Teachers as Mediators in the Foreign Language Classroom by Michelle Kohler

Author:Michelle Kohler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MULTILINGUAL MATTERS
Published: 2014-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

Me:

…social issue, with that individual perspective.

Maria:

Yes, how does where you were born, with whom you were born, affect your life? Because the schooling came up, how that shapes the personhood… And then bring it in a broader perspective, how is a country’s identity affected by its secular or religious or non-religious stance on issues?

Maria understands culture as layered, including both national and individual dimensions. She holds a macro ‘broader’ view related to socialisation and national identity, ‘how is a country’s identity affected by its secular or religious or non-religious stance on issues?’. She also holds a micro view, belonging to individuals including her students, ‘drawing examples with our own community, what’s happening in our own backyard’, ‘hone in on their own experience’. She recognises the importance of one’s primary socialisation (Byram & Alred, 2002) in shaping cultural identity, ‘how does where you were born, with whom you were born, affect your life…how that shapes the personhood’. Maria conceives culture in general as textured, dynamic and related to one’s own enculturation (Papademetre, 2005). She attempts to render this in language teaching through multiple examples, decentring from one’s own enculturation, and through developing a critical stance (Byram, 2008; Phipps & Gonzalez, 2004).

Maria’s view of the relationship between language and culture

Maria understands language and culture as integrally related in general and in language teaching, particularly focusing on culture in language.

Extract 45: Maria – views of language and culture (June)

Participant

Dialogue

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