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ERIC Number: EJ789480
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0790
EISSN: N/A
Implementing Intercultural Foreign Language Education. Belgian, Danish and British Teachers' Professional Self-Concepts and Teaching Practices Compared
Sercu, Lies
Evaluation and Research in Education, v16 n3 p150-165 2002
In foreign language education, new professional demands are made on teachers. Foreign language teaching can no longer be regarded as a mainly linguistic task. Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence. Internationally, the assumption seems to be that teachers are already moving in the advocated direction and are willing to support the new objectives put forward. The observation that this belief remains largely intuitive with little rigorous evidence to support it, constituted the rationale for the research we report on here. The study's aim was to inquire into how Flemish English, French and German teachers' current professional self-concepts and teaching practices relate to the envisaged profile of the intercultural foreign language teacher, and to compare these findings to those obtained with respect to Danish and British teachers in an earlier study. Our findings inspire optimism that progress is being made and that teachers in the different countries investigated are willing to support intercultural objectives. Their teaching practices, however, can as yet not be characterised as directed towards the full attainment of intercultural communicative competence. (Contains 5 figures, 1 table, and 7 notes.)
Multilingual Matters. Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, UK. Tel: +44-1275-876519; Fax: +44-1275-871673; e-mail: info@multilingual-matters.com; Web site: http://www.multilingual-matters.com/multi/journals.asp
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Belgium; Denmark; France; United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A