How strange! The use of anecdotes in the development of intercultural competence

Abstract

The ultimate aim of this work is to provide teaching ideas to help learners become proficient in communicating through a foreign language and culture in ways that would minimize the occurrence of uncomfortable feelings of 'strangeness', and the chances of 'losing face' due to lack of cultural/linguistic knowledge. It first looks at the theoretical underpinning for the inclusion of an intercultural competence element in language learning. Then it presents examples of first-hand experiences of 'strange behaviour' that will serve as a stepping stone to the practical ideas for raising cultural awareness in the classroom. Section four introduces three important aspects of intercultural awareness: cognitive complexity, affective co-orientation, and verbal and non-verbal behaviour. An application of the storyline method is explained in section five as it can serve as a useful means of organizing the teaching/learning of intercultural competence in a classroom context over a number of weeks. Anecdotes can serve as an aid to learners at key stages of storyline. The three stages of creating the characters, formulating the plot, and composing beginnings and endings are highlighted and illustrated with examples taken from the anecdotes provided for this project. Particular aspects of learning, based on the explanation in section four, are specified in section five as 'attainment targets'.