Volume 05 - Issue 1

Report Promoting intercultural engagement in beginner language courses: Principles and implementation

Authors
Hwang, Jiwon; Sato, Eriko; Wang, Yi
Volume
Volume 05 - Issue 1
Date Issued
2024-12-04
Keywords
Chinese; Japanese; Korean; Intercultural Communicative-Competence
Publisher
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center; (co-sponsored by American Association of University of Supervisors and Coordinators; Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition; Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy; Second Language Teaching and Resource Center)
URI/DOI
/10125/69892
PDF
Citation
Hwang J., Sato E., & Wang Y. (2024). Promoting intercultural engagement in beginner language courses: Principles and implementation. Second Language Research & Practice, 5(1), 51-65. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/69892
Record Details
Full Record

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Abstract
Developing language learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has been widely recognized as a critical aspect of language teaching. Yet, integrating an intercultural perspective and practices into language classrooms is often neglected, especially for beginner learners, partly due to their limited linguistic abilities. This report presents a collaborative effort by language researchers and educators to develop and implement an interculturally-oriented intervention project in first-semester Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language courses. The three-part intervention was designed to enhance beginner learners’ intercultural reflective learning, addressing a complex interplay of factors—from societal ideologies to specific individual interactions in intercultural settings—that contribute to hurdles faced by learners of the three languages. Reflections on the intervention, challenges, and limitations are discussed with implications for curriculum development and program planning.