Addressing Culture in The EFL Classroom: A Dialogic Proposal

Addressing Culture in the efl Classroom: A Dialogic Proposal
El abordaje de la cultura en la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera: una

propuesta dialógica
José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia*1

Ximena Bonilla Medina**
Universidad de La Salle, Colombia
Language teaching has gone from a linguistic centered approach towards a lingo-cultural experience
in which learning a language goes hand in hand with the understanding of not only the target culture,
but the learner’s own culture. This paper attempts to describe and reflect upon a collaborative and
dialogical experience carried out between two teachers of the Languages Program of Universidad de
la Salle, in Bogotá. The bilateral enrichment of such a pedagogical experience helped the teachers to
improve their language teaching contexts and prompted the construction of a theoretical proposal to
enhance intercultural awareness. It also opened the way for the development of critical intercultural
competence in fl (foreign language) learners.
Key words: Interculturality, critical intercultural awareness, critical intercultural competence,

dialogical process
La enseñanza de lengua ha pasado de un enfoque centrado en lo lingüístico hacia uno linguo-

cultural, en el que el aprendizaje de una lengua va de la mano del entendimiento no sólo de la cultura
objetivo, sino también de la propia cultura. Este artículo intenta describir y reflexionar alrededor
de una experiencia colaborativa y dialógica que se realizó entre dos profesores del Programa de
Lenguas de la Universidad de La Salle, en Bogotá. El enriquecimiento recíproco de esta experiencia
pedagógica, permitió mejorar los contextos de enseñanza y la construcción de una propuesta teórica
para promover la conciencia intercultural. También abrió las puertas para desarrollar competencia
crítica intercultural en estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera.
Palabras clave: Interculturalidad, conciencia crítica intercultural, competencia crítica intercultural,

proceso dialógico
* E-mail: [email protected]
** E-mail: [email protected]
Address: Universidad de La Salle Carrera 5 No. 59A-44- Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras. Bogotá, Colombia.
This article was received on February 23, 2009 and accepted on July 10, 2009.
PROFILE Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 151-170 151
Álvarez Valencia & Bonilla Medina
[…] We are irreducibly unique and different, Pretceille, 2001; Moran, 2001). In teaching and
and that I could have been you, you could have learning a language, interdisciplinarity becomes
been me, given different circumstances -in other more evident when someone approaches a
words, that the stranger, as Kristeva says, is in us language in its contexts of cultural realization. As
(Kramsch, 1996, p. 3). Peterson & Coltrane (2003) highlight, students
cannot really master the language until they have
also mastered the cultural contexts in which the
language exists.
Being aware of the importance of culture in
Introduction foreign language teaching-learning became our
motor to engage in a collaborative and dialogical
One of the major concerns of the Language process. This explains why the concept of
Department of Universidad de la Salle is the collaborative teaching achieves relevance in this
emphasis in a more salient way of cultural aspects experience. In what follows, we relate the experience
as a cornerstone in the learning of a foreign and achievements of this collaborative work. Later,
language. It is well understood that language and we present a theoretical proposal that fosters the
culture cannot be analyzed in isolation (Cortazzi approximation of culture in EFL teaching from an
& Jin, 1999; González, 1990; Hinkel, 2005, 1999; intercultural perspective. Finally, in the conclusions,
Peterson & Coltrane, 2003; Nieto, 2002; Stern, we reflect upon the importance of teachers’ col-
1992). Several actions have been taken in order to laboration in order to face the challenges that
set the context for this endeavor to happen. The educational processes are posing such as the role of
Language Department in its areas of Spanish, culture teaching in learning a language.
French and English has developed the Cultural
Literacy Project (CLP) whose aim is for teachers and Dialog and Collaboration
students to build intercultural awareness through a as a Route for Teachers'
critical stance towards all manifestations of culture. Professional Development
The CLP has engaged the Lasallian community in
different tasks and activities such as a Reading At the beginning of the second semester of
Plan, different academic events such as the Faculty 2007, we were assigned to teach two different
Week, the Cultural Thursdays, the celebration of subjects. One of us was given the class “Cultural
the Day of Languages, among others. In the same Awareness”, whereas the other was in charge of
way, teachers in every one of the subjects taught in “Mastering English Language Skills”1. The first
the different abovementioned areas have devised course focused on the study of culture and the
and developed classroom-based projects that are second on language skills. At the beginning, we
centered on some cultural matter. did not set out to engage in any collaboration to
The endeavor undertaken by the Department undertake our pedagogical task; nonetheless, in an
has shown that culture and its teaching imply informal way we started sharing our views and the
understanding and awareness of multiple axes. It is
1 The students that made up part of the experience were in
the interrelation of different axes that grounds the seventh semester of the Language Program at Universidad de la Salle.
interdisciplinarity of the study of culture (Abdallah- It was a mixed gender group of students whose ages ranged from 21 to
28 years old.
152 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras
Addressing Culture in the EFL Classroom: A Dialogic Proposal
daily experiences we were going through in our the source for us to develop our collaborative
classes. Little by little, we introduced changes in and dialogical engagement. To achieve the task
our teaching situations on the basis of the regular proposed, we describe some of the activities
discussions about how culture may be tackled. We developed in our classes and use samples taken
started doing some readings and sharing them from students’ written production in order to
in order to enrich our conceptualizations and to exemplify the achievements of our work.
make better informed decisions.
It was only at the end of the academic semester Addressing Culture in the efl
that we rationalized that we had been engaged Classroom: The Experience in
in a collaborative process and that it could lead Cultural Awareness
us to articulate a final product. Edge (1992) calls
cooperative development to the process we The following is the description of the
unconsciously carried out. This author points out experience that was carried out in the course
that there are two different levels in which teaching “Cultural Awareness”. It was a class introduced
can be a growing professional experience. One goes recently in the Language Program at La Salle
from an individual reflection from daily practice University. The general intention of the institution
and the other from the supervision and insight of in proposing this class was to increase students’
members of the institution where teachers develop awareness of the aspects of culture when learning
their teaching activity. Nevertheless, when these a foreign language. The class also aimed at
levels are restricted, teaching development could studying general cultural features of English
be better enhanced through dialog, discussion, and speaking countries as a main goal to be achieved
cooperation with others. The collegiate interaction throughout the course. However, describing a
between teachers usually helps professional culture from an observer position was a superficial
practice development in two ways: First, it goes job which did not account for the complexity of
beyond egocentric subjectivity to cause teachers the role of language educators who are studying
to be clear in their own experiences and opinions. to be teachers. Byram & Risager (1999) state that
Second, it does not leave that responsibility to teachers act as mediators between cultures. This
the administrative staff since “when professional involves the responsibility to help learners to
development push comes to administrative shove, understand other peoples and their cultures. Thus,
it is the professional items which tend to disappear based on the discussions we held on our focus
off the end of the staff-meeting agenda” (Nunan & on interculturality, we agreed that, as mediators
Lamb, 1996, p. 55). between cultures, we needed to foster in our
Within the development of this cooperative students a critical approach to culture. From our
task, we engage in what Kim, Chin & Goodman viewpoint, students should take a critical position
(2004) call informal critical dialogs, which helped which could not only be based on the judgments
us to achieve understanding of several issues. As about the target culture but also on the analyses
a result, we built a proposal, initially theoretical, and understanding of their own culture.
and systematized some of our discussions and A major complexity in discussions of culture is
reflections. The next section concentrates on the that people hardly ever have the chance to examine
description of the two classes that constituted the influence of their own cultural background as
regards their behavior (Brislin, 1993). Similarly, popular culture asserts that it is “a set of generally
Lado (1998) refers to culture as “the ways of a available artifacts: films, records, clothes, TV
people” and in connection to people’s attitudes programmes, modes of transport, etc. or a list of
towards culture, he explains that “…more often behaviors and products that are part of the identity
than not the ways of a people are praised by that of a group of people”. Some students considered
same people while looked upon with suspicion or culture to be related to intellectual growth, mainly
disapproval by the others, and often in both cases the works and practices of intellectual and special
with surprisingly little understanding of what artistic activity (Storey, 1996). They also placed
those ways really are and mean” (p. 52). special attention on the fact that culture and
By reading Brislin & Lado’s definitions as well as language are extremely related and it is difficult
Abdallah-Pretceille (2001), Byram (2000), Cortazzi to determine whether culture defines language or
& Jin (1999), Hinkel (2005), Kramsch (2001; 1998; language defines culture since there are arguments
1993), and Paige et al. (2008), we can infer the on both sides. In this regard, we agree with Moran
necessity of an intercultural approach to cultural (2001), who suggests that language is the means
practices. In the context of language teaching, to manipulate or use varied cultural products or
teachers should enhance the development of it is also the tool to nominate and understand the
cultural awareness in order to promote intercultural perceptions, values, attitudes, and beliefs that rule
speakers. In this regard, Kramsch (2002) clarifies ways of life. For this reason, in this stage students
that an intercultural speaker is a tolerant and open- analyzed samples of interaction in the target
minded person who is able to interact with other language and inquired about ideologies involved
cultures taking into account cultural differences. in the performance of those behaviors and how, as
Inspired by the different readings we had discussed, members of a community, they could contribute to
we agreed that a good exercise to reach the goal of the development of cultural artifacts.
promoting intercultural speakers was to propose In addition, the students were able to recognize
tasks through which students questioned their the fact that language in contemporary multicultural
impressions about other cultures and examined communities fosters the transformation of new
how cultural representations were partly the generations as well as their perceptions of the
product of their own native culture. This is how world. Pavlenko & Blackedge (2004, p. 2) connect
we decided that the class of “Cultural Awareness” their argument to this idea by asserting that “the
should base its development on a three-stage shifts and fluctuations in languages available to
structure to be worked out along the semester. individuals have become particularly visible in the
In the first stage we aimed to recognize light of recent sociopolitical and socioeconomic
the students’ understanding of culture and the trends: globalization, consumerism, explosion
elements that underlay those conceptualizations. of media technologies, and the postcolonial and
This stage included activities of retrospection post Communist search for national identities”.
and analyses of their own life experiences as well Globalization and media have produced new
as readings that guided them to reflect on those ways for people to learn about other cultures and
issues. In general, the students showed their simultaneously build or strengthen stereotypes
understanding of culture resembling Hebdige’s and prejudices (Brown, 2000). The students
(cited in Strinati, 1995, p. 15), whose definition of realized that stereotypes and prejudices can model
one’s understanding of a culture and are crucial Although this is called the third stage, it is
for making sense of one’s own beliefs before important to clarify that it was developed all along
attempting to evaluate and understand others’ the academic semester; therefore, it overlapped
behaviors and views. Finally, students discussed with the previous stages. It was carried out in
the idea that being an intercultural speaker is a three steps in which the first started as a project
privilege, in agreement with the perspectives posed proposal followed by an preliminary report in the
by Kramsch (2002), in which she acknowledges second step and, as a final step, students handing
the advantages of having access to cultures from in a paper and sharing the outcomes with the class.
an intercultural stance. The project could be developed about the culture
In the second stage students were more and cultural element that students preferred to
concentrated on the features of culture that could analyze. It was mandatory to show evidence of the
be observed in communicative interactions in analysis done and connections with theoretical
different cultures and the way these interactions support.
could be compared. Elements such as nonverbal Students’ proposals were the beginning of
communication, personal relationships, family an analysis to figure out their interests in aspects
values, educational attitudes, work values, time of their own culture since ninety percent of the
and space patterns and cultural conflicts, among topics were chosen on issues about their cultural
others, were the focus of discussion and reflection milieu. For instance, students decided to work on
(Levine & Aldeman, 1982). Broadly speaking, vegetarian culture, lesbian culture, body-building,
students studied the way in which these elements urban cultures, regional culture (Caribbean
were represented by each culture (some English coast) which dealt with the Colombian context.
speaking countries and Colombia in particular), They were also attracted by the comprehension
the importance people grant to them and how the of connections among cultures; for example, the
elements could be tackled from the perspective idealisms as regards foreign cultures of Colombian
of a competent intercultural subject (Rowena & students at university. Students presented a
Furuto, 2001). particular interest for collecting information on
The last stage was probably the most important how the individuals in those cultures thought,
for this experience because students manifested how ideologies were visualized in their actions
more clearly their perception of intercultural and how they, as foreign people, were perceived by
competence. This stage consisted of students’ others. Overall, most of the projects attempted to
development of a final project where they had to identify ideologies evident on specific behavior or
select an aspect of culture which they considered cultural representation observed in each culture or
worthy to work on because it was controversial, it subculture.
was related to a personal conflict, or it generated In the second step of this last stage, students
general interest. The origin of students’ inquiries showed their advances of their proposals. They
was the result of classroom discussions on topics presented a more structured idea of what they
linked to the culture of English speaking countries wanted to do and most of them showed, as a
and the comparison of those cultures with the tendency, a general concern for working on the
Colombian culture. stereotypes they had about subcultures. Students
realized these subcultures were at times rejected
or even neglected because their members behaved which tolerance appears as a central element. This
or thought differently from the standard behavior inference is sustained in two ways: First, because of
recognized and accepted by the community. An the attitude students had of trying to understand
example of this was the significance given by a the skinheads’ subculture, and second, because to
group to the different youth subcultures which some extent in their paper they advocate for more
are judged as violent or even asocial only because tolerance and respect for this cultural group, as
they dress differently or listen to a different kind shown in this excerpt: “[…]people speak of them
of music. Students reported that a single event can without knowing information about them and
label a group of individuals and cause negative without respect and tolerance…”
effects. They wrote in their proposal paper2: Another project that caught our attention
This project is done on based on the past situation in which intended to inquire about vegetarians. The group
a young boy was killed when he was in his way out of a little working on this topic tried to scope the reactions
concert... This boy got into a fight with… Skinheads…and the vegetarian people have about non-vegetarian food
boy died because of this attack. This generated a big controversy in social meetings; students wrote:
and prejudices and stereotypes about the skinhead boys. They This research project is made in order to understand what is the
are seen now as dangerous people, armed people with bad vegetarian culture, which are their beliefs, but it is most focused
intentions, criminals…They are generalized as threats but it in understand which is the common behavior of that people
is important to know that skinheads are not the way people when they have to confront the meat in a social meeting, or the
think …without knowing information about them and without comments of the others according to their believes .
respect and tolerance…
The students’ proposal shows that they
In this excerpt, we can see that the students’ were aware of the importance of understanding
project was useful as an excuse to develop a other people’s cultural patterns, in this case,
general understanding of an event that happened vegetarians. Notice here that students use the
in their surroundings. The students shared some word “understand”, a term that is significant
time with a group of skinheads and tried to delve when we refer to interculturality. In this project,
into their life experiences to be able to understand vegetarians constituted the target to observe
the reasons for their actions and to help other and understand in connection to the way they
people understand them as well. Consequently, behaved in environments where they interacted
students reached the conclusion that people’s with non-vegetarians. Thus, students wrote: “[…]
attitudes toward subcultures like skinheads mostly It is most focused in understand which is the
came from generalization: “They are generalized as common behavior of that people when they have
threats”, that created “prejudices and stereotypes”. to confront the meat in a social meeting”. Students
Through their study they intended to contribute to also intended to explore vegetarians’ beliefs and
the skinheads’ integration in society as common others’ opinions which, in essence, could visualize
members that comprise part of it. Finally, it is prejudices about this group. Broadly speaking,
important to notice that students’ reflections students did not only center on understanding this
indicate a level of intercultural awareness in subculture from the outsider perspective but from
2 The excerpts that will be presented along this document an insider perspective. This explains why they
were not edited by the authors and thus may contain some grammar consider it paramount to know their beliefs.
mistakes.
Another work that is worthy of mention there is a sense of interculturality in the way
is the one a student developed on the body- students are reading their environment and
building culture. He was 22 and liked practicing cultural subjects embedded in the foreign and
body building. He tried to show the influence native cultures. That is why students admit that
of American fashion by analyzing the different “we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to know
strategies for such a practice. Additionally, he the cultures and people as actually they are…”
established a comparison between the cultural Generally speaking, this experience, along with the
practices regarding this topic in Colombia and the majority of the projects students developed, was
USA specifically. He wanted to explore ideological a way for them to know more about themselves
issues around body building regarding health, (notice the use of “we” in the above samples) and
economic and cultural constructs. This case is a to question their stereotypes and imaginaries. It
key example of how the students started to acquire can be said that by looking at the Other from an
a critical position to question their own choice intercultural perspective, they were able to see and
for living. Even if this young man was a fan of inquire about themselves.
this sportive practice, he considered it crucial to Another example as regards reflection on
be aware of the reasons people choose it. Through stereotypes and cultural understanding was a
his practice of this sport, he thought that the group which was interested in lesbian culture.
American culture had certain influence on people’s They wanted to examine the way heterosexual
choice and he decided to uncover the positive or people perceive this subculture and the kinds of
negative elements underling this influence. All in stereotypes and prejudices attached to homosexual
all, this project evidences that being critical about practices. They said:
the influences that lead us to make choices for When people talk about lesbian culture think that this “kind” of
our cultural practices was another form to build women is very different than another people, and they are a lot
interculturality. of prejudices and stereotypes about these women, but it is very
In general, students felt they could observe interesting to see that lesbianism is not an illness.
other people’s behaviors to understand how the
others’ imaginaries affected people’s ways or At this stage, these students had realized that
choices for life. They thought that through the although we are supposed to be in a more open-
understanding of cultural practices, they could to-diversity epoch, many of these prejudices
also be able to see themselves in the eyes of others. and stereotypes keep these cultures in a hidden
In this account, one of the students wrote in one space (lesbianism as an illness). Additionally,
of the projects: students became conscious through their study
Our reality always has been from the exterior, from we observe, that stereotypes increase differences among
we leave ourselves to go for the decisions of others, we have people (this “kind” of women is very different
created a world and without stopping to see with depth, certainly than another people); they concluded that
we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to know the cultures and dissimilarities obeyed the imaginaries created by
people as actually they are. people. Although imaginaries are not founded
on clear criteria, they can constitute a reason to
These comments as well as the reflections detach people from cultural interaction. These
developed in their project enable one to see that worries coming from students reflected how they
were increasing their level of tolerance in their In the case of the group that worked with the
actions and how this phenomenon was linking lesbian culture, they pointed out that people need
them to a more intercultural perspective vis-a-vis to open their minds to new subcultures that are
culture learning. They refused to act by following emerging nowadays. Based on a multicultural
everybody’s patterns of rejecting the group of view (Pavlenko & Blackedge, 2004), the students
lesbian subculture and decided to explicate how reported that “people should not talk about men
prejudices determine limitations in interactions and women but about humans who have no sex
with groups like the one under study. difference or tendency”. This exploration ended
In the last step of the development of the up with students advising people on the ways
project, students presented the results coming subcultures can be seen; this advice is expressed
from the analysis of the data they had collected. through the words “people should”. For these
The students found that stereotypes and prejudices students, eliminating the dichotomy men and
are common factors that play a role and model women might help societies adopt a more tolerant
the different interactions and behaviors between perspective in which all of us are humans with no
members of different cultures. The concept of gender differences. This consideration shows not
modeling is relevant when we look at intercultural only the level of tolerance they developed but also
connections. This is well exemplified when we their worry about getting other people conscious of
think of body building practices. For instance, the intercultural skills to approach other cultures which
student that worked on this topic found that most are usually neglected, like the lesbian subculture.
of the subjects that are part of these routines follow We concluded that these projects were very
the general tendency of American people who want helpful for the students to become aware of the
to show themselves in “better fit” and they follow importance of cultural awareness and intercul-
strict American recipes or behaviors presented turality in the study of a foreign language. They
on TV or in well known magazines. He brought found more explicit relations between language
into being that these “bodybuilding practitioners and culture. The analysis of interactions between
take medicines to increase their muscles and Spanish speakers and English speakers aided stu-
pay huge amounts of money to do so”. However, dents in identifying aspects that connect culture
“they do not consider these practices wrong but to language; for instance, roles of speakers, space
necessary because famous artists also apply these management, registers, styles and language vari-
strategies to look well”. The conclusions drawn ety. As a result, students viewed that reflecting and
from this study helped this student understand studying their native language and a foreign one
that the invitation to follow famous models was are catalysts to understanding their own realities
a commercial strategy coming from American as well as others’ realities and cosmovisions. They
advertising that attracted people to consume and also conceptualized that trying to understand an-
become addicted to the gadgets, medicines or any other culture implies a stripping of prejudices built
product associated with this sport. At this point, up by the society in which they are immersed.
it can be concluded that this ethnographic task They could examine negative and positive stereo-
helped the student to discover that some cultural types which can make people approach or reject a
practices are related to socio-economic issues. culture. Finally, the condition of the postmodern
epoch implies being open not only to understand
the others’ cultures and our own, but also the different cultures, values assigned to certain be-
changing realities that directly impact worldwide haviors or life attitudes, among others.
cultures and subcultures. Coming from the collegial dialog established
between us, and after consulting on it with
The Experience in Mastering students, we all agreed that the final assignment
English Language Skills for the writing process would be an opinion essay
on one of the books students were reading for the
The experience in this class varied in that, class: A Room with a View (Forster, 2003). Through
unlike “cultural awareness”, this one focused on this task, they were supposed to join concepts
the development of language skills (listening, and reflections studied in both subjects in order
speaking, writing, etc.) rather than the explicit to choose, describe, analyze and give arguments
study of culture. However, we accepted the to understand any cultural issue identified in the
premise that “language and culture are inexorably literary text.
intertwined” (Gladstone, 1980, p. 19) and that it is The task proved to be successful. Students
one of the major ways in which culture manifests showed that new perspectives to approximate
itself (Kramsch, 1993; Hinkel, 1999; Nieto, 2002; culture were permeating their personal views.
Peterson & Coltrane, 2003, Stern, 1983, 1992). Due Going beyond the traditional inmanentist or
to the differences between the two courses we biographical approach to addressing literature,
were teaching, the first one more content oriented they drew upon a sociocultural view (Eagleton,
whereas the other more language oriented, we 1983) which presented a broader perspective and
agreed that for the class -“Mastering English allowed for better understanding of cultural texts.
Language Skills”- there should be a language- For instance, some students analyzed the role
as-culture approach as a way to go beyond the of women in the socio-cultural context of the
traditional language-and-culture or culture-in- XX century. One student says: “The Room With
language approach (Kramsch, 1996). a View story is not far from the reality of many
The textbook provided for this subject served women at the… beginning of the XX century
the approach that was adopted because of its cul- when they were repressed by society”. Through
tural orientation. Movies, comics, documentaries, this sample, it is noticed that the student is making
music, literature and other materials would always connections with the concept of interculturality
set the context to reflect upon cultural issues linked in which cultural patterns (women’s repression),
to linguistic contents. Intercultural awareness was views, events or behaviors should be seen and
enhanced through discussion of the cultural di- analyzed as social practices which are located in
versity which is evidenced when two languages are specific historical moments and settings. This
rethought in their contexts of realization. Students contention is strengthened by another student who
interweaved the reflections they were making in asserts that to understand Lucy Honeychurch’s
their “Cultural Awareness” class and the tasks they character, it was necessary to bear in mind that
were carrying out in “Mastering Language Skills”. “the values, the beliefs, customs, politics, religions,
These connections were evidenced in the discus- ideologies, language, etc. are important elements
sions that were held in class about lifestyles in that determine culture”. In the same vein another
student writes: First I am going to emphasize the
English woman during that era: …women still process of acclimation to the new culture as Lucy
had very few rights and a different conception and Charlotte depict it in the story.
in 1900,… they stayed at home to take care of Traces of the understanding of intercultural
children…” Notice that the analytical perspective awareness and intercultural competence can
of these students implies an intercultural view in be identified in students’ papers; for instance,
which any interpretation of a culture should come one student in relation to Lucy Honeychurch’s
from the study of the internal dynamics (Geertz, experience wrote:
1973) of that culture in all dimensions, “values, […] when we arrive to a new country, it is common to find
the beliefs, customs, politics, religions, ideologies, difficulties relating to believes, habits, attitudes and behaviors,
language”, as stated by the student. in conclusion the cultural differences…However to learn about
Some other students related the story portrayed cultural differences is an essential culturally competent attitude
in the piece of literature to current dynamics where we could appreciate and respect a cultural diversity…it is
of societies; for instance, one of them asserts: important to know the other worldview.
“Nowadays, the prejudices about the different
social classes and the lifestyles don’t let society This excerpt reveals that in order to approxi-
notice the reality”. This excerpt shows the students’ mate another culture it is essential to acknowledge
understanding of the negative role of prejudices the Otherness (it is important to know the other
in current societies. Besides indicating his worldview); in other words, the understanding of
understanding and interest in this phenomenon, the existence of diversity and a respect for it. We
the student’s discourse implies a direct connection think the student points at two main concepts that
with the topics discussed in the class of Cultural are at the core when one talks about intercultural
Awareness. In this regard, we can cite one student awareness and intercultural competence: the com-
that addressed the concepts of cultural shock prehension of my “Myness” and the “Otherness”
and components of culture: In the book A Room and the assumption that interculturality has to do
with a View, Lucy Honeychurch visits Italy, where with an attitude that permits one to “appreciate
she meets different kinds of people. They have a and respect a cultural diversity”.
different culture. Lucy and her cousin Charlotte Showing examples of all the different ways in
Bartlett have to get accustomed to a new life; the which students in this class connected knowledge
food, clothes, houses, people, etc. are different. acquired in both subjects goes beyond the
They enjoy it but they are sad because they possibilities of this document. Nevertheless, the
remember the city and its customs”. Although this samples presented and the different discussions
student does not thoroughly discuss her statement, held in class allow one to see that students were
she is aware that the new cultural features of transcending from descriptive to a hermeneutic
another country (food, clothes, etc.) can cause way of reading a cultural text such as a novel.
cultural shock which can be experienced through The experience described only represents a
feelings like sadness. There is an understanding first attempt to make culture meet ends with
that cultural shock happens due to a new cultural language teaching. The idea of introducing the
experience and is intensified by the background concepts of interculturality and intercultural
of one’s homeland culture. Despite this fact, the awareness emerged along the dialogic process
student acknowledges that there needs to be a we experienced. Nevertheless, it was still a timid
approximation which needs to be strengthened geography, celebrations and so on. Culture was also
in future experiences. Furthermore, we are addressed on the basis of the observable behavior,
aware that a more critical stance is required as beliefs, values and attitudes of people. Some other
a basic condition to foster the critical subjects authors considered it as the social heredity of a
that education advocates. This last contention group of people or as communication.
led us to think, initially, of a theoretical proposal In order to go beyond the limited notion
which focused on the development of critical of culture, we see in France in 1975 that a new
intercultural competence in our teaching context. perspective to understanding culture appeared.
The next section presents the description of such a It is how the term “intercultural” started being
theoretical proposal. used to refer to social and educational actions that
dealt with immigration affairs. Soon the concept
A Framework impacted the foreign or second language teaching
to Understanding curriculum. The intercultural approach advocates
the Development a new way to conceptualize culture, the subjects,
of Intercultural Competence the context and interaction. It has given birth
to other concepts such as cultural awareness,
The conceptualization we display here emerges intercultural communication and intercultural
from the dialogic process we undertook and the competence. Next we intend to address some of
multiple readings that have enriched our construc- these concepts as a manner to locate our proposal
tion. Through this section, we intend to outline rather than with the aim of reviewing the myriad
our understanding of some paramount concepts of definitions appointed to them.
and introduce a theoretical model that might en-
lighten ways to approach culture in the foreign The Stance of Interculturalism
language classroom in order for our students to as the Recognition of Myness
achieve critical intercultural competence. and Otherness
The concern in regard to the relevance of
culture in the ELT profession is relatively new. Before tackling interculturality, it is paramount
According to González (1990) and Ommagio to locate our comprehension of culture. It is now
(1986), the issue of seriously infusing cultural goals clear that culture is not a monologic phenomenon
into the curriculum dates back to the 1970s. Several due to the fact that its reading requires the
perspectives were advocated in order to “learn” the conjunction, interrelatedness and interaction of
culture of the target language, for instance Brislin several disciplines, as we have stated above. It is
(1993), Cortazzi & Jin (1999), González (1990), not a monolithic or a static phenomenon; on the
Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey (1988), Kramsch contrary, dynamism is one of its main features.
(1996), Lustig & Koester (1999), Moran, (2001), In view of this, culture is a sphere of knowledge
and Ommagio (1986) pinpoint that in many (Ramírez, 2007) in which the frameworks of
cases the core was the study of cultural products: assumptions, ideas and beliefs that can be used
literary works or works of art. Another perspective to interpret people’s actions, patterns of thinking
addressed culture as the acquisition of background and human artifacts (art, literature, etc.) lie at
information: factual information about history or the core. This sphere allows us to know and
comprehend the world and is usually more

linked to the concept of inheritance; hence, it is
daily updated in another sphere of knowledge:
society. Culture and society overlap and engage in
tension themselves while at the same time strike
another sphere of knowledge –the individual, the
socio-cultural subject. Individuals are in between
and are pulled by the strings of these two forces.
In short, the sphere of culture is in constant
Figure 3. An intercultural view of culture
updating and struggling in the context of societies;
societal dynamics are constantly challenging The view of culture in language teaching
cultural knowledge, reshaping or making up new from an intercultural perspective supposes a
understandings. Individuals rely on these spheres progression from monological to dialogical views
to build themselves as social and cultural subjects; to understanding culture. These monological views
however, simultaneously they will use these materialize in two ways. The first one approaches
spheres to constitute the sphere of the subject, the the target culture from ethnocentric inspection in
sphere of the Myness. which the culture of the language learner is at the core
to interpret and describe the host culture (Brislin,
1993; Oliveras, 2000, see Figure 1). The second
approach, in contrast, shows that in some stages
of foreign language learning, the language learner
adopts to a certain extent the ways of thinking and
the behavioral patterns of the target culture and uses
these to judge and think of his/her natal culture (See
Figure 2); s/he intends to “unanchor” aspects of his/
her culture of origin3. Such a situation often carries
implications to the way learners assumed their
Figure 1. An ethnocentric view of culture linguistic and cultural identity. We must remember
that people’s cultural identity is based on the
relation between an individual, society and culture
(Damen, 1987; Hinkel, 2005; Lustig & Koester,
1999), and implies that dilemmas of identity will
not only impact the way an individual sees his/her
own culture and society but the way s/he perceives
himself/herself. As we have seen, the monological
3 This phenomenon only constitutes a phase in language and

Figure 2. An unanchored view of culture culture learning since identity is not fixed but on the contrary is “a
contingent process involving dialectic relations between learners and
the various worlds and experiences they inhabit and which act on
them.” (Ricento, 2005, p. 895). Consequently, it is possible that new
re-articulations of learners’ identities happen through linguistic and
cultural contact (Holliday, 1994; Kramsch, 1993).
views presented a biased and fragmented reading of psychology (representations and categorizations),
the cultures in interplay; it is due to this reading that linguistics, sociolinguistics (ethnography) and
an intercultural perspective attempts to encounter cultural studies, among others (Abdallah-Pretceil-
both ways of approaching culture (See Figure 3). le, 2001; Byram, 2000; Moran, 2001).
One of the main elements that articulate the Bearing in mind that culture is inescapably
concept of interculturality in language teaching permeated by relations of power and politics
relies on the fact “that many aspects of second and (Byram & Feng, 2005; Kramsch, 2001, 1998, 1996;
foreign language learning are affected by the in- Storey, 1996), we assume that besides approaching
terpretative principles and paradigms in learners’ culture from an intercultural stance, its study can
natal culture” (Hinkel, 2005, p. 6). Consequently be enriched if a critical perspective is adopted.
the understandings, conceptualizations and con- A critical intercultural view will draw upon an
structs of the target culture are fundamentally af- analysis of cultural texts4 as a way to uncover
fected by students’ culturally defined worldviews, ideologies which allow discussion and study
beliefs, assumptions and presuppositions. This of discursive formations (Storey, 1993). These
suggests the need for a perspective that accounts discursive formations will emerge from the
not only for what the other culture and its cultural scrutiny of the discourses that lies beneath the
subjects are, that is the Otherness, but also who I cultures that engage in interaction, the subjects
am as a cultural subject; in other words, my My- and the wider society; that is to say, it will be seen
ness. In this sense, the prefix inter has to do with how the spheres of knowledge come into play in
the way the Other is seen and I see myself; it refers specific and situated contexts.
to the establishment of an interaction among so- A critical intercultural approach will aim to
cial groups, individuals and identities (Abdallah- develop critical intercultural awareness. Usually
Pretceille, 2001; Byram, 2000; Porto, 2000). In cultural awareness is defined as the ability of
light of this, the concept of interaction becomes interlocutors to acknowledge and understand
relevant under the intercultural approach since the differences between their schemata (patterns
the emphasis will be given to the encounter of cul- of thinking, behaviors, beliefs, assumptions, etc.)
tures, subjects, systems of thought, social practices and the schemata of the foreign interlocutors
and the conditions of possibility (Foucault, 1984) (Brislin, 1993; Byram, 2000; Cortazzy & Jin, 1999;
that configure these interactions. Damen, 1987; Porto, 2000). In light of a critical
The dialogic dynamic between identity and perspective, the use of the concept of difference
Otherness helps visualize the sphere of culture in would be replaced by diversity. More than seeing
relation to society and the subject. The interaction the Others from the stance of the difference, we
among these three spheres calls upon different should start to see the Myness and the Other’s
disciplines to explain the concept of intercultur- essence and features as the product of the diversity
ality. Although these interdisciplinary relations that is inherent in human beings. Awareness has
go beyond the scope of this paper, it is necessary to do with the acknowledgment, tolerance and
to mention that the intercultural approach bor- acceptance of that diversity and the ability to reflect
rows constructs from disciplines like philosophy and evaluate it critically. It will let the individual
(phenomenology), sociology (comprehensive so- 4 In our stance, text is understood as anything that can be
ciology and interactionism), anthropology, social read; thus, an artifact like a painting, a social practice or an oral utter-
ance will make a cultural text.
explore, question, examine and strengthen his/ We consider that the field of language teaching
her cultural identity rather than undermining the should ultimately aim to achieve a competent
importance of his language, culture and so on in intercultural subject who transcends the simplistic
front of another culture. Moreover, an individual description and naïve interpretation of the Other
will be open-minded to read other cultures and culture; instead, s/he will move toward a critical
speakers of other languages in order to make sense approximation to it. Byram (1995, in Oliveras,
of their diversity and particular identities. 2000) states that intercultural competence should
A critical intercultural approach will not only embed savoir-etre, meaning a change of attitude.
ensure the development of critical intercultural Savoirs, ability to acquire new concepts, and
awareness but also intercultural communication5 savoir-faire which refers to the activity of learning
competence. Notice that the first term establishes through experience. In the framework of a critical
the view which will be the lenses to approximate a perspective, learners’ change of attitude would be
phenomenon: culture. The second term indicates bi-directional, in the sense of assuming new views
an attitude towards that phenomenon. The last in front of his/her own culture and the target one;
term is located in the dimension of action; that is namely, a comprehensive, informed and critical
to say, how a speaker can interact in any context as attitude. This would lead to critical intercultural
an intercultural subject in order to create shared awareness.
meanings (Lustig & Koester, 1999). This will The learning of intercultural competence
represent the materialization of interculturality and has been researched and experimented through
intercultural awareness in a discursive situation. different models. Oliveras (2000) discusses two
Clearly, to successfully accomplish the conditions of the most predominant models to intercultural
for intercultural communication, interlocutors teaching, to wit: The Social Skills Approach and the
will need to be acquainted with the formal aspects Holistic Approach. The former sees intercultural
of language (phonology, phonetics, syntax, etc.) competence as the ability to behave properly in
and put into practice sociolinguistic, discursive an intercultural encounter. The speaker must
and strategic competences (Canale & Swain, 1996a, simulate the social skills native speakers show as
b; Oliveras, 2000; Savignon, 1997). As a whole, a representatives of any given culture. The latter
critical intercultural approach aims to have two defines intercultural competence as an attitude
outcomes: the first to enhance critical intercultural towards the other(s) culture. In general this
awareness and the second to develop intercultural approach takes into account issues such as the
communication competence. These two outcomes role of personality and identity. Through this
will fundamentally give rise to a broader concept: competence the individual can stabilize his/her
critical intercultural competence6. own identity during intercultural exchanges. The
development of empathy constitutes another
aspect that will permit understanding, tolerance
5 Damen (1987, p. 23) reviewing Rich & Owaga, (1982) reports and respect for different cultural views.
that “the field of intercultural communication has been identified by
many names: cross-cultural communication, transcultural communi- Although we agree with the standpoint
cation, interracial communication, international communication, or presented by Oliveras (2000), we consider that
even contracultural communication.”
6 Other authors have proposed a similar approach to culture the critical perspective needs to take explicit
in EFL teaching that has been defined as “critical cross-cultural lit- part in the study, teaching and learning of any
eracy” (See Kramsch, 1996).
culture. Researchers such as Byram & Feng Kramsch, 1996, 1993; Pennycook, 2002; Storey,
(2005); Fairclough (1995, 1989); Kramsch (1996, 1996, 1993; Strinati, 1995; Van Dijk, 2000a; 2000b).
1993); Mejía (2006); Nieto (2002), and Pennycook So far, we have described and conceptualized
(2002) sustain that foreign language teaching the fundamental axes that structure our
needs to place emphasis on critical understanding proposal to tackle culture in FL teaching. This
of current thought in both the linguistic and conceptualization and the theoretical framework
socio-cultural sciences. Besides the affective, that has been depicted constitute a blueprint of
cognitive and communicative component, it is an approach to a line of inquiry that has emerged
necessary to talk about a critical component to from the process of a collaborative and dialogical
define intercultural competence. The link between interaction we established in the context of our
language study and critical cultural analysis needs classes. In this last part, we would like to make
to be articulated in order to encourage students a direct link to the innovative teaching practice
to assume a critical understanding of the socio- that gave birth to this theoretical model. We will
cultural phenomena. To achieve this, it is essential use the connections made to summarize what
to bear in mind that any cultural text or artifact has been discussed along this section through a
is made up of discourses which are underpinned figure which locates and puts into interaction the
by ideologies which materialize forces of power different components of the framework proposed:
and control (Fairclough, 1995, 1989; Fowler, 1983;
Figure 4. A framework for critical intercultural competence
The development of the classes and our the comparative study done by the student who
discussions helped us start shaping the idea that concentrated on the body building cultural prac-
an individual is immersed in different spheres tice, in Colombia and the USA. His reflections
(See Figure 4). Along with students, we discussed pointed out that economical and social imaginaries
that humans moved among spheres of cultural around physical appearance are the main agenda
knowledge, society, and interactions with other in the North American body building practices. Fi-
subjects. In their projects and the analysis of a nally, the student calls attention to the fact that the
literary work, students admitted that subjects North American body building cultural practices
are both the product and producers of culture have been adopted as a model in Colombia.
and society. Their exploration of lesbian groups, Based on students’ reflections and analyses,
vegetarians, or the role of women in Edwardian we concluded that the outcome (See Figure 4) of
English society and culture of the XX century, a critical intercultural stance should be the de-
placed the individual at the core of any cultural and velopment of critical intercultural awareness and,
societal phenomenon. For instance, one student in at the same time, intercultural communication.
his essay discusses the several internal tensions This is what we observed in the view students had
that Lucy Honeychurch -the main character of the of their own culture and the foreign one. By inter-
novel A Room with a View- faces when cultural acting with different subcultures (lesbian, body-
traditions and social dynamics force her to acquire builders, etc.), students achieved awareness that
the traditional role women were granted at the allowed them to evaluate a cultural practice from
time. The student writes: “In a room with a view inside and outside. They needed to make use of
the Lucy’s character felt offended by the way intercultural communication skills in order to
that society treat …women were educated to be get by in different communicative situations. The
housewives and to take care of her husband and various explorations of cultural practices were
children, if they wanted to be someone different the context for them to build up critical intercul-
they will be judged by society”. This example tural competence.
emphasizes that the cultural and social patterns As we have exemplified in the description of
are in interaction and act upon individuals, the two courses we taught, the most important
usually engaging into frictions and struggle; this gains of the intervention were that students con-
conclusion is strengthened with the next excerpt: structed a sense of interculturality and intercul-
“Lucy…fights against her family and friends to tural awareness in order to approximate not only
obtain her woman’s rights, to be free and acquire the foreign but their native culture. Thus we have
the independence to be what she wanted”. presented the conclusions obtained in each peda-
Throughout this innovative teaching contribu- gogical experience and we have connected the
tion, we realized that it was necessary to establish achievements that proved to be similar after ana-
a stance (See Figure 4) that would constitute the lyzing students’ productions from each class.
lenses through which we approached the spheres
of knowledge. As stated above, we assumed a criti- Conclusion
cal intercultural view. This is the perspective under
which most students’ projects were developed. One One of the main reflections pointed out
example to illustrate this assertion is portrayed in through this experience is that collegial dialog
is an important source of teachers’ professional teachers change –they become mediators in the
development. Teachers should be aware that exchange of cultures. We believe that this role is
practical experiences coming from their colleagues not difficult to play if teachers are open to dialogue
constitute a resource for their personal and and to encountering new perspectives. We hope
professional growth. Although at the beginning our collaborative and dialogic experience might
we did not set out to embark on any collaborative constitute a source for teachers to generate new
and cooperative task, the dynamics of our dialogic dynamics of interaction in which the discussion
process prompted the decision that this experience of interculturality in language teaching plays a
needed to be systematized and shared with the central role.
academic community. Our experience reveals
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About the Authors

José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia holds a Master’s in Applied Linguistics to tefl and is a candidate
for the Master’s in Hispanic Linguistics at Instituto Caro y Cuervo. He is a full time professor in the
School of Languages at Universidad de La Salle and works part time at Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, in Bogotá. He is an active member of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Colombiana
de Profesores de Inglés (asocopi).
Sandra Ximena Bonilla Medina holds a Master’s in Applied Linguistics to tefl from Universidad
Distrital. She is a full time professor in the School of Languages at Universidad de La Salle and works
part time at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.

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Addressing Culture in the efl Classroom: A Dialogic Proposal

El abordaje de la cultura en la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera: una

José Aldemar Álvarez Valencia*1

Key words: Interculturality, critical intercultural awareness, critical intercultural competence,

La enseñanza de lengua ha pasado de un enfoque centrado en lo lingüístico hacia uno linguo-

Palabras clave: Interculturalidad, conciencia crítica intercultural, competencia crítica intercultural,

comprehend the world and is usually more

3 This phenomenon only constitutes a phase in language and

Figure 4. A framework for critical intercultural competence

About the Authors

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