In today's highly globalised and connected world, cross-cultural communications and interactions have increased exponentially. At the same time, historical and geopolitical developments such as the creation and expansion of the European Union and mass migrations have made societies more multicultural. These developments have made intercultural competence, plurilingualism and pluriculturalism important attributes and educational goals for peoples of today. Foreign language education provides a key means of cultivating and developing these attributes. The exposure to new languages and cultures mediates the construction of new cultural meanings as well as reflections of one's own cultural framework and self (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). Research has argued that such mediation processes can, in turn, lead to the transformation of one's identity (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and its re-construction through the assimilation of new values and practices (Chan & Klayklueng, 2018).
This presentation reports on qualitative research that collected and analysed reflective journal and interview data from participants of in-country language immersion programmes in France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The findings indicate that exposure to and interactions with the target language cultures during the immersions can promote a greater awareness, the critical re-examination and re-construction of one's identity, and the development of a stronger pluricultural consciousness. To conclude the presentation, implications for practical practices and future research will be discussed.
References:
Chan, W. M., & Klayklueng, S. (2018). Critical cultural awareness and identity development: Insights from a short-term Thai language immersion. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 15(Suppl. 1), 129–147.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Liddicoat, A. J., & Scarino, A. (2013). Intercultural language teaching and learning. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
