Multicultural Methodologies in Second Language Acquisition: Integrating Global Responsibility, Peace Education and Cross-cultural Awareness.

Multicultural Methodologies in

Second Language Acquisition:

Integrating Global Responsibility, Peace Education and Cross-cultural Awareness.

 

Christopher E. Renner, AA, BA, DTEFLA

Lettori, University of Naples

Coordinator, Peace and Health Education Interest Section, TESOL-Italy

©1994

 

Abbreviations:

                In this article the following abbreviations will be used.  They are defined here:

                EFL - English as a Foreign Language.  English language courses taught in non-native speaking countries.

                ESL - English as a Second Language.  English language courses taught to non-native speakers in mother-tongue English countries.

                WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant

                L1- mother tongue

                L2- second language

                “standard” or “perceived” pronunciation - a standard used in many English language teaching materials.  The pronunciation is close to that heard in southeast England. It has been chosen by the British government as the “official” pronunciation of English. 

                Author’s Note:    While in this article the topic concerns the teaching of English as a Second/Foreign Language, the didactic approaches discussed can be applied to the teaching of any second language (French, Spanish, German, Japanese, etc.).  What I wish to bring forth is a discussion of the way in which this very important subject is taught and propose some considerations to pursue in the training of second language teachers, the development of teaching materials and the participation of the learner in the acquisition process.  While this subject is gaining interest in the linguistic community, it is my feeling that the broader peace education community can contribute to the reformation of second language acquisition as an international medium to promote peace and global responsibility.

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

 

                Language is a bridge to access knowledge, skills and attitudes within and across cultural/political boundaries.  In the past thirty years English has become the means of world communication.  As a result of these two realities, language learning has decisive qualities in opening or closing the doors of academic achievement and professional success in addition to securing international trade, economic development and world peace.

                The tremendous power English exerts today has not been without cost to a great number of other languages.  English has become the second language in Denmark and Sweden as well as Latin American, African and Asian countries, replacing German and French in the international scientific community, and erodes internal flexibility in many of its Indo-European cousins including Italian. 

                All this “English” should be positive, in that the world has not had a lingua franca  since the Roman Empire.  But much like Latin, English in its expansion across the world’s peoples has carried a heavy price in the destruction of native culture and languages.  It has often carried with it the imposition of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) values and mental attitudes.  When people of color took up the use of English, it often meant renouncing traditionally held beliefs which were considered inferior to the new dominate English-speaking class.  These new values were reinforced by the imposition of a “standard pronunciation” or “received pronunciation” regulations on the new non-native speakers.  Not conforming to these standards often carried the stigma of social non-acceptance on the part of the new ruling class.  Today it is disturbing that these same values are being re-imposed on native and non-native speakers as demonstrated by the British government’s decision to re-impose “standard pronunciation” rules in the British educational system..  In reality, “standard pronunciation” has its origins in a small cultural group of Southeast England and does not reflect the variety of pronunciations existing in the British Isles and North America.  Today we must begin viewing English for what it is: an international language.  A language which has its origins in a small island, but which has more than 1.5 billion speakers world wide whose culture and local languages enrich it.

                In this paper we will discuss the socio-political nature of language, the role of multicultural education in the curricula of English as a World Language, and present didactic approaches in teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language from a multicultural interdisciplinary scheme.

 

The Socialpolitical Nature of Language.

 

                Language is an important part of culture.  It is learned, shared, evolves and changes over time, just like culture.  Language is analyzed from many different points of view and at many different levels; from the creation of sound to word formation, sentence construction to physical gesture (Banks 1993).

                The communicative approach to language learning began a change in the teaching of languages which emphasises that language is something more than just rules, syntax and lexis.  It brought about seeing language as discourse in which notions and functions work together to create understanding between speakers.  But language is still something more.  Language is a powerful force giving individuals, groups, regions, and cultures their identity.  We share through language our values, attitudes, skills, dreams and objectives as bearers of culture and as indicators of future culture development.

                Once phonetics, syntax and lexis is learned the speaker has communicative competence.  This is what language teaching materials are designed to give language learners.  The vast majority succeed in their endeavor to supply the learner with the information needed; however, language has five culture-related domains (Ovando/Collier, 1985) which are culture bound and, thus, not always covered successfully.  This implies that the language instructor must fill the gap.

                These five areas illustrate the subtleties and cultural components of the language learning process.

                1.  Discourse.  How language is organized in active production (speech and writing) beyond the level of a simple sentence syntax. (Organization of ideas, logic, reasoning.)

                2.  Appropriateness.  The language used in accordance to the social situation. (Y’all come back.” vs. “I have greatly enjoyed our time together.  I hope we can see each other again soon.”)

                3.  Paralinguistic.  The use of gestures, facial expressions, closeness of speakers, volume and pitch of speech, intonation.

                4.  Pragmatics.  It brings together 1, 2 & 3.  It has to do with implicit cultural norms for determining when something is appropriate and when it is not.  For example: when to be direct or indirect in speech, how to take turns in conversation, how to listen, how to adapt language to social needs.

                5.  Cognitive - Academic Language Proficiency (CALP).  The mastering of the skills needed to learn and develop abstract thoughts in subjects like physics, mathematics, philosophy.

                As stated above, English is spoken by billions of people world wide.  But when opening a EFL/ESL textbook, whose culture is present?  Asian or African?  In all probability the culture content presented (people, houses, conversations style, idioms, etc.) are mainstream British or North American. Mainstream content means minority groups’ writers, heroes and thinkers are excluded from the content objectives.  If people of color or ethnic groups are shown, they conform completely to mainstream concepts as to what is, is not, culturally acceptable (a African millionaire, an Indian model, or a South American soccer player).  At issue here is: Who controls English?  For example, why are common North American verbal patterns not included in British-produced materials?  Or, why are common British differences not included in US-produced materials?  And why are textbooks produced with cassettes which are either or and never both?  Since the needs of non-native speakers are those of international communication, should they not be given the cultural ability to communicate using more than just one point of view?  We must also ask what our cultural intentions are.  Do we expect that non-native speakers adopt WASP cultural attitudes even in interactions with other non-native speakers?  It is my opinion that we native speakers must compromise and agree to opening our cultural limits.  We must expand our understanding of each other and broaden our own cultural boundaries to include those of the community of English-speaking people.

                Multicultural education seeks to promote equality across such variables as race, sex, ethnicity, nationality, social class, religion, age and impairments.  Language instructors have an important role to play in this process and the function  language plays in the educational/cultural fulfilment of individual language learners.

                Cummins (1981) refers to language learners ability to acquire language and understand the cultural dimensions (incomplete responses, non-verbal clues, etc.) as basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and suggests that non-English speakers can learn to communicate using these skills in 2 years of instruction in acquisition-rich ESL courses.

                Cummins also points out the advantage language learners have when exposed to a variety of native speakers.  Their flexibility in interpreting sounds is no longer based on a standard pattern, but on style groups.  The learners acquire BICS through their observation and interaction.  In turn, the exposure to native speakers serves as a platform in developing a self-concept in social relations with other speakers of English, native and non.  The acquisition of BICS by the language learner serves an important sociolinguistic function in that the learner is enabled to communicate across social/political/linguistic barriers.  However, the acquisition of BICS does not necessarily equip the learner with the cognitive skills needed to deal with more challenging realities (filling out tax forms, successfully completing a job interview, understanding housing contracts).  In these cases the language learner must be able to understand complicated thought processes and manipulate vocabulary, syntax and phonics with precision. (Ovando, 1983)  The learner has these skills in the L1, but is not encouraged to apply them in L2 because the content is focused on mainstream culture.  It is here that multicultural language teaching would reinforce critical thinking skills in both L1 and L2; by encouraging the learner to use the already existing skills in a multicultural rich curriculum, the learners CALP would increase in both languages.

                Language learners do not come to our lessons as a blank slate, but rather have a wealth of experiences and skills that can be tapped by the language instructor and drawn on to assist in the acquisition of the L2.  When the learner’s life experience is validated as having meaning, the second language takes on personal meaning.  No longer  are the learners forced to view just British or North American culture as meaningful in their L2, but through the exposure to a multicultural curriculum the learners see that they share many common experiences with other peoples throughout the world.  Cummins concludes by confirming that previously acquired knowledge and skills, which he refers to as common underlying proficiency (CUP), is automatically transferred to the new language.  Additionally, when learners are given the opportunity to use both L1 and L2 in their academic studies, they do not experience difficulty in developing L2 proficiency, a strong argument for further exploration of interdisciplinary language study.

 

Multicultural Education and Curriculum Development in Second Language Courses.

 

                The English speaking world is a tapestry of race, religion, ethnic and cultural groups.  But in most teaching materials, mainstream British or North American culture pervades throughout and those of non-WASP groups are often ignored.  The mainstream culture present in the curriculum is one of the major ways racism and ethnocentrism are reinforced and perpetrated in schools and in the larger society.

                Mainstream-centric curriculum is also negative in its consequences for mainstream students because it reinforces their false sense of superiority, gives them misleading concepts of their relationship with other racial and ethnic groups (“we’re right” or “might makes right” understanding present in racism and xenophobia) and denies the students the opportunity to have perspectives and reference frames that are gained through studying and experiencing other cultures and groups.  Mainstream culture content also denies students the possibility of seeing their culture studied from the points of view of those who have struggled for their right of self-determination and to preserve their cultural identity.  When learners are given the opportunity to see their culture from the point of view of another culture, they are able to understand their culture better and see how it interacts with cultures and what are its unique and distinct characteristics.

                The guiding theory behind most second language materials is to give the language learner the tools necessary to survive in a WASP culture.  This ideology is called assimilation (Banks,1988).  However, are the majority of L2 learners acquiring English to be accepted into mainstream culture?  Excluding the refugees and immigrants to North America, Australia and Great Britain, they are not.  The vast majority of L2 learners who flock to summer language study programs, private language schools and who study English in public school systems around the world do so out of a need to be able to use English as a means of communication.  The people who are in charge of the current world power structure believe that knowledge is power and any multicultural perspective on US or British culture would be a direct threat to their power structure since it would promote social change and reorganization as many falsities of mainstream culture would come under close scrutiny (the “discovery” of American, the “taming” of the West or Outback, etc.).

                It should also be pointed out that teaching Western ideals must be coupled with addressing the gap that exists between those ideals and the realities of racism, sexism, and discrimination.  Multiculturalists believe that in any educational program involving Western students, they should study a variety of other world cultures as they existed before the arrival of Europeans.  In doing so, students are shown that Western culture is very dependent on other cultures - from the mathematical concept of zero, having origins in India, to medical cures and aviation theories - for its advancement and its current standard of living as well as give a picture of pre-European cultures, values and social organization.

                Goodlad (1982), among others, has pointed out that the textbook is the main source of teaching in many subjects,  a horribly knowledge-limiting reality.  While many modern textbooks strive to give students at least a superficial knowledge base for understanding other cultures and peoples (from Western perspectives), the teacher will have to acquire an in-depth data base on the experience of ethnic cultures (reading native writers; visit cultures using non-western value standards (no programmed tours or five star hotels); have friends from other cultures; have a commitment to promoting cross-cultural understanding) because textbook information is not enough to offer a balanced study of the diversity of cultures who speak English.

 

         Approaches to Integrating Multicultural Content

 

                Banks (1993) discusses four basic approaches for integrating multicultural content into course syllabus:

                1.  The Contributions Approach focuses on heroes, holidays and other cultural elements like food, gift giving, fashion.

                2.  The Additive Approach adds cultural concepts (death, birth, social participation), themes (ecology, justice, economic development), and perspectives to the content of the curriculum without changing the overall structure of the program.

                3.  The Transformation Approach brings about structural and didactic changes, enabling the learners to view concepts, issues, events and themes from the perspective of diverse ethnic and cultural groups.

                4.  The Social Action Approach provides further changes in educational methodology with learners taking part in decision making on social issues and taking actions to help solve the problems.

                The Contributions Approach is the most often used approach and the easiest in adapting to the particular needs of instructor and students.  Information is added to the existing curriculum about some non-mainstream hero, Booker T. Washington, Gandhi, Chief Seattle, and cultural elements related to them, such as food, music and dances with little attention given to their meanings and importance to the ethnic community they belong to.

                It is important to point out that in this approach the curriculum does not change in its basic structure, goals, and mainstream characteristics.  Thus, individuals who challenged the dominate ideology or advocated radical social, political or economic change are generally avoided and the criteria used for selecting who is studied is dependent on mainstream culture and values.

                The cultural content studied in this approach will usually center around a specific holiday or date, i.e. Martin Luther King’s birthday, and apart from this specific period, little or no study will be devoted to the ethnic group.

                This approach supplies teachers with an easy mechanism for integrating content, and thus giving recognition to ethnic contributions in the WASP-dominated English speaking world.  It is also the quickest way to get ethnic content into the curriculum.  On the other hand, it has several limitations.

•       Students do not obtain a global view of the various non-mainstream groups and thus see ethnic issues as “in addition to” the main story of British or US culture.

•       It glosses over important concepts related to the oppression of native cultures by mainstream thinking.  Issues like racism are avoided; the Protestant work ethnic is reinforced over native traditions.

•       It focuses on success of people like Booker T. Washington or Jakie Robinson with little attention to the racism and barriers they had to overcome.

•       It trivialises ethnic culture and thus reinforces stereotypes and misconceptions.

•       It tends to focus on the lifestyle of the ethnic group rather than on the institutional structures of racism and discrimination which affect the life chances of the group.

                The Additive Approach.

                By adding content, cultural concepts and perspectives to the already existing curriculum, but not changing its overall goals and objectives, we have the Additive Approach.  For example, the students are studying the British literature (Franklin, Huber & Laurence 1992) of the 1600s and an exploration of the slave trade is added, or in studying 20th century writers, a James Baldwin story is added.  By doing something as simple as this, the instructor can put the language learners in touch with issues of multicultural importance without redesigning the whole program, a process which would require a great deal of effort on the part of the instructor.  It can be the first step in comprehensive curriculum reform and can give the instructor valuable experience in methods and learner impute.

                But as the name implies, adding a piece here and another piece there has the same draw backs as the contributions approach.  In particular, the viewing of the ethnic content most often comes from the perspective of mainstream culture.  The events, concepts and problems are selected using mainstream and Eurocentric criteria.  Thus, adding a unit on the slave trade could allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the topic, but in all probability it will be from the point of view of its economic benefit to Europe and not the destruction of African cultures, eradication of human dignity and the long term cultural degradation of a people.  Why?  Because people who write books are usually on the winning or controlling side of society and not the losers; those who were the victims of European expansion.

                By studying the conquerors and the conquered, we affirm a very important fact: the two’s histories and cultures are intrinsically connected and woven together.  Therefore white Europeans have to learn the culture of the peoples they conquered in order to fully understand their history and avoid repeating the same errors in the mobile world of today.  James Baldwin (1985) pointed out that by distorting history so that it is seen from only one point of view, in this case that of US whites, they do not learn the truth about their own history and the realization of the important economic contribution black people paid to US development in blood, sweat and tears.  The additive approach does not give learners the tools necessary to view society from diverse cultural and ethnic points of view which contribute to understanding the interconnectedness that exists between one culture and another.

                Finally, by tacking on “appendages” to the core curriculum instead of being integrated parts of the teaching objectives, students can experience difficulties because they lack the background, concepts and maturity needed for understanding the issues presented.  This can produce controversy between students, teacher and parents.  Since the students have neither the background or maturity needed to effectively face the emotional issues of human survival, the teacher, when using the additive approach, must plan the curriculum so that students slowly and progressively acquire the skills needed to understand and internalize the information presented.

                The Transformation Approach

                The transformation approach changes the way in which curriculum is presented, studied and examined.  Students are able to view concepts, issues and subject themes from several different points of view.  It is not possible to study every historical event or concept from every ethnic point of view conceivable, but what the transformative approach does is address the key curriculum.  By infusing various perspectives, points of reference and content sources from various ethnic groups with the content of mainstream culture, the students are given the opportunity to expand their understandings of the nature, development and complexity of Western civilization.  When students study the events of 1815 Europe, the contributions of North  American thinkers, African and Asia economic contributions, the effects of colonization, and the growth of the “Nation State” philosophies are all studied so that the students can see divergent points of view concerning the same topic.

                In language we need to prepare the learners for the rich diversity of accents and dialects present in both Great Britain and North America.  Not only do students need to study “standard” English, but need to be aware of the rich lexical and structural diversity each native English group holds.  Students learning English need to see that it is the lingua franca  of diverse ethnic groups which reflect the real ethnic make up of post-colonial Great Britain and the tapestry of races which have always made up the population of the US.

                When humanistic subjects are studied in connection to the second language the emphasis should not be on how the ethnic groups have been assimilated into the mainstream, but how the mainstream whole is a synthesis and interaction of various cultural elements which made up modern Anglo-Saxon culture. 

                Today WASP culture, while dominate in English speaking countries, is no longer “standard.”  By giving students the possibility of multiple acculturation, they come to understand that WASP culture  is only one part of the whole. Writers, inventors and heroes of color contribute to a holistic view of culture and language.  Thus, the L2 learner’s view of the English speaking world changes, giving her the possibility of understanding diversity as normal, not something to be feared.

 

The Social Action Approach.

 

                The social action approach includes all the elements of the transformational approach in addition to curriculum components which enable students to respond to issues or problems presented in the core curriculum.  The major goals of the instructor in using this approach is to give the students decision making skills and educate the students in social criticism and change.  Since the traditional goal of schooling is to socialize students so they accept the ideologies and institutions of the nation state, this approach helps students to become reflective social critics and skillful promoters of constructive social change (Newmann, 1968).

                The social action approach bases its curriculum on the students acquisition of knowledge, values, and skills they need to participate in society and social change so that immarginated members of society become fully integrated and active in helping society attain its democratic ideals.  To be instruments of social change, the teacher must “teach” less and “educate” more.  Students, in order to participate effectively in democratic social change need to be confronted by the inconsistencies existing between our ideal and social realities.  The work which must still be done to close the gap between ideals and realities, and how they, through social criticism, can influence and change the existing social/political system.

                Using this system the instructor must relinquish much of the control offered by traditional curriculum and become an agent of democratic values and empowerment.  Thus the course content will no long be about taking the metro in London, but will discuss the importance of using public transportation instead of private in an era when toxic pollutants are destroying our atmosphere.  Instead on presenting drunkenness as a normal habit of the Anglo-Saxon population, language study and lexis acquisition will reflect the broader topic of why and what can be done to change the social conditions which contribute to all forms of substance abuse. 

                In approaching language learning from this point of view, the instructor will not find a textbook ready for classroom use.  While there have been and are attempts to take language learning into this level, the publishers have been hesitant to endorse this premise and support material writers who are seeking to contribute to this approach.  Instructors will be able to find resources for this approach from UNESCO, Amnesty International, the War Resisters League, WWF, and other such organizations which are dedicated to educating for global responsibility.  These materials will have to be adapted for ESL/EFL purposes, however they offer the language learner content rich acquisition possibilities and imply the use of BICS and CALP in the learning process often ignored completely in existing course books.

                Teaching units organized using the social action approach have four components which need to be explored for effective application.

                1.  A decision problem or question.  For example, the instructor could propose to her students: “What can we do to understand better the immigrants arriving in our country and how we can reduce prejudice and discrimination in our school?”

                2.  An inquiry that provides data related to the decision problem.  Here students would use their skills to gather information about the topic including the causes of prejudice, immigration, as well as developing definitions for terms like discrimination and prejudice; i.e. Why are some immigrants not considered problems and other yes? The role of the language instructor is to provide resources needed for the students to do their research and give them the study skills need to successfully complete their tasks.  No longer in the teacher simply regurgitating a text, but is creating real learning possibilities for the students.

                3.  Value inquiry and moral analysis.  Here the instructor provides the learners with opportunities to reflect and clarify their values, attitudes, beliefs and emotional feelings concerning the topic.  Role-play and discussion activities which enable the students to experience feelings about prejudice and discrimination and then examine the feeling they experienced during the activity are very useful at this point in the learning process.

                4.  Decision making and social action.  Having acquired knowledge about the topic, now the students must synthesis that knowledge with the values they have explored in part 3.  Students are given the possibility of making decisions about what actions they can take as individuals and as a class to reduce prejudice towards immigrants.  They can develop a chart on which they list possible actions to take and their possible consequences.  After completing the chart, they can decide on a course of action to take and do it.

                In concluding our discussion about these approaches and their applications, I would like to point out that I do not use just one approach, but mix them and adapt them to my language learners needs.  Beginning level students would have difficulty with the complicated nature of the social action approach, but could easily be exposed to the contributions or additive approaches, and could also do a simple social action activity like writing a letter to voice their feeling concerning a topic.  I do not demand that they use exclusively English at this level, especially to express complicated thoughts.  I feel more learning can take place by listening to their ideas and then giving them the vocabulary needed to express what they have said in English than forcing them to feel frustrated because they do not have the lexis they need.  This obviously is applicable in courses where the students share a common L1.  When classes are made up of diverse language groups at low competency levels, my experience tells me to give them content-rich materials which aid them in their acquisition of L2 and build towards the social action approach.

 

Guidelines for Multicultural Language Learning.

 

                I would like to conclude this discussion of multicultural applications to language learning by suggesting some guidelines for teachers so that their efforts do not meet walls of frustration and resistance.

                1.  Teachers need to begin seeing themselves as educators and not someone doing a job.  The vocation of teacher, as explored in The Vocation of a Teacher  by Wayne C. Booth, has had a direct effect on how I see myself in the work of educating.  I encourage others to take a look at some of his points and stress the extremely important role we play in developing the leaders of tomorrow.  Whenever we observe racism, prejudice and hate, we must speak out against it.  This of course implies that we start taking time for our own study and reflection on our own opinions seeing where they need to be broadened;  what attitudes we hold that are based on racist stereotypes and falsehoods we were taught along our life journey. 

                2. The introduction of multicultural ideals in our language classes will be successful only if we first gather the knowledge and skills need.  Read at least one book that covers the topic of racism and explores the histories and cultures of ethnic groups.

                3.  Be aware of the language you use with your students and the racial attitudes it reflects.  This includes prejudice referrals about people from your own country as well.  Why are people in the south (of Italy, Germany, France, Spain, USA) always considered inferior to people from the north?

                4.  In your classroom, convey a positive image of all racial and ethnic groups.  Put up pictures of people of color or immigrants to your country.  Change your maps so they reflect real proportions (Arno Peters) and not the usual disproportional maps of big northern countries and small southern countries.

                5.  Choose wisely your teaching materials.  Set up for yourself some criteria as to what a textbook must have: people of color, cultural diversity, English as a World Language principles, diverse pronunciations and social standings.  Most of the textbooks in use contain both blatant and subtle stereotypes of ethnic groups.  Point out to students when a publisher has stereotyped a group or presented historical events from only a Eurocentric point of view.

                6.  Children see color and become aware of racial differences at a very early age.  Banks (1991) points out that not only do students see color, they tend to accept as normative the evaluations of various ethnic groups by the wider community.  Do not ignore racial and ethnic differences, respond to them positively and affirmatively.  Have friends of various ethnic backgrounds and invite them into your classroom.

                7. If your textbook is not all it should be, use supplementary material which present the perspectives of ethnic and racial groups.

                8.Be aware of your students developmental levels when selecting themes or concepts to present.  Learning activities should be clear and specific in lower levels, gradually becoming more complex as the level of the student increases.  There are a variety of children’s fiction which presents concepts like similarities, differences and prejudice which can be use at lower levels.  At upper levels fiction and biographies can be used to present the more complicated ideas of racism and oppression.

                9.  If you have a racially or ethnically mixed classroom, pair and group work can promote integration and provide students with the possibility of creating friends.  Elizabeth G. Cohen’s Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom  can provide more guidelines on further development of these types of activities.

                10.  Finally, in the case that your school has diverse racial groups, make sure that these groups are included in school activities and functions.  They need to be viewed as winners and encouraged to ensue academic studies.  They need teachers who make them feel like they belong and who help them succeed in their academic goals.

 

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