22 the culture that pupils/teachers belong to. However, on the other hand, this dimension also involves leaning new cultural pieces of information, attitudes or skills, and to implement them in the intercultural interaction (Byram, 1997). This dimension is an essential in terms of the competences that a FL teacher need to gain since it sets its foundations in attitudinal aspect of the teachers involved in the intercultural
communication teaching-learning process.
3.3. GUIDELINES FOR AN EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE TEACHING IN THE FOREING LANGUAGE LESSON
FL teachers should focus on language teaching from a cultural point of view. This aspect is important in order to improve the student’s cultural sensitivity, cultural
acceptance, the understanding of cultural differences, and finally to enhance the correct use of language and culturally support this capacity (Kun, 2013). Additionally, the following guidelines described below emerged from the eagerness of assisting the FL teachers and educators, when teaching ICC efficiently in the FL classroom. Moreover, the already mentioned guidelines were collected and reviewed from a great variety of academic resources. Those resources consulted with the main aim of implicating teachers in designing meaningful lessons where the ICC could have a room in the development of the FL teaching and learning process.
1. FL teachers should encourage the students to talk about its home culture in order to be conscious about their own cultural traditions and background. Therefore, by using the English language to describe the learner’s own cultural identity and homeland, the learners’ ability to use English to talk about their motherland and culture will be emphasized. Finally, the learners will enhance their ability to see oneself as a part of a larger community, to contrast different alien cultures and to developing awareness of their own cultural identity (Nikolov, Mihaljevic,
Mattheoudakis, Lundberg & Flanagan, 2007).
2. FL teachers should design meaningful activities addressed to improve the
appreciation of the similarities and differences in between the home culture of the students and the culture of the community or countries where the target language is spoken (Corbett, 2003). For instance, information gap activities which may
involve the exchange of knowledge between partners or the members of the team
if cooperative learning strategies are implemented (e.g. jigsaw reading and listening). Some other activities involving the transfer of information (e.g. from visual images to verbal descriptions) and finally, some involving the expression of differing personal opinions (e.g. ranking exercises).
3. Language teachers need to introduce students to the language’s cultural
background. The language’s background knowledge is an important part of the linguistic culture, so called cultural origins (Kun, 2013). Ergo, popular festivities or celebrations such as Halloween, Saint Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, the 4th of July or Christmas among others commemorations, are to be included taking into consideration the target language taught in the FL classroom. In this particular case, the English Language and the Anglo-Saxon countries.
4. FL teachers should promote the implementation of face to face interviews with their pupils and with pupils from other cultures or nationalities, trying to conduct a small-scale ethnographic classroom cultural research. In addition, this fact involves the formulation of questions and it will therefore practice the use of the grammatical structures learnt. With respect to the school resources, it could be developed throughout role plays if the staff cannot count with electronic devices or students from other nationalities who work with. By doing these kind of activities, children will get to know different greetings, body language and English accents among other aspects (Corbett, 2003).
5. The FL classroom aims to provide cultural experiences for the pupils, for that reason, the FL teachers should use authentic teaching materials and cultural artefacts to plan their culture-oriented tasks and activities. Therefore, by using videos, authentic illustrations, photos, children’s books, games, rhymes, fairy tales, stories and songs their intercultural communication skills will be
encouraged (Malkina, 2009). By manipulating this kind of realia, the pupil is able to discover a new cultural reality.
24 4. CHILDREN AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNERS
The aim of this chapter is to define the processes that are being developed in the FL acquisition among the Primary Education Level students in Finland and Spain. In addition, as it has been claimed by numerous scholars, the academic education and training of the FL teachers is a fundamental issue in the linguistic context across Europe (Nikolov, Mihaljevic, Mattheoudakis, Lundberg & Flanagan, 2007). As a consequence, the European Union called for further responses with the main purpose of enhancing the proficiency of the productive and receptive basic linguistic skills of the early language and Primary education pupils (European Commission/Eurostat/EACEA/Eurydice, 2012).
To continue with, the language that children natively learn into their families allow them to forge an identity. Actually, that identity is considered to be as a strong relationship in between the language and the sense of belonging to a national group or national identity. Accordingly, language is a quite versatile concept since not only does it contribute to the communicative aspect but it also has been often said to be the
defining attribute of the Homo sapiens development (Meadows, 1993). Nevertheless, the native language or mother tongue acquisition, involves a cognitive development in the child’s brain as well. As a consequence, the mother tongue and the FL follow different procedures in the acquisition process. Indeed, the first language (L1) is acquired since the learner acquires it through experience; whereas the FL is learnt considering that it is usually taught at the school in a formal learning environment (House & Seligson, 1997).
Therefore, the relevancy of the English language teaching and learning as a FL is an essential element in the Primary Education classrooms in the current worldwide society.
In addition, as Vygotsky claimed, “although biological factors constitute the necessary prerequisite for elementary processes to emerge, sociocultural factors in contrast, constitute the necessary condition for the elementary natural processes to develop.”
(Lantolf & Appel, 1994).
Furthermore, providing that the Primary school classrooms try to reproduce the exact conditions in which the L1 is acquired. The main aspect nowadays is to provide an unconscious acquisition of the FL rather than a conscious formal learning of the target language (Pavlovskaya, 1999). Therefore, as Stephen Krashen claimed in his book titled
“Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning”, the FL teaching
should be taught throughout a Natural Approach. A foreign language teaching
methodology described later in the present chapter. Similarly, the learning of a new language follows a different process not only from the acquisition of mother tongue of the students but also from the learning of a different field of study. Indeed, concerning languages, the involvement of the human being is total since it affects his culture and , as it is previously mentioned, his sense of belonging to a certain community
(Krakowski, 1961).
In addition, there are different ideas concerning the children’s FL acquisition which are considered to mention in the present chapter. Actually, children are assumed to learn foreign languages using primarily implicit mechanism. Contrarily, adults
initially rely on explicit learning mechanism (Lichtman, 2015). To develop this concept further, implicit language learning happens unintentionally and without being
conscious about it when the learner is exposed to the learning input. Ergo, these learning mechanisms are linked to acquisition processes. Contrarily, explicit learning takes place consciously and the learner is totally aware of the pieces of knowledge who is learning (Ellis, 2009). Therefore, as it is previously mentioned, there are FL
methodologies which support this condition in the FL teaching and learning. Indeed, most recent and further developments about the components regarding the linguistic theory in the L1 and the FL acquisition in the early language education have been focused on the basic level of the FL (Haznedar & Gavruseva, 2008). Since the earlier the exposure to the foreign language is, the better the acquisition will be developed.
Moreover, as a matter of fact, infants who are exposed to more than one language simultaneously as native ones, start to produce their own language. Often for fun, but usually they get engaged with the “code-switching” element. Defined as the alternation in the use of two or more languages in the same utterance or during the same
conversation (Dulm, 2007). As a consequence, children who are exposed to two or more different languages or those who are living in a bilingual environment can interchange words in the languages acquired, regardless their level of proficiency in each language.
Finally, the methods and approaches described in the following lines; as well as the comparisons made in between the Finnish and Spanish systems of education
26 regarding the linguistic aspect, are to aim the attention at the study. With the main purpose of clarifying the contents and theories contained in the chapter to the reader.
4.1. METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES TO TEACH FOREING LANGUAGES