Teaching Intercultural Competence in a World Language Classroom

Administrators usually agree that Intercultural Competence is an essential 21st-century world readiness and career-readiness goal. Our students need to be able to engage with people from diverse backgrounds in their future career paths. In many institutions, this learning outcome is taught in English in general education and other content courses in the hopes that students acquire intercultural competencies by learning about different cultural contexts. However, students and administrators often miss the critical cultural engagement that can only happen if students communicate with interlocutors in the target language, as language and culture are intrinsically linked. Join professionals from varying backgrounds in learning more about teaching Intercultural Competence in language classrooms. 

Dr. Paula Garrett-Rucks, the national recipient of the 2016 ACTFL Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture, will lead the workshop.

Dr. Julia Feldhaus, AATG-MA president (jfeldhaus@german.umass.edu), and Karen Cox, AATG-NNE president (kbowmancox@comcast.net), are co-hosting an event in October.