Language Learning and Intercultural Understanding in the Primary School shows how to deliver a progressive and holistic embedded language curriculum. It provides guidance on inclusive approaches for students with English as an additional language, including native speakers in the target language as well as language awareness activities that maximise links with learning in English. Practical and accessible, it contains classroom examples, plans, resources and pedagogical approaches all underpinned by theory, research and practice. Each chapter examines specific themes relating to language, culture, identity and wellbeing, providing rich discussions and a range of perspectives. Case studies ‘bring to life’ the examples provided, and reflection points offer the reader the opportunity to pause and consider an idea, resource, or challenging concept before moving on. Presenting a lived narrative of shared voices, the authors invite readers to learn about their own cultural and linguistic identities and how these relate to their practice. This is a must-read for teachers, language specialists and school leaders who wish for a clear rationale for the role of language, culture, identity and wellbeing within and beyond the curriculum.

This book presents research on the learning of foreign languages by children aged 6-12 years old in primary school settings. The collection provides a significant and important contribution to this often overlooked domain and aims to provide research-based evidence that might help to inform and develop pedagogical practice. Topics covered in the chapters include the influence of learner characteristics on word retrieval; explicit second language learning and language awareness; meaning construction; narrative oral development; conversational interaction and how it relates to individual variables; first language use; feedback on written production; intercultural awareness raising and feedback on diagnostic assessment. It will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, teachers and stakeholders who are interested in research on how children learn a second language at primary school.

This wide-ranging survey of issues in intercultural language teaching and learning covers everything from core concepts to program evaluation, and advocates a fluid, responsive approach to teaching language that reflects its central role in fostering intercultural understanding. Includes coverage of theoretical issues defining language, culture, and communication, as well as practice-driven issues such as classroom interactions, technologies, programs, and language assessment Examines systematically the components of language teaching: language itself, meaning, culture, learning, communicating, and assessments, and puts them in social and cultural context Features numerous examples throughout, drawn from various languages, international contexts, and frameworks Incorporates a decade of in-depth research and detailed documentation from the authors’ collaborative work with practicing teachers Provides a much-needed addition to the sparse literature on intercultural aspects of language education

This book provides a contemporary and critical examination of the theoretical and pedagogical impact of Michael Byram’s pioneering work on intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship within the field of language education and beyond. The chapters address important theoretical and empirical work on the teaching, learning, and assessment of intercultural learning, and highlight how individual language educators and communities of practice enact intercultural learning in locally appropriate ways. The book offers comprehensive, up-to-date and accessible knowledge for researchers, teachers, teacher-trainers and students.

Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding is a comprehensive resource for educators in primary and early years classrooms. It provides teachers with a complete framework for developing intercultural understanding among pupils and includes practical and creative strategies and activities to stimulate discussion, awareness and comprehension of intercultural issues and ideas. Drawing on the most current research and work in the field of intercultural competence and existing models of intercultural understanding, this book explores topics such as: understanding culture and language the importance of personal and cultural identity engaging with difference cultivating positive attitudes and beliefs embedding awareness of local and global issues in students designing a classroom with intercultural understanding in mind. With detailed ready-to-use, enquiry-based lesson plans, which incorporate children's literature, talking points and media resources, this book encourages the practitioner to consider intercultural understanding as another lens through which to view the curriculum when creating and choosing learning materials and activities. Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding sets out to help the reader engage young hearts and minds with global and local concepts in a way that is easily integrated into the life of all primary schools – from New York to New Delhi, from Birmingham to Bangkok.

This wide-ranging survey of issues in intercultural language teaching and learning covers everything from core concepts to program evaluation, and advocates a fluid, responsive approach to teaching language that reflects its central role in fostering intercultural understanding. Includes coverage of theoretical issues defining language, culture, and communication, as well as practice-driven issues such as classroom interactions, technologies, programs, and language assessment Examines systematically the components of language teaching: language itself, meaning, culture, learning, communicating, and assessments, and puts them in social and cultural context Features numerous examples throughout, drawn from various languages, international contexts, and frameworks Incorporates a decade of in-depth research and detailed documentation from the authors’ collaborative work with practicing teachers Provides a much-needed addition to the sparse literature on intercultural aspects of language education

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,3, Bielefeld University, language: English, abstract: The discussion about aims, content and methods of foreign language lessons resulted in demands for a broader integration of intercultural learning. Jörg Roche, who dedicated one chapter of his book Interkulturelle Sprachdidaktik: Eine Einführung to the role of intercultural language didactics in the teaching and learning of foreign languages, makes specific suggestions about restructuring the traditional concepts of foreign language lessons. According to him, the best learning success is achieved when intercultural learning and foreign language teaching are integrated. He explains conclusively that language and culture are inseparably bound to one another. Roche also warns not to use isolated or poorly researched pieces of cultural information, since this would lead to a falsified image of the target culture and prevent the learners from authentic language use. Roche's appeal illustrates the growing need of intercultural communication. Young pupils in Germany do not only live in a country that maintains contact with cultures all over the world, but they are also part of a multicultural society that is mirrored by the school classes. Foreign language lessons offer the opportunity to help them deal with it and prepare them for living in a multicultural society. After the introduction of English as a foreign language as an obligatory school subject in the classes 3 and 4 of the primary schools in 2003, it is now possible for the young learners in Germany to exhaust their enormous language learning potential more effectively. However, how they should be taught, and what exactly, is still discussed extensively. The new school subject made it necessary to develop a new curriculum and new school books, which were supposed to meet the needs of the young foreign language learners and the conditions of the guideli