Teaching English in an Intercultural Context

Learning another language does not just consist of learning lists of grammatical structures and pages of vocabulary. All learners know that they will use language for communication and that learning this new, constantly changing medium means having to come to terms with different ways of viewing the world. It also involves inside knowledge of the foreign culture. In this thesis I will discuss the intercultural approaches to the teaching of culture and their effects for cultural awareness. As the study of intercultural communication should arise out of the language material being studied, choosing the appropriate course book is very important. I will prove that the new Project coursebook series is particularly suitable for presenting language in intercultural context because the strong cultural focus enables students to explore differences and draw comparisons with their own cultural background. The wide range of exercises may also help to establish a close relationship between language and cultures developing the ability for intercultural communication.