Where is ‘the Intercultural’ today in languages education?

Abstract

Languages education in Australia has been at the cutting edge of intercultural work for decades. Dating back to languages curriculum in the early 2000s we can trace how languages educators in Australia have been exploring how to do “the intercultural’ for decades. Yet it still remains challenging for many to move beyond a replication of stereotypes or traditional ‘culture learning’. This can be hindered by systemic barriers such as the separation of language and culture units in tertiary education, or it can be hindered by a lack of clarity in curriculum documents. In this talk I will give a brief overview of the evolution of ‘the intercultural’ in Australian languages education, share some of my own research looking at how this has developed, and invite a discussion of “how’ we might do ‘the intercultural’ work well in our languages classrooms. I will share some of the tasks I have used as a languages teacher and invite you to share your examples as we discuss together “where to next” for the intercultural in Australian languages education?

About the speaker

Ruth Fielding is an Associate Professor of Languages and TESOL education at Monash University and researches multilingualism, language education and identity. She is currently working on a project funded by the Canadian SSHRC led by A/Prof Angelica Galante at McGill  University on Linguistic Discrimination in Higher Education. In 2023 Ruth founded the Monash branch of Bilingualism Matters within the Faculty of Education Bilingualism Matters@Monash Education. Ruth began her career as a secondary school teacher of French and German, before undertaking a PhD which focussed upon multilingualism and identity negotiation. She works with teachers to understand how identity and intercultural understanding are interwoven in language education