Integrating Intercultural Learning in English for Specific Academic Purposes (original) (raw)

2017, Practices in Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning

This chapter describes the application of an integrated approach to teaching foreign languages and intercultural competence to English for Specific Academic Purposes. The chapter summarizes how aspects of intercultural learning were integrated in an English for Tourism Studies course offered within the framework of a Bachelor’s Degree program in Tourism, Sport, and Event Management at a trilingual university in northern Italy. After an overview of the most common approaches, models, and methods used to teach culture and intercultural competence in foreign language education in Europe and North America, the chapter discusses the reasons these tend to be ineffective in this unique learning context: namely due to their separate treatment of language and culture, which would require the reallocation of scarce instructional hours from language learning to intercultural learning. The chapter then briefly summarizes a fully integrated model of teaching language, culture, and communication as a more viable alternative. The chapter concludes with a description of a sample lesson as a demonstration of how intercultural learning was integrated without losing focus on learning specific language features, discourse patterns, and communication skills, which are necessary in all ESAP contexts. Keywords: English for Specific (Academic) Purposes; English for Tourism (Studies); Integrated/Integrative Approaches to Language and Culture; Intercultural Competence; Intercultural Education