Bücher der Reihe Intercultural Studies and Foreign Language Learning

Learning a foreign language in its cultural context has an effect on the subjective mind, ranging from the unsettling to the inspirational. This volume explores the subjective dimension of intercultural language learning, including both theoretical considerations and empirical studies and providing stimulating insights into this important topic.

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.

A collection of essays can be situated in a development that has been underway in translation studies since the early 1990s, namely the increasing focus on translators themselves: translators as embodied agents, not as instruments or conduits. It deals with different kinds of emotion and different levels of the translation process.

The status of Hong Kong English has been an increasing concern among the local population. Despite prolific research into attitudes towards language variation within the field of sociolinguistics in general, very few studies have focused on the Hong Kong context. Previous research has demonstrated that native English speakers tend to evaluate Standard English varieties highly as far as status is concerned, while non-standard varieties are evaluated highly in terms of solidarity. There is still, however, a noticeable lack of information about the attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese people to different English varieties and, particularly, about their attitudes to the local non-standard variety. This richly detailed case study sets out to investigate the attitudes of Hong Kong university students to eight varieties of English speech. It employs a range of direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement in order to obtain in-depth information about the students' perceptions. The book also discusses the important pedagogical implications of the choice of linguistic model in English language teaching, both within the Hong Kong population and among other Chinese communities.

To what extent is philosophy reliant on translation and how does this practice impact on philosophy itself? How should philosophical texts be translated? Is translation inherently philosophical? Can philosophy be described as a 'type of translation'? In this book, the essays seek to respond to these intriguing and provocative questions.

This book demonstrates that culture and language are closely intertwined and argues that they need to be taught simultaneously from the very beginning of acquiring a second language. In the first part of the book, the author explores the close links between language and culture through looking at concepts such as ethnosyntax and gendered language. The discussion continues by examining the relationship of biculturalism and bilingualism, and the effects each can have on the other. This leads into an exploration of interculturalism and the idea of a third culture or interculture. The second half of the book demonstrates how culture and language are linked to cognition by looking at cognitive processing, emotions, and motivation in second language acquisition. This discussion illuminates some of the ways in which culture can influence the learning of a second language, and also provides fascinating insights into how culture and language affect memory and its role in the learning process.

Many universities have adopted criticality as a general aim of higher education, in order to meet the demands of an increasingly globalised world. But what is criticality, and how does it develop in practice? This book explores the concept in detail and considers how it can be systematically developed in practical ways through foreign language education. Taking a practice-first rather than a theory-first approach, the book presents two case studies based on action research in order to investigate criticality development through foreign language education. One study was conducted in beginner level Japanese language classes at a British university by a Japanese teacher-researcher, and the other was conducted in upper-intermediate English language classes at a Japanese university by a British teacher-researcher. The two studies illuminate the complex experiences of students and teachers as criticality starts to develop in both planned and unplanned ways, from beginner-level to more advanced levels of foreign language learning. The authors also suggest a range of practical teaching approaches which can be used to develop criticality through targeted instruction.

'Internationalisation' is a key issue within Higher Education, but what exactly is meant by this term and how can universities meet the challenges involved? This book explores how language teaching and learning strategies and cross-cultural understanding can support the cause of internationalisation within modern Higher Education.

Language learning materials development remains an under-supported aspect of language teaching. This book constitutes a resource in the area, aiming to support and advance the craft of materials design. It offers a snapshot of the influences on language learning materials development from diverse perspectives around the globe.

Presents a range of theoretical and practical approaches to the teaching of twin professions of interpreting and translating, covering a variety of language pairs. In this book, various aspects of training process are addressed - from detailed word-level processing to student concerns with their careers.

English is growing rapidly within, and spreading across, an increasing number of societal domains in contemporary Europe. This book brings together contributions on multiple European countries and regions to present a snapshot of the current relationship between multilingualism and English and explores the challenges generated by this situation.

This book examines the struggles encountered by multilingual scholars pursuing careers within global academia, particularly in Spain and Latin American countries. These writers face the disadvantage of having to read and write in a language other than their own. The traditional model of Anglophone universities under which academics have to «publish or perish» has ensured that English is an indicator of excellence in knowledge construction. Given this linguistic inequality, it is important that scholars from non-Anglophone countries are empowered in their efforts to publish in English in international journals, so that new knowledge can be brought to the fore.By highlighting the dominant English medium conventions, this book provides such scholars with valuable support in ensuring that their research is publishable. It explores the different ways of structuring languages and illuminates the complexities of writing an academic text in a second language. The central message of the book is that the voices of multilingual scholars can make unique and substantial contributions to the reform, expansion, democratization and enrichment of English-dominated academia.

A distinguishing feature of Quebec French is the varied set of swearwords inspired by Catholicism (les sacres) that are used in conversation. These terms are approached here from an interactionist viewpoint in order to be able to establish a comparison between their functions and those of Maltese swearwords in linguistic interaction.

The contributions contained in this book examine the concept of 'intercultural competence' from the perspective of analysing theoretical challenges and practical issues.

This book presents the findings of a qualitative research study on the views of language students and critically analyses the speculative components of intercultural communicative competence regarding their feasibility in the study abroad context.

This book brings together 18 theoretical and empirical chapters that analyse the role of emotion (expression, perception, processing) and identity (notions and representations, construction, conflict) in the process of learning a second language. Studies on the differences in emotionality between L1 and L2 suggest that in L2 there is an alteration that, in many cases, manifests itself as a decrease in the affective load, which can lead to a certain indifference to the emotional content transmitted and to a lesser involvement in communication. It is also known that emotion plays a fundamental role in the construction of identity in a second language in the shaping of the self that feels and communicates and in the ability to cope with the learning process.Most of the studies have focused on the understanding of these issues in balanced bilingual speakers, but there is little evidence on their functioning in speakers with other degrees of proficiency (the case of second language learners) and on their role in the learning process. Better understanding this question is fundamental for the improvement of everything related to second language acquisition. We need new and innovative approaches that lead to more effective programs, increased interest in language learning and the consolidation of multilingual societies.