Where is Culture?: Intercultural Communication and Teaching Chinese as a Second Language

This course examines various discourses about culture in the research literature of Second Language Acquisition and investigates pedagogical approaches to culture instruction in the field of foreign language education. The course seeks answers to the following questions: What is culture in the context of language education? What are different discourses of culture in the field of foreign language education? How is culture understood by language educators? How can culture instruction be integrated with language instruction? How can teachers help language learners develop intercultural communicative competence? What factors cause cultural misunderstanding? What is the Third Space in foreign language pedagogy? Through assigned readings, lectures, discussions, and student-led presentations, students will gain a better understanding of the evolution of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) as a theoretical construct and pedagogical practice in the field. After taking this course, students will be able to 1) critically analyze the presentation of culture in a few leading textbook series in the field of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language; 2) design curriculums and classroom activities from the beginning to the advanced level that will help language learners develop intercultural communicative competence. Requirements include active class participation, presentations, and a final project. All class readings are in either Chinese or English. Taught in Chinese.