Cultural Responsiveness: a framework for re-thinking students’ interculturality through study abroad

While intercultural competence is commonly a goal of university study abroad programmes, debates around criteria for assessing this competence have highlighted the challenges in appropriately identifying students’ intercultural learning in relation to specific university programmes. To overcome these issues, this research moves beyond conceptualising the intercultural in terms of ‘competence’ and instead proposes a framework termed Cultural Responsiveness to illustrate students’ intercultural learning. Through questionnaires and interviews, the experiences and perceptions of undergraduate students after a year of exchange in France or Switzerland were collected and analysed. Using the Cultural Responsiveness framework, three parameters of students’ intercultural experiences emerged: Awareness, Engagement and Bringing Knowledge Home.     

Deliberations on the development of an intercultural competence curriculum

Committed to developing an institution-wide intercultural competence curriculum for master’s-level students preparing for international careers, a team of nine professors from across disciplines deliberated for a year on their fundamental understandings of intercultural competence and what it would mean to facilitate the development of that competence in students. This article recounts the team’s philosophical debates related to intercultural competence: definitions, effective methods of teaching, intersectionality of identities, Western bias in the literature, power and inequity, and the role of language learning. The deliberations became the foundation for an institution-wide curriculum, focused on helping graduates to be not only effective workers and managers in multicultural settings, but also to be leaders in social change. This article shares the conversations and considerations of the planning process and the breadth and emphasis of the curriculum that emerged. Reflections on students’ learning and recommendations for curriculum developers are offered.     

Self-efficacy enhanced in a cross-cultural context through an initiative in under-resourced schools in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

This paper discusses the Khanyisa Programme, an initiative in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where learners from under-resourced schools are supported by teachers and high achievers in Grade 11 and 12 from a previously advantaged state school under apartheid. A qualitative, evaluative study was undertaken to identify key elements in the ongoing success of the programme and collect participant suggestions for improvement. The findings, discussed within the framework of self-efficacy theory, identified enormous gains by Khanyisa learners, leading to vastly improved career prospects.     

From non-cultural to intercultural principles: a proposal for English classes in Brazilian public schools

This article focuses on English language teaching in Brazilian public schools, based on experiences in primary and secondary education, as well as in Teaching Practicum courses at a university. Through these experiences, the article critiques the overemphasis on grammar and the lack of an intercultural approach. The author engages the reader with a theoretical discussion regarding the connection between language and culture and the possibilities for the implementation of intercultural principles. The article closes with some reflections on what intercultural language learning looks like in practice.     

文明对话的发展及其世界意义

苏联解体 ,冷战结束 ,美国哈佛大学著名学者亨廷顿提出“文明冲突论”。他认为一场新的冷战为期不远 ,所不同的是已经过去的冷战是以意识形态为分野 ,而新的冷战是以文化为界线 ;过去的威胁是苏联 ,现在的威胁则是伊斯兰教—儒教的联盟。他的这个论点 ,国际大部分学者很难苟同。美国哈佛大学另一位著名学者杜维明教授则力主“文明对话论” ,他相信多元文化并存 ,通过对话和理解 ,通过各种文化自身的反省与变革 ,人类一定会迎来一个充满希望的新世纪。为此 ,几年来他在世界各地组织并参加一些“文明对话”的国际学术讨论会。在他的带动下 , 2 0 0 2年 8月哈佛大学—燕京学社与南京大学在南京召开了“文明对话国际学术讨论会” ,这是一次穆斯林学者与非穆斯林学者的文明对话的学术讨论会。本刊 2 0 0 2年第 4期已选载了这次会议的部分学术论文。在这次会议上杜维明先生发表了题为“文明对话的发展及其世界意义”的演讲 ,他视野开阔 ,观点新颖 ,在与会学者中引起很大的反响他认为很多杰出的学者已经看到亨廷顿“文明冲突论”非常狭隘的二分法破绽。如果要在全球化的过程中使各种不同的民族文化能够逐渐地在合而不同的背景下生存就需要通过对话,逐渐发展出生命共同 体的意愿 ;通过对话 ,大家都具有和平共     

论诗歌的再生--兼论翻译过程中影响跨文化交流的动态因素

文章以功能翻译理论为基础,以中国古典诗歌、日本诗歌、英美现代意象主义诗歌和中国早期白话诗之间的传承影响为例,论证了原语诗歌是通过翻译过程中的一些动态因素,如原诗文本、译者、译语读者等的共同影响,来实现译语诗歌的再生,从而促进文化间的交流发展.     

非营利组织视野下的高校教师管理

高校教师管理工作的关键在于如何帮助教师正视自身所承载的教育使命,处理好教育与科研、生存与发展、个体与组织等一系列关系。本文从高校的非营利组织特性入手,紧扣教师作为非营利组织成员应充分强调其职业理想与价值实现的这一特点,指出在高校教师管理中,尊重与保护教师的理想信念,构建积极有效的“对话”关系,分阶段地展开职业生涯规划,实现教师个体发展与高校发展的和谐统一。     

展示与对话 ——中国当代文论发展的另一种选择

“五四”以来,以诗文评为体系的中国传统文论基本退出了文本阐释的场域。西方话语的大面积空降,在推进中国文论建设的同时,日益影响着中国文论的自主创新式发展,消解着可能的学理话语的分享式革新。中国传统文论的当代失语是时代发展和中西互通背景下的使然现象,但如果我们一味地执着于西方话语,沉迷于“普世”的理论,带来的将是比民族话语失声更严重的精神殖民。为此,我们需要积极有效地“展示”自身的传统文化精华,倡导中西方文化间进行平等和谐的“对话”,建构独具中国特色的美学话语与文论体系。     

面子理论及其局限性新探 ——基于盎格鲁中心主义思想的研究

布朗和列文森的面子理论一直被视为研究礼貌现象的经典理论,在语言学界影响极大;但面子理论的提出是基于英语语料,研究的也仅仅是英语文化的礼貌现象,因此该理论深受盎格鲁文化价值影响,带有浓厚的盎格鲁中心主义思想,不能全面解释其他文化中的礼貌现象。回顾了面子理论的精髓思想及其贡献,在学术界对该理论的批判性研究基础上,从跨文化交际及盎格鲁中心主义的角度,进一步探讨面子理论的局限性,并为该理论研究的发展思路和方向提出诸多新的思考。     

国内外中国研究生跨文化敏感度比较研究

本调查用Chen和Starosta的"跨文化敏感度量表"对100名国内外中国研究生的跨文化敏感度进行测评,旨在探索国内外中国研究生跨文化敏感度现状的差异。研究结果显示,留学国外的中国研究生跨文化敏感度总体水平高于在国内学习的研究生,留学国外的中国研究生比国内研究生更容易接受和认同不同的文化,更能从不同文化互动中获得享受。