Intercultural awareness

By Christian Tiplady (adapted by Sarah Howarth)

We live in one of the most multi-cultural cities on the planet and operate within one of the most multi-cultural work environments  within that city. For each of us living and working here therefore, it is important to consider our own cultural sensitivity.

As a language training provider, ultural sensitivity is particularly important matter. We believe that language and culture are inextricably linked. We understand that our ability to communicate with speakers of other languages is not based solely on the development of language (i.e. building vocabulary and mastering grammar). Key to this also is our understanding of the cultural beliefs, values, attitudes and expectations of our colleagues, stakeholders and business partners. This understanding is vital if we are to communicate in ways that are culturally sensitive and respectful, and will support relationship-building and effective collaboration.

We consider it our responsibility to actively celebrate diversity and promote intercultural awareness, and to support our teachers to do so in every language lesson they provide. In this blog post, we consider how we might examine our own world view and continuously improve our cultural awareness and sensitivity.

In particular, we believe that “Teachers need to carefully examine their world view to determine whether or not unintentional and subtle biases are promoted.” (Van Hook, 2000, p67). Of course, this is true for all of us, whatever our role in our organisation.

A little bit of theory …

It may be useful to look briefly at the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), created by Milton Bennett (1986), which has six stages that describe the increasingly complex cognitive structures used to view this diverse world: Denial, Defence, Minimisation, Acceptance, Adaptation, and Integration. The first three stages described are ‘ethnocentric’ (focused on one’s own culture)’; the second three described are ‘ethnorelative’. This word describes a person who is comfortable with many customs and cultures and who can adapt their behaviour and judgments to many settings. The theory is that as our experience of cultural difference becomes more sophisticated, our competence in intercultural relationships is strengthened. Here are the stages in the model:

• From denial to defence: we develop an awareness of differences between cultures.
• From defence to minimisation: negative judgements are depolarised, and we consider similarities between cultures.
• From minimisation to acceptance: we understand the importance of intercultural difference.
• From acceptance to adaptation: we explore and research into the other culture.
• From adaptation to integration: we develop empathy towards the other culture.

(Source: Adapted from: Wikipedia: The Bennett Scale)

Essentially, to move towards a more integrated stage of intercultural sensitivity, a developing awareness, understanding and empathy are necessary. Perhaps this wisdom is intuitive to many of us, but this model can nonetheless provide a useful framework.

How this development is achieved is not straightforward, yet develop we must, as we live in a diverse world where difference is to be celebrated and embraced. And no matter how sophisticated we may think our world view is, all of us benefit if each of us examines our own intercultural competence.

Learning from personal experiences

Some time ago, with what I thought at the time was good intention, I wished a group of Arabic teachers “Eid Mubarak” (or ‘I wish you a blessed Eid festival’). I subsequently became aware that this was not as culturally sensitive as I had imagined; it contained an implicit assumption on my part that all teachers of Arabic were celebrating Eid and therefore were Muslim. When someone pointed this out to me, it was a moment of revelation; how obvious this was in hindsight! With respect to the Developmental Model above, this ‘faux pas’ perhaps reflected my own desire to celebrate other cultures, and yet also an inbuilt tendency to minimise differences.

What did I learn from this? That however open-minded, tolerant and embracing of diversity we think we are, we each need to continue to be mindful in every moment in order to think, speak and act in ways which truly embrace diversity, tolerance and mutual respect. Essentially, we need to refine our critical cultural awareness.

Byram (1997) defines critical cultural awareness as, “An ability to evaluate critically… perspectives, practices and products in one’s own and other cultures and countries.” (p53).

There is probably no better place to start than examining our own attitudes and thought patterns. Here are some questions that may guide you:

• What is my definition of ‘diversity’?
• What national, cultural, linguistic or religious group(s) do I belong to? How do my teaching practices reflect this?
• What do I know about the cultural, linguistic, religious and educational backgrounds of my students and other staff?
• How could I learn more about the diversity of my students and colleagues?
• What are my perceptions/assumptions of students and colleagues from diverse cutlural groups? Or with language or dialects different from mine? Or with special needs or requirements?
• What are the sources of these perceptions (e.g. friends/relatives, media, sterotypes, past experiences)?
• How do I respond to my students and colleagues (emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally), based on these perceptions?
• What experiences do I have as a results of living, studying or working in culturally and linguistically diverse cultures? How can I capitalise on this experience?
• How can I adapt my teaching practices and ways of interacting at work to be more responsice to the unique needs of diverse groups?
• What other knowledge, skills and resources would help me to teach and interact from a more cutlurally inclusive perspective?

(Source: Adapted from: 10 Questions to Guide Self-Reflection: Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom – Griffith University)

These thoughts and questions are offered to inspire further reflection. Within our diverse environment we can surely all benefit from this reflection if it assists in developing our intercultural awareness and in fostering a harmonious teaching-learning environment where every aspect of diversity is not only tolerated, but positively valued and celebrated.

How can a teacher celebrate diversity and promote intercultural diversity in the classroom?

Here are a few general suggestions that can be adapted as appropriate:

Bring resources into the classroom that explore other cultures, values and mind sets. Encourage discussion from alternative perspectives in order to question and even challenge mainstream ‘accepted’ viewpoints. I remember once observing a lesson on ‘marriage’ (from a rather old-fashioned, traditional course book, with all the associated stereotypes you might imagine). One young adult student at least was marginalised by this lesson and did not participate throughout. How much more embracing of diversity would it have been if the teacher had encouraged the exploration of ‘relationships’ from a wider perspective and embraced this student into the lesson?

Bring aspects of your own background into the classroom – as a teacher you are a valuable and interesting resource. But do question your own ‘ethnocentricity’ and remember that you are one of many, and others will have different perceptions and norms. The overriding advice is to avoid expressing judgement and be open-minded.

Use activities to find out about and be inclusive of your students’ cultural, linguistic, religious and educational backgrounds. Personalise activities to your students. This needs to be done sensitively but this surely is part of being a teacher. (See examples of resources below e.g. Cultural Awareness by Tomalin B. and Stempleski S.).

Use reading and listening texts, discussions, questionnaires, role-plays, interview formats, research, project work, presentations and vlogs/blogs etc. as a vehicle to explore culture, similarities differences, and diversity.

For further information and ideas, you are encouraged to explore some of the resources below.

References and Further Resources:

Baker, W. (2012). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: Culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66 (1), 62-70. Link to Youtube

Bennett, M. J. (1986). A developmental approach to training intercultural sensitivity. In J. Martin (Guest Ed.), Special Issue on Intercultural Training, International Journal of Intercultural Relations. Vol. 10, No.2. 179-186.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Nugent, K. and Catalano, T. (2015). Critical cultural awareness in the foreign language classroom. Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education. 194. Link

Sampedro, R. and Hillyard, S. (2004). Global Issues. Oxford: OUP.

Tomalin B. and Stempleski S. (1994). Cultural Awareness. Oxford: OUP.

Tomlinson, B. (2013). Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London: Bloomsbury. See Chapter 22.

Van Hook, C. W. (2000). Preparing Teachers for the Diverse Classroom: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. Link

Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom – Griffith University – accessed July 2017

30 Ways to Become a Culturally Sensitive Educator – InformED – accessed July 2017

Cultural Awareness Training Exercise Pack – CultureWise – accessed July 2017

The Culturally Responsive Classroom – University of Texas – accessed July 2017

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy reading these pieces from our blog:

Learner-centred teaching

Task-based learning and teaching