Focusing on pragmatics as a way of fostering intercultural communicative competence in second language classrooms: A Danish case study
Despite the pivotal role that Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) (Byram, 1997, 2020) holds in theoretical discourse and policymaking, it frequently remains overlooked in second and foreign language learning and teaching. One aspect of the language knowledge needed for ICC, which is often absent or downplayed in the language classroom is pragmatic knowledge (Fernández, 2019).
This talk presents findings from an investigation into teacher cognition, aiming to unveil the specific “roadblocks” encountered when teaching about communication in Danish as a second language (DSL) to adult migrants. Via an online survey, observations and interviews, our study examines how DSL teachers both think about and work with ICC, and more specifically with intercultural pragmatics, in their classrooms. Our main research questions are: How is intercultural pragmatics taught? What are the beliefs and attitudes of DSL teachers towards intercultural pragmatics? What challenges do they experience? What is the connection between beliefs and attitudes and classroom practice? Based on our results, we also propose strategies for more effectively integrating pragmatics into contemporary curricula and pedagogical approaches in second and foreign language education.
This teacher cognition study constitutes one facet of a larger project known as “Danish in the Making” (funded by the Danish Foundation ‘Velux Fonden’). This broader project seeks to redefine the foundational knowledge necessary for the acquisition of DSL and revitalise the way in which learners and teachers engage with the language. The overarching objective of this project is to develop a pedagogical resource for DSL classrooms with focus on intercultural semantics and pragmatics based on the minimal languages approach (Goddard, 2021; Sadow & Fernández, 2022).
References
Byram, M. (1997, 2020). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Multilingual Matters.
Fernández, S. S. (2019). Using NSM and “minimal” language for intercultural learning. I L. Sadow, B. Peeters, & K. Mullan (red.), Studies in Ethnopragmatics, Cultural Semantics, and Intercultural Communication: minimal English (and beyond) (s. 13-32). Springer. http://978-981-32-9979-5
Goddard, C., (ed.) (2021). Minimal Languages in Action. Palgrave.
Sadow, L., & Fernández, S. S. (2022). Pedagogical semantics: Natural Semantics Metalanguage applications to language learning and teaching. Scandinavian Studies in Language, 13(1), 53-66. https://tidsskrift.dk/sss/article/view/135071/179855