Exam Questions
on Byram & Fleming,
Language learning in intercultural perspective

Students who have qualified as frequentanti have been exonerated from a good number of chapters (anywhere from four to ten, in some cases even more).  Since there are 14 chapters in the book, this means that, expressed postively, frequentanti are to read, according to their results on the partial exams, anywhere from four to ten chapters (in some cases even fewer), in the following order:

Chapters 1, 4, 5, 13, 3, 10, 7, 6, 11, 9, 8, 12, 14, 2;

i.e., students who must read four chapters are to read Chapters 1, 4, 5, 13; students who must read six chapters are to read Chapters 1, 4, 5, 13; 3, 10; and so on.
 

Below you will find the questions as they will appear, word for word, on the final exam paper.  They are given in advance to help you prepare your (re-)reading of the text.
 
 

Chapter 1 The privilege of the intercultural speaker (Clairae Kramsch)

a. Most Italian students think that, to learn a foreign language well at the university, they should have a native language teacher. This is because they think that such a teacher will be able to give them the "correct" models of pronunciation, usage, etc.
Kramsch expresses a different view. Explain it and, then, either defend it or attack it
.
b. What does the example of the Bon Marché advertisement show about "understanding a text in a foreign language"?

c. Thomas gives a "democratic" definition of an authentic competence in a second language (p.24). Explain it.

d. Garfinkel gives a definition of culture; explain it (p.27).

e. How can Thomas' and Garfinkel's definitions be used to define what it means to have an intercultural competence of English?
 
 

Chapter 3 - Evolving intercultural perceptions among university language learners in Europe (James A. Coleman)
a. When learning a second language (L2), does going to live in the L2 country ("L2land") help you to appreciate the L2land culture? What did Coleman's investigation show?

b. Describe the method Coleman used to discover if living in the L2 country improves appreciation of the L2land culture. Is the method scientifically valid in your opinion?

c. What explains the attitude of British students? (Include reference to the possible influence of the way data was collected and interpreted.)
 
 

Chapter 4 Cultural practice in everyday life: the language learner as ethnographer (Barro, Jordan & Roberts)

a. Define "ethnography" and explain "ethnographic practice?"

b. The authors cite Malinowski (p. 81) to justify the priority of a particular kind of knowing over another kind of knowing in studying languages and cultures. Explain the two kinds.

c. The authors say that language students normally just see themselves as "language people"; not "ethnographers": What does "language people" mean? How do you see yourself?

d. The authors offer a social-political interpretation of "exchanges" in European societies (buying someone a drink) and in exotic societies (Ongka's big Moka). On the basis of the description of the latter (Ongka's behaviour), imagine how a Martian might describe a typical Italian ceremony of one-sided gift giving (N.B. Christmas would not normally be a good example since it usually involves reciprocal, not one-sided, gift giving.). Can you also imagine, from seeing films or from personal visits, something similar in the UK, in the USA, in Ireland or in some other English-speaking country?

e. The authors give the criteria for "a good ethnographic project": what are they? Does your ethnographic project for the Module "Modi di essere in inglese" correspond to these criteria?
 

Chapter 5 The culture the learner brings: a bridge or a barrier? (L. Jin & M. Cortazzi)

a. The authors describe two cultures of university language classes: British and Chinese. Is the Italian university culture (in the corsi di studio in lingue) similar to either? Describe the similarities and/or the differences. (Suggestion: reread the text and mentally substitute "Italian" for "Chinese".)

b. If the authors' explanation of Confucianism and Taoism is correct, how would you speak English to a group of Chinese students on visit to Roma Tre if you were responsible for guiding them around the university (respecting Chinese communicative style)? How would you help them adapt to Italian university learning habits (respecting, as much as possible, the Chinese culture of learning)?
 

6. Mind the gap! AN ethnographic approach to cross-cultural workplace communication research. (Antonia Cooper)

a. Explain the nine characteristics of ethnographic research listed on page 127.
 
 

Chapter 7. Cultural awareness and dramatic art forms (Michael Fleming)

a. The author does not seem to appreciate the standard use of drama in learning a language (role-play, dialogues such as "At the hotel"). Instead, he gives two examples of how dramatisation can be used as a means of reasoning and learning (in) the foreign language. Explain this procedure and evaluate it positively or negatively.

b. Would you be fully satisfied if, in your English courses at Roma Tre, explanations were substituted with dramatisations along the lines suggested by the author?
 
 

Chapter 10. Intercultural theatre through a foreign language. (Prisca Schmidt)

a. Explain how students compose the script: what mechanism gets them to use not only "English theatre prose" but also a plot and a cultural matrix that seem English?

b. The author quotes Brook (p. 198) in saying that "a word does not start as a word -- it is an end product which begins as an impulse, stimulated by attitude and behavior which the need for expression dictates." How is this vision of language-as-something-more-than-words put into practice in composing the play?
 
 

Chapter 13. Language teaching and the process of European integration (Karen Risager)

a. Explain the 4 approaches to foreign language teaching, based on choice of target language(s) and future interlocutors. Give the limits, according to the author, of the first three. Give your opinion (in favour or against) of the fourth approach.

b. How does the idea of what culture is, expressed by a language teacher, influence her teaching? Does this apply to you, as a language learner? (Does your idea of culture influence how you think you should study English)? If so, how. If not, why not.
 

END