Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension in the Language Classroom

By Louise Damen

This text explores cross-cultural awareness and intercultural communicative skills from culture-general and culture-specific perspectives. It is appropriate for language teachers, teacher trainers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 020111478X
• ISBN13: 9780201114782
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 6.3"
• Age Range: 6 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 1 and higher

Customer Reviews

cross-cultural awareness for language teachers

Culture Learning: The Fifth dimension in the Language Classroom is an academic and rather dry study of the field of intercultural communication. Written primarily for foreign language teachers who teach students of another culture, its purpose is to train teachers in becoming aware of their own culture and that of others, and to advocate that teachers include a culture component in their language classes. The first part of the book is a very thorough study of the processes of language and culture learning in general, including a look at the major variables which affect these processes. The second part of the book looks at the practial issues, such as planning, implementing and evaluating cuturally sensitive curricula intended for the foreign language classroom. I was somewhat disappointed with the latter part of this book, as even though one is made aware of the issues, most of it is rather too highbrow to be able to use in class. Having said that, I was pleased that I read this book at the time I did. I had been living in Japan for a couple of years and was coping reasonably well with the language, but somehow I felt that there were mysterious forces subconciously affecting my perceptions of what ought to have been everyday events. Culture Learning helped me to become aware of these forces and to see my host culture in a different and more positive light.