Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article problematizes the implementation of the knowledge component of the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) framework, drawing on documents developed by Byram (2009) for the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe. In response to policies developed by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, the Italian education sector has undertaken major initiatives to adopt the European framework at the national level and engage with an increasingly multicultural society impacted by immigration. This process has been supported by new resources and textbooks, including textbooks of Italian as a foreign language, designed to portray Italy’s contemporary society and foster intercultural discussion. However, I argue that the analysis of selected units of Italian foreign language textbooks, focusing on eating habits, indicates that they are yet to reflect the changes taking place in Italy. Rather, they foster knowledge of culture and society through representations that contradict the principles on which the ICC framework is based.

Keywords

immigration intercultural pedagogy Italian eating habits Italian FL textbooks

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Banks

(2011) Multicultural education: Dimensions and paradigms. In: Banks

(ed.) The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education, New York: Routledge, pp. 9–32.

Banks

(2014) An Introduction to Multicultural Education, Boston: Pearson.

Billig

(1995) Banal Nationalism, London: Sage.

Birello

Vilagrasa

(2012) Bravissimo! 1, Florence: Bulgarini.

Blommaert J and Bulcaen C (2000) Critical Discourse Analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology 29: 447–466.

Byram

(1989) Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram

(2008) From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram

(2009) Multicultural Societies, Pluricultural People and the Project of Intercultural Education, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/educinter_EN.asp (accessed 15 January 2015).

Byram

Barrett

Ipgrave

et al. (2009a) Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters: Context, Concepts and Theories, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/AutobiographyTool_en.asp (accessed 20 January 2015).

10.

Byram

Barrett

Ipgrave

et al. (2009b) Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters: Concepts for Discussion, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/AutobiographyTool_en.asp (accessed 20 January 2015).

11.

Cameron

(2001) Working with Spoken Discourse, London: SAGE.

12.

Caritas-Migrantes (2015) XXV Rapporto Immigrazione Caritas Migrantes 2015. Available at: http://www.caritas.it/caritasitaliana/allegati/6472/Sintesi_OK%20(1).pdf (accessed 20 October 2016).

13.

Cole

Meadows

(2013) Avoiding the essentialist trap in intercultural education: Using critical discourse analysis to read nationalist ideologies in the language classroom. In: Dervin

Liddicoat

(eds) Linguistics for Intercultural Education, Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 29–47.

14.

Colombo

Faraci

De Luca

(2013) Arrivederci!1, Rome: Edilingua.

15.

Council of Europe (2014) Intercultural education. Available at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/EducInter_en.asp (accessed 15 January 2015).

16.

De Savorgnani

Bergero

(2010) Chiaro! A1, Florence: Alma Edizioni.

17.

Dervin

Liddicoat

(2013) Introduction. In: Dervin

Liddicoat

(eds) Linguistics for Intercultural Education, Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 1–25.

18.

Erickson

(2004) Culture in society and in educational practices. In: Banks

McGee Banks

(eds) Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 31–60.

19.

Fairclough

(1989) Language and Power, London: Longman.

20.

Fairclough

Wodak

(1997) Critical discourse analysis: An overview. In: van Dijk

(ed.) Discourse as Social Interaction, London: SAGE, pp. 67–97.

21.

Gruppo Italiaidea (2014) (2014) New Italian Espresso, Florence: Alma Edizioni.

22.

Hardie G (2013) Living in the past-a: Barilla suggests gays can ‘eat another’ pasta. The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 September. Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/living-in-the-pasta-barilla-suggests-gays-can-eat-another-pasta-20130927-2ui9z.html (accessed 15 July 2015).

23.

Kilickaya

(2004) Guidelines to evaluate cultural content in textbooks. The Internet TESL Journal 10(12): Available at: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kilickaya-CulturalContent/ (accessed 20 February 2015).

24.

Kramsch

(1998) Language and Culture, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

25.

La Grassa

(2011) L’italiano all’università 1, Rome: Edilingua.

26.

Lázár

Huber-Kriegler

Lussier

et al. (2007) Developing and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, Available at: http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/Iccinte/results/en/assessing-competence.htm (accessed 22 May 2015).

27.

Marin

Magnelli

(2006) Nuovo Progetto Italiano, Rome: Edilingua.

28.

Mezzadri

Balboni

(2009) Nuovo Rete!1, Perugia: Guerra.

29.

MIUR (2007) La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione degli alunni stranieri. Osservatorio nazionale per l’integrazione degli alunni stranieri e per l’educazione interculturale. Available at: http://archivio.pubblica.istruzione.it/news/2007/allegati/pubblicazione_intercultura.pdf (accessed 25 January 2015).

30.

Paltridge

(2006) Discourse Analysis: An Introduction, London: Continuum.

31.

Portera

(2004) Stereotypes, prejudices and intercultural education in Italy: Research on textbooks in primary school. Intercultural Education 15(3): 283–294.

32.

Portera

(2013) Manuale di pedagogia interculturale, Bari: Laterza.

33.

Risager

(2007) Language and Culture Pedagogy: From a National to a Transnational Paradigm, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

34.

Risager

Dervin

(2014) Introduction. In: Dervin

Risager

(eds) Researching Identity and Interculturality, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1–25.

35.

Sándorová

(2014) Content analysis as a research method in investigating the cultural components in foreign language textbooks. Journal of Language and Cultural Education 2(1): 95–128.

36.

Starkey

(2009) Language education, identities and citizenship: Developing cosmopolitan perspectives. Language and Intercultural Communication 7(1): 56–71.

37.

Tajeddin

Teimournezhad

(2015) Exploring the hidden agenda in the representation of culture in international and localised ELT textbooks. The Language Learning Journal 43(2): 180–193.

38.

van Dijk

(1998) Ideology, London: SAGE.

39.

van Dijk

(2001) Critical discourse analysis. In: Schiffrin

Tannen

Hamilton

(eds) The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 352–371.

40.

Weninger

Kiss

(2014) Analyzing culture in foreign/second language textbooks: Methodological and conceptual issues. In: Curdt-Christiansen

Weninger

(eds) Language, Ideology and Education: The Politics of Textbooks in Language Education, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1–24.

41.

Widdowson

(2004) Text, Context, Pretext: Critical Issues in Discourse Analysis, Oxford: Blackwell.

42.

Wodak

(1996) Disorders of Discourse, London: Longman.

43.

CM 26. 07. 1990, n. 205. La scuola dell’obbligo e gli alunni stranieri. L’educazione interculturale. Available at: http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/circolari/cm205_90.html (accessed 22 January 2015).

44.

CM 28.04.1992, n. 122. Pronuncia del CNPI sulla educazione interculturale nella scuola. Available at: http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/circolari/cm122_92.html (accessed 18 January 2015).

45.

CM 2. 03. 1994, n. 73. Dialogo interculturale e convivenza democratica: L’impegno progettuale della scuola. Available at: http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/circolari/cm073_94.html (accessed 10 January 2015).

46.

CM 1. 03. 2006, n. 24. Linee guida per l’accoglienza e l’integrazione degli alunni stranieri. Available at: http://archivio.pubblica.istruzione.it/normativa/2006/cm24_06.shtml (accessed 25 January 2015).

47.

Legge 06. 03. 1998, n. 40. Disciplina dell’immigrazione e norme sulla condizione dello straniero (art. 36 Istruzione degli stranieri. Educazione interculturale). Available at: http://www.edscuola.com/archivio/norme/leggi/l040_98.html (accessed 22 February 2015).

Fostering ‘knowledge’ through representations of eating habits in Italian foreign language textbooks: An intercultural challenge

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References