Publication Date

2005

Abstract

This project investigates methods for building intercultural communication through an effective learning community. Understanding culture (which may refer to nationality or certain aspects of an individual’s personality) is necessary for intercultural communication. My concept of culture in this project includes an individual’s personality. I am concerned with the idea that culture can be learned and taught in traditional ways. While I was doing my teaching internship at the Riverside Language Program, where some of the teachers employ the Community Language Learning (CLL) teaching approach, I learned that it is possible to facilitate intercultural communication for students, and that culture can be learned and taught through classroom experiences. The CLL approach is based on community building, which requires that students interact with each other cooperatively. In the process, students develop intercultural communication through their interactions. In this project I research community building activities in theory and practice. I describe two community building activities undertaken in a Middle School program and report on students’ responses to the activities. I examine how such activities make learning effective and inspire students to intercultural communication.

Disciplines

Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education

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