Interculturality

 Forum 3. In this Forum, you can discuss any of the issues/concerns/problems that we discussed in THE LAST TWO SESSIONS. On WEEK THREE POWERPOINT , you will also see some questions about the internet as a resource and whether intercultural hybridity has implications for the role of native vs non-native speaker models.

Interculturality and Milton J. Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)

Interculturality is described by UNESCO as “the existence and equitable interaction of diverse cultures and the possibility of generating shared cultural expressions through dialogue and mutual respect.” When we talk about different cultures, there are two words that are key to effective communication between humans: understanding and acceptance. There are different stages of interculturality, which Bennett labels as the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS). These are the stages everybody can find themselves in when experiencing, learning, or getting into contact with another culture for the first time. 

The behavior and perspective we have towards a culture can be divided into two big stages: the ethnocentric stage and the ethnorelative stage. The first one, ethnocentrism, is the stage where one might believe their culture is the one and only in this world; the right one to live after. On the other hand, ethnorelativism relates to the moment when we are aware of the existence of other cultures apart from ours, and that depending on the cultural context, we might approach or understand differently.

Ethnocentism is the first stage one positions themselves in when coming into contact with a culture that until that moment they were not aware of; when we believe that ‘we are all the same’. The first stage is denial; we ignore the reality of diversity and isolate ourselves into our own cultural group. Since there is no understanding of another culture, individuals rely on stereotypes quite often. Once these individuals develop better skills in category discrimination, more complex cognitive processing, and start thinking in a more knowledgeable way, they enter the second stage: the defense stage. This stage is characterized by a recognition of cultural differences, but still with a negative perception of those whose culture is different from the one they know. Sometimes individuals show derogation, superiority, and reversal, which compares two cultures to identify which one is superior to another. At one point, the individual starts to enter the minimization stage, where they recognize the differences between cultures (mostly the ones that are more superficial or on the ‘top of the iceberg’), and they start to accept them as all human beings are basically the same. As Bennet states, it is a challenge to move from this stage because we believe that accepting the existence of other cultures as ‘we are all basically the same’ is enough, but it is not. 

Ethnorelativism happens when there is a significant change of view: instead of accepting and recognizing the differences, we try to adapt to cultural changes and recognize different cultural contexts. The first stage of ethnorelativism is acceptance: the more cultures, the better. We accept that there are more cultures and that none is superior to another, but just different. After accepting the differences, we need to adapt to them: in the adaptation stage, individuals see the culture as something flexible and try to communicate between different cultures. Individuals in this stage tend to be more empathic, understand other people better, and for teachers, to become better at their job. The last stage is the one that is rather unlikely to be achieved: integration, when individuals can move freely between cultures and relate with more than one culture. These individuals are the ones that are able to facilitate constructive contact between cultures and the ones known as cultural meditations or cultural bridgers.

As stated, individuals tend to stay in the minimization stage, or move on from it, but can rarely achieve the integration stage. This stage is more common for individuals who move between cultures; individuals who identify themselves as multicultural or intercultural individuals.

What are intercultural speakers? 

Intercultural speakers are individuals who might identify themselves as multicultural rather than monocultural (having more than one culture or identity rather than only one). They are often the ones who rely on code and culture-switching, and the ones who, deliberately, borrow from their L1 and transfer information to their L2. Intercultural speakers often tend to mix cultures and have a multicultural role as part of a group with several cultures at their disposal. 

As House (1998) describes as the Third Way (or Hybrid-Intercultural style) there are individuals who might feel like they do not fit in only one cultural background for different reasons; hybrid individuals who have different cultures or that we can call, in an umbrella term, mixed raced. These individuals have it easy to communicate in different intercultural contexts as they have developed intercultural communicative competence.

What is intercultural competence and how can we teach it?

When we talk about language teachers, one might believe we talk about someone instructing a group of learners how to improve or be proficient in a language from a specific country. However, more adequate perspectives exist to see what teaching a language actually is. As Bryam and Wagner (2019) state in their research Making a difference: Language teaching for intercultural and international dialogue: “in the contemporary world, language teaching has a responsibility to prepare learners for interaction with people of other cultural backgrounds, teaching them skills and attitudes as well as knowledge”. Teaching also implies developing intercultural skills and enlightening intercultural communication or competence. Teachers can also be seen as intercultural speakers, as they are individuals who have “the ability to accept other perspectives and perceptions of the world, to mediate between different perspectives, to be conscious of their evaluations of difference” (Byram 2001: 5). Intercultural competence is “set of knowledge and skills necessary for people and organisations to act in an intercultural way in diverse societies” (Council of Europe, 2023).

In other to teach intercultural competence the most important factor, and the one that must be a priority for us, is to raise awareness of one’s culture and the existence of other cultures: to accept them, to learn from them and to understand them, even if we do not agree with some beliefs or ideas. Some ideas on how we can incorporate and teach intercultural competencies in our class are through cooperative learning (no individual is the same as another), role-playing, linguistics and pragmatics, cultural awareness week, teaching empathy, multicultural group discussion, etc. There are many online sources that recommend activities, approaches, and more. 

Integrating culture in our class is as important as students learning grammar or vocabulary, as these two aspects are part of our culture (it is not the same to teach ‘trousers’ (UK)  that ‘pants’ (USA) and ‘slacks’ (AUS)). Culture is part of our class, whether students know it or not, and we need to integrate it into our lectures as much as possible.

References:

Council of Europe. (2023). Building intercultural competence. Intercultural cities programme. https://www.coe.int/en/web/interculturalcities/intercultural-competence

Di Pardo Leon-Henri, D. (2020, April 2). 8 Strategies for Teaching Intercultural Communication through Film. Reflective Teaching Journal. https://reflectiveteachingjournal.com/strategies-teaching-intercultural-communication-film 

J Dally. (2013, September 28). Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6vKRFH2Wm6Y?playlist=6vKRFH2Wm6Y&auto

UNESCO. (2015, November 26). Interculturality. Diversity of Cultural Expressions. https://en.unesco.org/creativity/interculturality 

Vulture, C. (2021, September 1). What is Intercultural Communication and Why is it Important? Commisceo Global Consulting Ltd. https://www.commisceo-global.com/blog/what-is-intercultural-communication-and-why-is-it-important

Western University. (n.d.). Intercultural Teaching Competence. https://teaching.uwo.ca/teaching/itc.html