Welcome back to my blog! In this weeks blog I will be discussing the ICC referring to intercultural speakers and Byram’s model of ICC. But first, I will start with something far more interesting, La cultura project. Its a platform which provides discussions from exchange students. As a language student, I love learning about diverse cultures and this Cultura project shows me real life experience of exchange students and it also prepares me for when I will move abroad for my placement.
I have chosen the exchange between University of California, Santa Barbara and Universität Hannover. When I saw the word DENGLISH I had to click into it. According to the discussion Germans speak Denglish when they have traveled to America or England. By some Germans its ‘cool’ and modern but Americans say its stupid and lazy. Nevertheless, there is a cultural and linguistics exchange between two cultures which evolved from communication. Its interesting in many ways, it refers to how German use Germanised English words or vocabulary made up by Germans. This is never printed in a dictionary as it is a personal intake and mixture of two languages. (Reference: https://m.dw.com/en/denglish-a-german-english-mixture/a-298959). Denglish is an example of cultural development and shifts which introduces linguistic development in the modern world.
Whats interesting about this exchange is that they used some features of the Byrams model in their communication. (Refernce: https://teachingenglishmf.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/3/4/10340840/byram_icc_model.pdf.)
Savoir: This is when people of different cultures understand each others social processes and can identify each others stereotypes. This feature was apparent to me as an American student noticed how some German people use words of English origin. In this way he/she identified their social processes.
Savoir Apprendre: This is based on interpreting skills from another culture. In this case it is quite obvious how a German speaking person has incorporated English language into their daily routine.
Savoir s’Engager: It is the ability to evaluate critically on basis of practices in one owns culture. This feature is evident in the critical comment in the picture that i have attached above which states that Germans who have spent a certain amount of time in an English speaking country tend to use a few English words. A mixture between English and German is formed then which creates Denglish or Denglisch.
*Sorry if I scared you with the amount of educational definitions and the whole Byram’s ICC model diagrams but keep in mind I would have been in your position one week ago*
As part of my task i have to provide two more definitions… I’m sorry…
An Intercultural mediator is a person who enables intercultural communication between representatives of two different cultures. A mediator helps them to understand each other and communicate effectively.
An Intercultural Speaker is someone who has the ability to interprate and relate to other cultures. Someone who can interact with other cultures. A person who comprises abilities to evaluate perspectives, practices and products of both home and target cultures. (Reference: Byram:1997)
Till next week 🙂
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