1 Exploring Interculturality through ConceptsWorking with the Australian Curriculum: French Catherine Skene: Angela Scarino:

2 Setting the scene: Globalisation and its impact on languages educationIn the context of globalisation (1) increasing diversity of learners (2) language capabilities are increasingly important: communicating successfully to develop understanding, to exchange meaning across languages and cultures is critical (3) expanding the role of technologies in communication and social media (4) language issues are more salient than ever (5) mobility, mixing, political dynamics are now central concerns in the study of language (6) need to go beyond communicative language teaching: an intercultural orientation responds directly to the requirements of language learning in the context of diversity

3 Consider the learner Learner as the meeting point between languages, cultures and learning – learning not in an abstracted but rather in an embodied way. - Learner as learner: using language and cultural tools to assimilate, create and produce new knowledge and understanding; different learners stand in different relationships to the cultural products they encounter in learning - Learner as user: using the target language for personal expression and to develop a personal voice in the target language (can be positioned as a legitimate user or a pseudo user); in so doing the learner has to reconcile the linguistic and cultural demands of communication across languages and cultures  an intercultural user - Learner as person: Learners bring their personal histories and affiliations with particular languages; learner’s identity might be submerged in pseudo-identity constructed for the purposes of language learning – delegitimising/ legitimising learners’ identities (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013, p.51-56)

4 Expanding language, culture and learning - 1View of language Language as word; structural, grammatical system; code  Language as social practice involving diverse contexts of use Elaborate social practice to highlight not just the act or the practice itself, but people and their meaning-making. Participants in a practice Elaborate participation as the reciprocal process of interpreting the language and culture, the person and the self, and of reflecting on the process of meaning-making, self and other. View of culture Culture as facts, artefacts, information Culture as social practices; ways of doing things in diverse cultures Elaborate to highlight not only diverse practices, but cultural practices as a lens through which people mutually interpret, create, and exchange meaning and reflecting on the cultural situatedness of self and other.  View of learning Acquisition of new knowledge Participation in use of knowledge/knowing how to use language Elaborate to highlight how learning as a process of making sense or coming to understand, involves becoming aware of how learners reciprocally interpret knowledge to others and themselves through their language and culture, and its use with others, and reflect upon the process of learning. (Scarino, 2014)

5 Expanding language, culture and learning - 2A move towards – a conception of language as form, as a social practice and as the interpretation and creation of meaning: this interpretive turn includes a reflective dimension that adds value to both communication and learning understanding the crucial role of language and culture in meaning-making understanding the role of language and culture in learning when learning itself is understood as ‘learning how to mean (Halliday 1993) ‘Today it is not sufficient for learners to know how to communicate meanings; they have to understand the practice of meaning-making.’ (Kramsch, 2009)

6 A characterisation of language learningA characterisation of language learning for the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Languages language learning as multilingual language learning as conceptual language learning as experiential, biographical language learning as mediated language learning as relational / as intercultural connections language learning as reflective and reflexive language learning as developmental and necessitating feedback  (Scarino, Kohler, Benedetti 2014, p.1)

7 Concepts Concepts are the big ideas that students work with. The choice of the word ‘concept’ rather than ‘topic’ is deliberate: it marks a shift from description to conceptualisation. The curriculum should invite students not only to describe facts or features of phenomena, situations and events but also to consider how facts and features relate to concepts or principles. For example, a description of a house can lead to a consideration of the concept of ‘home’ or ‘space’. This shift is necessary because it is concepts that lend themselves most fruitfully to intercultural comparison and engage learners in personal reflection and more substantive learning. (Australian Curriculum: Languages Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum Design)

8 Domains of reflection Reflecting on language and culturethe role of language/s in the task and its accomplishment the role of culture/s in the task and its accomplishment the relationship between language and culture in the task and its accomplishment Reflecting on the task/experience: the outcomes of the task/experience (what was accomplished, what led to that accomplishment) the processes involved in the task on responses and reactions to the task/experience (of self and of others) on learning in and through the task/experience. Reflecting on participants: on self as a participant in the task/experience on interlocutors as participants on self as a learner

9 Processes of reflectionPositioning The positions that are available or possible The positions that are constrained or excluded The consequentiality of positioning Personalising Recognising the impact of experiences/learning on self Recognising the encultured nature of personal responses Articulating significance of learning for self Decentering Adopting multiple perspectives Investigating consequentiality of perspectives Mediating Interpreting meanings for self Interpreting meanings for others Interpreting own culture(s) for members of others Interpreting other cultures for members of one’s own

10 Chez Moi! Exploring the concept of HomeYear 4/5 class of 30 boys and girls Majority have been learning French since reception Until this year, 1 x 60 min lesson per week This year 1 x 90 min lesson per week Overall highly motivated class Most of 4th term on this (about 8 weeks). Use of idiomatic term intentional.

11 Lesson 1: Active construction and making connectionsSlideshow: Où habites-tu? Tu habites où? J’habite un grand manoir. Discussion introduces intercultural and historical elements. Slideshow of 20 odd slides, from un château fort to une péniche. Different examples of maisons et appartements. J’habite une maison. J’habite un appartement.

12 Explanation of the expression chez moi and how it is used.This introduces concept of home to students, as well as demonstrating that there are not always exact equivalents across languages. Can’t translate word for word. From Smartboard

13 Small group discussions on what is a homeGroups had A3 sheet with guiding questions, to record points of discussion. As discussing, I went from group to group, picking up various threads to use in the whole-class discussion that followed. Domains of reflection – reflecting on the responses and reactions to the task Processes of reflection A3 sheet to note discussion

14 2nd slideshow: Chez moi! 2nd slideshow introduced more language and cultural elements around the theme. The two slideshows stimulate discussion and invite students to decenter, to consider multiple perspectives. Reflecting upon and interpreting self in relation to others. Decentering. Mediating – interpreting own culture for self, interpreting for others Personalizing.

15 Lesson 2: Language construction and reinforcing the conceptSummarized list of points in French, taken from previous week’s discussion. From Smartboard

16 Examples of student writing:Chez moi, c’est pour dormir et pour rester. Il faut la famille et les animaux. Chez moi c’est un abri et la sécurité. Il faut la vie. Chez moi il faut se (me) sentir à l’aise. Students’ written examples

17 Astrapi, février mars 2012 Introduction of 2 texts using scanned images of the first introductory page of each. The full texts are A3 photo articles of a family that lives on a barge near Nantes, and another that has a house carved out of a stone cliff in the Loire valley. We worked on the meaning of the introductory pages together. Students worked in pairs or 3s to understand one small paragraph. We then constructed the whole text together

18 Task: To create a poster presenting your home, with photos and drawings and captions in FrenchImagine you are presenting your Australian home to Marwenn (péniche à Nantes) or Achille and Ambroise (maison en pierre), or someone living in the apartments and houses you have seen. What would strike them as different? What would they recognise / identify with? Is there anything you would need to explain to them? Keep in mind the concept of home, what it means to you, what is important… Positioning Personalizing Decentering Mediating

19 J’habite dans une moderne assez grande maison, avec un grandjardin et une terrasse. Chez moi, c’est pour rester. Il y a une toilette,un bain, un lavabo et une douche dans la salle de bains. Il y a aussi des lumieres pour illuminer la maison pendant jour et nuit. Chez moi, c’est un abri. 4 examples of student work Mon jardin est grand. Il y a un balançoire, une trampoline et cinq poules. La cuisine est le foyer de la maison. Il y a un four, un frigo et un évier. Chez moi, il faut la famille. Chez moi, c’est la sécutité. Chez moi, il faut la vie. Chez moi, il faut l’amour.

20 Voici mon jardin de devant.Chez moi c’est pour manger Voici mon jardin de devant. Chez moi c’est un abri. J’ai une grande chambre avec une cheminee. Chez moi il faut la famille Chez moi il faut animaux J’habite une maison avec un grand jardin. J’ai un salon où je regarde la tele

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22 Reflection In your book, reflect in English on the task.How have you shown what the concept of home means to you? eg Why did you select these particular pictures? What do they show a French person about your home?

23 …I saw that French homes were cosy and small places to live in…I saw that French homes were cosy and small places to live in. I think my house is different to houses in France because it looked like (lots of) French homes don’t have pools. Some French homes we saw were quite small and a few were big. They looked a little old as well. Something similar between my house and a French person’s house is that we feel really safe, cosy and relaxed when we are in our homes. …I chose to use these photos because I thought that a French person would not have a huge backyard or kitchen. I included a photo of the bathroom because our toilet is in the bathroom unlike other Australian homes… For me, the home/center of our house is the kitchen, so that is why I put it on my poster…

24 On my poster I had … my dog, my bedroom, my pool… Home means fun to me because I like playing in my backyard with my brother, playing with my dog and jumping in my pool. I chose these pictures because they are my favourite places in my home. They show a French person the difference in an Australian home to a French home. For example they probably wouldn’t have a pool because it is cold there.

25 Implications Need to move from description to concepts and conceptual understanding Need to develop communicative purposes and interpretive purposes, i.e. give expression to social interpretation which includes culturally-derived and historically situated interpretations of the social life worlds of participants, ethics and values Need to develop meta-awareness: learner positioned as participant in interactions that require using language AND as analyser/learner reflecting on language, culture, the intercultural and processes of interpreting and creating meaning in communication Need to consider long-term, cumulative development

26 Discussion

27 References ACARA (2011) Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages Halliday, M.A.K. (1993). Towards a language-based theory of learning. Linguistics and Education. 4, Kramsch, C. (2009). The multilingual subject. Oxford. Oxford University Press Liddicoat, A.J. & Scarino, A Intercultural language teaching and learning. Wiley-Blackwell: New York & Oxford. Scarino, A Learning as reciprocal, interpretive meaning-making. A view from collaborative research into the professional learning of teachers of languages. The Modern Language Journal (Special Issue) 98(1):386–401. DOI: /j x Scarino, A., Kohler, M. with Benedetti, A. (2014). Investigating pedagogies for language-and-culture learning. Project commissioned by Department for Education and Child Development.