Teaching Intercultural Competence in Secondary Schools

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Wuppertal (Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Cultural Studies on a Shoestring, language: English, abstract: Due to its importance in foreign language learning in German schools the subject of English carries the main responsibility to develop the students' competence for intercultural communication (cf. Göbel/Hesse). Accordingly, the KMK classifies intercultural learning as a key element of English language teaching and includes intercultural competence in the educational standards for grades 9 and 10 (cf. KMK 2003 & KMK 2004). Intercultural competence is described as contextual socio-cultural knowledge, the ability to deal with cultural difference sympathetically and the ability to master situations of intercultural contact (cf. KMK 2003: 8; cf. KMK 2004: 8). Including the cognitive and the affective level as well as the level of action alike, this description reflects the complexity of intercultural competence. The affective as well as the level of action are of particular importance if the teaching of culture is to be more than the teaching of facts as it was practised by the Landeskunde approach (cf. Nünning/Nünning). New approaches for an action- and product-oriented teaching of English are supported by empirical studies about intercultural sensitivity, which stress the relevance of emotions in situations of intercultural contact (cf. Göbel/Hesse). However, an analysis of the curricula of the German states shows that the main focus is on objectives of the cognitive dimension whereas learning aims of the affective level and the level of action are included less often (cf. ibid.). Moreover, many curricula lack information about which contents to use for teaching general aims like empathy, overcoming ethnocentrism and respect for cultural differences (cf. ibid.). Hence, the curricula are not sufficient for arranging a successful teaching of culture. The aim of this paper is therefore to obtain a more precise image of intercultural competence that illustrates the importance of all three dimensions involved. For this purpose, Byram's comprehensive model of intercultural communicative competence will be presented in the first part as it reflects the complexity of intercultural competence through the interdependence of the different factors. On the basis of Byram's model and the demands of the curriculum of North Rhine-Westphalia, the second part will develop suggestions for how to teach intercultural competence at school, considering all three dimensions of intercultural competence.