The Necessity of Endowing EFL Learners with the Fifth Language Skill: A Key to a Successful Learning Experience

In this increasingly interconnected epoch, the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) along with culture that is considered as a fifth skill has become inevitable. Therefore, EFL teachers are impelled to introduce cultural instruction in their classes. They are then advised to combine the teaching of language skills with the foreign culture because it prepares their learners to behave successfully in intercultural encounters, gain solid cultural knowledge, overcome cultural obstacles, and promote their cultural awareness. The main questions addressed in this research focus on the inclusion of the cultural component in language subjects’ syllabuses, and the type of teaching strategies that can ameliorate the status of cultural instruction. This study points out the key importance of implementing intercultural information in EFL contexts founded on a case study undertaken at the University of Oran 2 in Algeria. This paper targeted a group of Master II students by using an array of data collection means including a questionnaire given to the learners, an interview done with the teachers, and classroom observation sessions carried out by the researchers. The major aims of this work were to verify the learners’ perceptions of cultural learning, and outfit students with core foundations of culture. The results demonstrated that the incorporated teaching techniques have enriched the students’ cultural understanding and intensified their linguistic adeptnesses. It is suggested that these teaching initiatives can aid learners be compassionate, understandable, and tolerant human beings.

Rumah-Ku, Rumah Doa Segala Bangsa: Telaah terhadap Yesaya 56:1-8 sebagai Hasil Interkultural Israel Paska Pembuangan

Intercultural is a necessity when we meet other people or other communities. Awareness of building relationships in a spirit of equality. In intercultural encounters, the horizon for culture will experience renewal. Text is also a product of culture, which can also experience intercultural encounters. One of the intercultural texts is Isaiah 56: 1-8. This text is important in intercultural theology because it’s contains a theology that is different from ancient Israel. This research was conducted in order to investigate the intercultural processes that occur in the text of Isaiah 56: 1-8. In order to elaborate on the theme, i will present of the pre-exilic community, the exile community and the post-exil community. The description of the three communities is important in the context of detecting intercultural texts. After becoming clear the intercultural process of the text, the text will be used as a foothold in formulating intercultural missions that are relevant to the church in Indonesia. AbstrakDalam sebuah perjumpaan dengan individu atau komunitas lain, interkultural adalah sebuah keniscayaan. Kesadaran akan teologi interkultural menjadi penting, dalam rangka membangun kesadaran membangun relasi dalam semangat kesetaraan. Dalam perjumpaan interkultural, horizon terhadap budaya akan mengalami kebaharuan. Teks sesungguhnya juga adalah produk budaya, yang juga bisa mengalami perjumpaan interkultural. Salah satu teks yang mengalami interkultural adalah Yesaya 56:1-8. Teks ini amat menarik karena mengandung teologi yang berbeda dengan Israel kuno. Penelitian ini dilakukan dalam rangka menelisikproses interkultural yang terjadi pada teks Yesaya 56:1-8. Dalam rangka mengelaborasi tema tersebut, maka penulis akan menyajikan gambaran komunitas pra-pembuangan, komunitas pada masa pembuangan dan komunitas paska pembuangan. Gambaran ketiga komunitas tersebut menjadi penting dalam rangka mendeteksi interkultural pada teks. Setelah menjadi terang proses interkultural pada teks, teks tersebut akan dijadikan pijakan dalam merumuskan misi interkultural yang relevan bagi gereja di Indonesia.

Embracing Change

Rapid changes in the contemporary world are increasing pressure on the social and psychological sciences to try to understand the present and foresee possible futures. Embracing Change: Knowledge, Continuity, and Social Representations focuses on the production of shared knowledge, as interpreted from a social psychological perspective inspired by the theory of social representations that highlights the role of the “Other” in the production of social understanding. Adopting this “socio-psychological gaze” entails bringing the primacy of relationships and communication to the forefront of the knowing processes while taking social and cultural forces into account. Growing streams of research bear witness to the potential of this theoretical and methodological approach, in synergy with cognate perspectives. This volume contains a collection of contributions from leading authors on how social representations theory can help us understand change and continuity in social knowledge regarding hot topics and domains of our time, such as health concerns, environmental issues, aging in an aging society, and intercultural encounters. The state of the art is explored with reference to advances in theory, methods, and the stance of the researcher in the process of inquiry. The volume’s focus is on how change has been studied in social psychology, how common knowledge is organized in everyday life, and how scholars can study and contribute to change in knowledge patterns. Casting light on challenging social issues, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars in social psychology, sociology, and social sciences.

The Necessity of Endowing EFL Learners with the Fifth Language Skill: A Key to a Successful Learning Experience

In this increasingly interconnected epoch, the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) along with culture that is considered as a fifth skill has become inevitable. Therefore, EFL teachers are impelled to introduce cultural instruction in their classes. They are then advised to combine the teaching of language skills with the foreign culture because it prepares their learners to behave successfully in intercultural encounters, gain solid cultural knowledge, overcome cultural obstacles, and promote their cultural awareness. The main questions addressed in this research focus on the inclusion of the cultural component in language subjects’ syllabuses, and the type of teaching strategies that can ameliorate the status of cultural instruction. This study points out the key importance of implementing intercultural information in EFL contexts founded on a case study undertaken at the University of Oran 2 in Algeria. This paper targeted a group of Master II students by using an array of data collection means including a questionnaire given to the learners, an interview done with the teachers, and classroom observation sessions carried out by the researchers. The major aims of this work were to verify the learners’ perceptions of cultural learning, and outfit students with core foundations of culture. The results demonstrated that the incorporated teaching techniques have enriched the students’ cultural understanding and intensified their linguistic adeptnesses. It is suggested that these teaching initiatives can aid learners be compassionate, understandable, and tolerant human beings.

Acquiring Intercultural Communicative Competence through Virtual Exchange

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is an indispensable skill when interacting with people from other cultures, given the clash of perspectives that intercultural encounters may bring about. Being a skill that can be taught and learned, there is a wide concern for developing ICC through formal education. This involves designing specific training tasks that can enhance the acquisition of ICC with the help of virtual exchange (VE) activities. The aim of the present paper is to highlight a specific way in which the educational goals associated with ICC development can be achieved. To this end, an analysis of 55 eTwinning intercultural projects has been conducted in order to determine the relationship between ICC and VE. The statistical data described here indicate that VE fosters the development of ICC. Moreover, they are indicative of the fact that the VE task types that are most effective in the development of ICC can be identified through computation.

Medievalism Re-oriented

This chapter examines interfaith encounter and conflict in the Islam Quintet, a suite of historical novels written between 1992 and 2010 by British-Pakistani author and commentator Tariq Ali. It explores the novels’ engagement with ‘Clash of Civilisations’ ideologies and with neocolonial politics, particularly in the three novels that are set in medieval Islamicate contexts shaped by interfaith and intercultural encounters: Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, set in fifteenth-century al-Andalus, A Sultan in Palermo, set in twelfth-century Sicily, and The Book of Saladin, set in Crusade-era Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. The chapter argues that the novels develop a tension between convivencia, interfaith cohabitation achieved under Arab governance, and occupation, a hostile monocultural regime imposed under Christian rule. The chapter does not recuperate the Islamicate world into Western chronologies; rather, it complicates Western understandings of ‘the medieval’ by exploring how these novels highlight the linked destinies of Western and Islamic societies.

Visions for intercultural music teacher education in complex societies

This article presents a synthesis of findings from a large-scale research project, the Global Visions Through Mobilizing Networks—Co-developing Intercultural Music Teacher Education in Finland, Israel and Nepal ( https://sites.uniarts.fi/web/globalvisions/home ), and conveys its theoretical and practical explorations and insights. By envisioning 21st-century music teacher education from the perspective of interculturality and through transnational collaboration, Global Visions has engaged with international societal changes and struggles related to the rising tides of xenophobia, populism, and social disharmony, by focusing on what happens at the boundaries, in dialogue, and in conflict when difference is encountered, experienced, and reflected upon. While the dominant culturalist view presents music as neutral and diversity as tied mainly to ethnicity, Global Visions has recognized, analyzed, exemplified, and increased understanding of the complex politics of diversity. Resulting in envisioned music teacher education programs as innovative game changers, the project has enhanced professional reflexivity through considering the responsibility and moral aspects of music teacher education. Six main focus areas of the project are presented with recommendations for future research and practice in music teacher education: (a) research education and research as intervention; (b) reflexivity and professional learning in intercultural encounters; (c) the capacity to aspire in music teacher education; (d) the development of intersectional praxis; (e) intercultural music education as a political engagement; and (f) transcultural professional development and international professionalization.

Hate speech in intercultural encounters

The issue of hate speech has been a topic of international debate—most frequently in the domains of law, philosophy and language. Different issues linked to changes in society, ranging from the proliferation of social media, innovation and technology and influx of fake news, disinformation and propaganda to the rise of nationalism, far-right movements, increased cross-border movement of people and transnational business have made studying the conceptual and practical aspects of hate speech in different contexts ever more important. The papers in this issue focus on the sociolinguistic aspects of the use of hate speech and its different variants in online communication, offering a much-needed perspective on how hate speech in digital communication can be identified and tackled. For example, Dr. Manana Ruseishvili and Dr. Rusudan Dolidze analyse hate speech in computer-meditated communication, focusing on the polylogal, asynchronic remarks made by members of the public reacting to articles in online media or press releases about the LGBT pride event planned for June 2019. The research carried out by Lilit Bekaryan explores how hateful posts and comments can start among Facebook users, and studies the language means employed in their design based on data from more than ten open Facebook pages managed by popular Armenian figures, such as media experts, journalists, politicians and bloggers. Dr. Tatjana R. Felberg explores the interconnectedness between impoliteness and hate speech in online comments in Croatia and Serbia by applying impoliteness theory and a critical discourse analysis framework. Her research demonstrates that those who post often fluctuate between hate speech and impoliteness. Dr. Ayunts and Dr. Paronyan provide a comparative analysis of manifestations of hate speech and euphemisms in Armenian and British online media outlets and social sites targeting people's sexual orientation with emphasis on the interconnectedness of hate speech and culture. This issue was prepared as part of the project ‘Intercultural encounters in academia and work places in South Caucasus and Norway’ funded by DIKU, the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education. The project partner universities are Oslo Metropolitan University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Yerevan State University and Khazar University.