Theorizing translingual/transcultural competence

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bitstream:

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/69678/1/2010_02.pdf

bitstream_txt:

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/69678/2/2010_02.pdf.txt

collection:

2010 CRITICAL AND INTERCULTURAL THEORY AND LANGUAGE PEDAGOGY

contributor.author:

Kramsch, Claire

date.accessioned:

2020-12-14T23:15:00Z

date.available:

2020-12-14T23:15:00Z

date.issued:

2010-01-01

description.abstract:

“Translingual and transcultural competence” has been proposed by the 2007 Report of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages as the desired goal of foreign language majors at U.S. colleges and universities (MLA, 2007). How can such a competence be conceptualized? This chapter uses as a point of departure an international research project on multilingualism/multiculturalism in which native speakers of French and native speakers of English grappled with each other’s categorizations of events and their underlying ideologies for an ultimate publication in French. The challenges of cultural translation encountered in the course of this project serve as a basis to reflect on the three challenges posed by the MLA Report: (1) the need to “operate between languages,” (2) mediation and translation, and (3) the relationship of language and culture in discourse. After proposing a definition of translingual/transcultural competence, the chapter draws on various theories in applied linguistics and critical cultural studies to stake out an ecological theory of translingual/transcultural competence that includes language and cultural relativity, the social construction and emergence of meaning, the dynamics of intertextuality, and the fundamentally symbolic nature of transcultural competence. The chapter ends with a concrete example of classroom discourse in an upper-intermediate German course and examines to what extent each of the ecological tenets mentioned above were or could have been activated.

description.provenance:

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-14T23:15:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010_02.pdf: 480944 bytes, checksum: af5212ab991acf53cde03ec27e1b4fb7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-01-01

endingpage:

31

identifier.citation:

Kramsch, C. (2010). Theorizing translingual/transcultural competence. The American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators and Directors of Foreign Languages Programs (AAUSC), 15-31. http://hdl.handle.net/102015/69678

identifier.uri:

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/69678

publisher:

Heinle Cengage Learning

site_url:

/item/263

startingpage:

15

title:

Theorizing translingual/transcultural competence

type:

Article

type.dcmi:

Text

volume:

2010