Read the extract and retell it to your partner using inversion where relevant.

In the field of teacher education, 'identity problem' has always occupied a serious position as a part of the foreign language teaching profession. The foreign language teaching profession in some respects involves the acquisition of a second identity alongside with other identity types. All foreign language teachers besides their native, national, ethnic, and cultural identities develop another identity. This fact is a specific case of foreign language identity that may force the teachers to develop an identity crisis. (The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XIII, No. 8, August 2007)

LISTENING

Read the statement and share your opinions in small groups.

“Language teachers now have to perform educational, technical, ethical and psycho-social functions, with various responsibilities attached to each of them. Separately, and equally important, teachers also have to become learners side by side with their students. Without teachers' awareness and understanding of the main issues in intercultural communication, students' progress is under threat. In turn, language teachers' intercultural skills cannot develop without appropriate training.” (Sercu, 1998).

Listen to the recording and take notes to answer the questions.

1. What is the focus of the narrator’s research interest?

2. What did the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages include in provisional proficiency guidelines?

3. Why can sometimes communication failure take place?

4. Why is it important to integrate cultural information into language class?

5. How can a teacher get benefit in teaching not just a language, but also linguoculture?

6. Why does the narrator say “As long as we teach culture, we will have students to teach!”

Listen again and fill in the gaps with suitable words.

Now, there now seems to be agreement that culture should be regarded as an essential component of all ________________ language instruction, a kind of "fifth skill." Indeed, we know that even with superior knowledge of the ________________ of a language, and mastery of a large basic vocabulary, without _________________ to give relevant meaning and significance to otherwise "correct" utterances, communication does not occur. We all know examples of the cultural faux pas that our students and we blunder into, even when the ________________ of their speech is correct! But there is more to cultural competence than merely talking about it in our classes. We need also to consider how best to ________________ information into our already over-committed hours of language instruction.

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