Transletters. International Journal of Translation and Interpreting, 8 (2024), pp. 1-5 ISSN 2605-2954
Rodríguez Arancón, P. (2023). How to Develop and Evaluate
Intercultural Competence in a Blended Learning Environment.
Editorial Sindéresis. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-84-19199-66-9
Review
José Javier Ávila-Cabrera
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
Received: 04/11/2024
Accepted: 02/12/2024
The monograph How to Develop and Evaluate Intercultural Competence in a Blended
Learning Environment is introduced to the reader with the quote “The person
who learns language without learning culture risks becoming a fluent fool”
(Bennet et al., 2003: 237), which prepares the reader for what will be unveiled:
the importance of intercultural competence as a deep-rooted feature of
language to be acquired by every learner of a foreign language (L2).
In Chapter 1, Introduction, Rodríguez Arancón advocates for the importance of
understanding and utilising the existing link between language and culture,
which is a crucial aspect for any speaker who wants to learn an L2. European
identity is defined under three axes: social and economic cohesion, politics, and
education and culture. The European Union (EU) is responsible for the
support for language learning and thanks to The Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR), a mutual linguistic policy was established in
order to describe language ability. However, the author highlights that culture
has been considered along the years a secondary aspect to be taken into
account when learning an L2. It has only been within the last few years that we
have witnessed the incorporation of the intercultural component in bilingual
programmes through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). In the
following sections, the author justifies the research on intercultural competence
as the skill that allows us to adapt to other cultures and avoid national
behaviours that can be inappropriate towards other cultural realities; in
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addition, the research objectives are summarised in terms of delving into
intercultural teaching in an L2. Next, the research methodology (regarded as
applied and theoretical) and study (considered descriptive and analytical) with a
heuristic purpose are distinguished. Finally, the research structure is presented
to the reader by summarising each of the chapters.
Conceptual Framework is the second chapter, which is key to understanding
culture in its widest sense. Among the several definitions of culture presented,
the author agrees on a definition of it that bonds people together and makes
them different from others. Next, Rodríguez Arancón revises the connection
between language and culture from the ancient Greeks up to the present. In
addition, the evolution of the study of intercultural communication is depicted,
a term used for the first time by Edward T. Hall who also considered himself
the founder of this field. The most important authors are also referenced here.
This section finishes with a definition of intercultural competence, as a
combination of knowledge, skills and motivation that help individuals act
efficiently in different cultural environments. The sociological approaches to
the study of interculture are described through diverse theories. Next, the most
important aspects of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) are illustrated in
order to justify the use of the blended learning environment of the project I-
AGENT (Intelligent Adapted Generic English Tutor), conducted by the
research group ATLAS (Applying Technology to LAnguageS). The chapter
finishes by emphasising the use of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) in the teaching and learning context. Rodríguez Arancón
defends the fact that ICT tools cannot be the goal itself, but rather the means
to engage learners in their learning process, which requires teachers to be
technologically competent, in addition to having the necessary teaching
knowledge and abilities. In addition, the blended learning context, understood
as hybrid, distributed or flexible learning, among others, is detailed.
Chapter 3, The Role of Culture in Second Language Policy, Teaching and Learning
Objects, is at the core of this book. In the first place, it approaches how
linguistic policies are influencing current teaching methodologies. The
linguistic policies in Australia, Japan and the USA are depicted, as well as an
illustration of how the European linguistic policy has evolved in the last few
years. Two organisations deal with this policy: The Council of Europe and the
EU; the former being in charge of undertaking the CEFR, considered a key
reference in the European context for language pedagogy. In addition, this
chapter analyses the study of cultures based on the most relevant theories of
L2 teaching methods. The final section of the chapter deals with the
How to Develop and Evaluate Intercultural Competence in a Blended Learning Environment
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considerations to be taken into account in Intercultural Language Teaching
(ILT) design. The author describes the six aspects of culture that both learners
and teachers ought to be familiar with: (1) languages are not to be translated
word-for-word, (2) speakers’ tones have meaning, (3) gestures and body
movements of each culture have meaning, (4) languages make use of different
grammatical elements for describing the physical world, (5) taboos are present
in all cultures, and (6) the words used for addressing people vary in accordance
with languages with regard to personal relationships. Other sections tackle the
teaching of linguaculture, the comparison between first and target cultures, and
languages and intercultural exploration. The last section develops, from an
intercultural perspective, an analysis of printed materials which enable the
reader to learn how to elucidate whether intercultural exploitation takes place
or not. In order to do so, Rodríguez Arancón provides the reader with samples
contrasting different countries situated in different scenarios. Five examples
are taken from coursebooks, the first two of which neglect the aspect of
intercultural exploitation, while the other three exhibit good practice in these
terms. This section enriches the chapter in that the previously presented theory
is explored from a more practical angle.
The fourth chapter, The Design of an Intercultural Blended Learning Course: The Case
of I-AGENT, is another important learning opportunity because of a
description of a unit of an intercultural blended learning course designed by
Rodríguez Arancón within the I-AGENT project, and also because it
represents the author’s original contribution. The author insists on the fact that
the relevance of culture in the L2 class is normally obviated, thereby she
strongly emphasises the necessity of its inclusion. The goals of the project
through the use of different texts and activities are aimed at helping students:
(1) to develop culturally-conditioned opinions, (2) to realise their culture can be
as strange as others, (3) to understand that social variables affect people’s talk
and behaviour, (4) to become aware of conventional behaviour in target
cultures and cultural connotations in the form of words and phrases in the
target culture, (5) to learn how to improve their ability to evaluate and refine
generalisations on the target culture, (6) to locate and organise information
about the target culture, (7) to stimulate students’ intellectual curiosity about
the target culture and develop empathy, (8) to respect others’ views and
traditions, and (9) to compromise and mediate towards opposing views of the
world. I-AGENT topics are pinpointed and contextualised, being presented in
nine units. The software programme characteristics are based on ICALL
(Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning), that is, Artificial
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Intelligence (AI) techniques and Computer Assisted Language Learning
(CALL) as well as the sequence of activities, elaborated in eight steps. The
cultural theories to support the development and use of I-AGENT are
described and justified based on previous approaches outlined in the book.
This also applies to the intercultural activities of the course, which are
supported by thoroughly described theoretical studies.
The cultural sections of one of the units of the course are included in the last
section, and therefore meet the intercultural teaching goals of the book. Every
single section is described and also examined. To conclude this chapter, the
author describes the theory behind the elaboration of rubrics (that can be
holistic and analytic) and presents other examples for the assessment of
intercultural competence, which she contends cannot be separated from
language, which makes its evaluation more challenging. She supports the fact
that these types of rubrics must have two important features: paralinguistic
behaviour and linguistic behaviour. The rubric she proposes accommodates
the levels of the CEFR and has 10 items included in five categories, analysing
internal and external aspects of the verbal and non-verbal message and its
context. The five categories of concern are: externally provided (context of
situation/interpersonal hierarchy), use of language (speech
management/language functions), formal structure of (adequacy of
vocabulary/accuracy of grammar), manner message is (supra-sentential
items/orthographic or prosodic features), and physical space (gestures and
body language/physical positioning).
Chapter 5, Discussion, Conclusions and Further Research, explores the reasons why
the author felt the need to write a proposal, namely so that Spanish students of
English as an L2 could gain intercultural awareness, considering the CEFR
does not instruct on how to acquire this skill, which allows speakers to interact
with others from different cultures and realities appropriately. She revises the
objectives of the book as well as the foundations of I-AGENT course. Finally,
she answers the main question of her research (“How could a blended course
help Spanish students of English as an L2 to become more interculturally
aware, and how should such a course be designed?”) as well as seven secondary
questions based on all the theoretical content developed, and her original
contribution (devoted to intercultural competence) to the field of L2 teaching
in a blended learning environment.
This monograph is an invaluable resource that every L2 teacher, researcher or
student, interested in being fluent or proficient in an L2, should read because
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of all the unravelled theoretical and practical content related with intercultural
competence, which is not always considered in the elaboration and design of
educational curricula. Through the reading of the five chapters, whose
theoretical and practical content is intricately discussed and detailed, the reader
becomes more aware of the importance of the combination of linguistic and
cultural components within the teaching practice and how challenging asessing
intercultural competence is. As Rodríguez Arancón makes more than clear,
intercultural competence needs to be understood and acquired in an attempt to
avoid “becoming a fluent fool” (Bennet et al., 2003, p. 237).
References
Bennett, J. M., Bennett, M. J., & Allen, W. (2003). Developing intercultural
competence in the language classroom. In D. Lange & M. Paige (Eds.), Culture as
the core: Perspectives on culture in second language learning (pp. 237-270). Information Age
Publishing.
