Theo Harden – författare

This book examines the concept of «intercultural competence» from the perspective of analysing theoretical challenges and practical issues. Despite its ongoing popularity across various discourses, «intercultural competence» has remained a necessarily vague and oscillating concept that lends itself to continual rethinking and redefinition. The essays in this volume approach the complexity of the concept from a number of different angles. The essays range from theoretical considerations of redefining and expanding the concept in terms of hitherto neglected dimensions and ideas; critically contextualising issues of assessing intercultural competence; analysing the virtual dimension of intercultural competence for the development of critical digital pedagogies; application of the concept for the teaching and learning of foreign/second languages, including for migrant learners; the impact of study abroad on developing intercultural and democratic literacy; analysis of the concept in classroom practice across different cultures; and querying the concept for its lack of teachability. The volume develops a broad range of new perspectives on intercultural competence, providing stimulating new ideas, considerations and reflections around this oscillating, yet relevant concept.

This book explores the idea of ‘intercultural competence’, which, despite its current popularity across various discourses, has remained a vague and oscillating concept. Interculture lacks a universal definition and ‘competence’ is not only a cognitive construct but also includes psychological traits such as attitudes, affective aspects and constructions of identity. The essays in this volume approach the complexity of the concept from a number of different angles. These include theoretical models for defining the concept of ‘intercultural competence’, outlining paths for future research; application of the concept in the teaching and learning of foreign languages, cultures and literatures; exploration of institutional and sociocultural influences on mediating intercultural competence; and analysis of the concept’s impact on such diverse contexts as international business, religious constructs and notions of selfhood and identity. The volume develops a broad range of perspectives on intercultural competence, providing stimulating new ideas, reflections and models around this important concept.

Die vorliegende Einfuehrung besteht aus 16 Einheiten, die alle so konzipiert sind, dass sie auch unabhaengig voneinander gelesen werden koennen. Jedes Kapitel fuehrt in einen bestimmten Bereich der Linguistik ein: in Semantik, Sprachgeschichte, Spracherwerb, mentales Lexikon, Pragmatik, Dialektologie, Phonetik, usw. Als Ausgangspunkt und Kapitelueberschrift dienen dabei beispielsweise Fragen wie Koennen Woerter muede machen? (Semantik), Gibt es Sprachen ohne Grammatik? (Syntax), Was ist Deutsch eigentlich fuer eine Sprache? (Sprachgeschichte) oder Wo sind die Woerter im Kopf und wie greift man auf sie zu?, die zugleich das Konzept dieses Buches illustrieren: Die wichtigsten linguistischen Themenkomplexe und Grundlagen sollen nicht nur in leicht zugaenglicher und gut verstaendlicher Form vermittelt werden, sondern es soll auch Neugier auf die Fragen geweckt werden, um die es jeweils geht. Vorkenntnisse werden dabei bewusst nicht vorausgesetzt. Da eine Einfuehrung naturgemaess nur jeweils einen begrenzten Einblick in ein Themengebiet geben kann, werden am Ende jeder Einheit stets auch Literaturtipps zur weitergehenden und vertieften Beschaeftigung mit dem behandelten Thema gegeben.

Learning a foreign language in its cultural context has a significant effect on the subjective mind, ranging from the unsettling to the inspirational. The complex interplay between native and foreign languages, their cultural conceptualisations and discourses and the mind and body of the learner results in the subjective construction of individual positionings located «in between» the languages and cultures involved. These processes are not restricted to the cognitive level of learning but also involve deep-seated habits, values and beliefs. These habits, values and beliefs are to a certain extent the result of subjective experiences and feelings; however, they are also embedded in a socio-cultural network of concepts, norms, traditions and life-worlds, so that they are characterised both by the learner’s subjectivity and by the sociality and (inter-)culturality of their environment. The essays in this volume explore the subjective dimension of intercultural language learning, ranging from theoretical considerations to empirical studies and providing stimulating insights into this important area of study.

The articles in this volume are the proceedings of a conference on ‘Translation in Second Language Teaching and Learning’ that took place at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, in March 2008. The papers delivered at the conference, the subsequent discussions in Maynooth and the articles in this volume have clearly demonstrated that, after some decades of marginalising or even excluding translation from second/foreign language methodologies and classroom practices, the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of the benefits translation can bring to the process of learning a second language and its cultural context. Translation exercises are interpreted as processes of negotiation, as constitutive acts for identities and (inter-)actions, based on increasingly emerging ‘third spaces’ between the dominant conceptualisations, values, norms, beliefs, rules, traditions and discourses of the languages and cultures involved. The enterprise of translating between languages, cultures, individuals, societies and discourses thus assumes a central place of relevance for anyone involved in the complex project of interculturality, including, and foremost, foreign language learners.