the language, their reasons for using it, and their attitudes toward it. Contexts of Competence: Social and Cultural Considerations in Commu nicative Language Teaching explores the relationship between context and com petence from a theoretical and practical perspective. Its audience is applied linguists in general and language teaching practitioners in particular. The overall aim of its five chapters is to provide a framework for consideration of various contexts of language learning and use and to guide the implementation and development of models of communicative language teaching that are responsive to the context-specific needs of learners.