EDE4012 Cross-cultural Communication in Early Childhood

Contents

• Staffing
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Other requirements
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

RATIONALE

Successful two-way communication is central to effective learning and teaching in the classroom and participation in the school community. Typically, the curriculum is delivered in the English language but in mainstream classrooms today many children, including those from Indigenous backgrounds, have home or first languages different from the language of instruction. While ESL learners need to learn the language of instruction, they need to learn about the culture of the target language too. Similarly, for effective cross-cultural communication teachers need to understand their own language and culture and that of the children they teach. They need to understand the nature of language as a system operating within different socio-cultural contexts and how to teach English as a second language. Attention is drawn to the role of language education policy in language teaching and the importance of children's learning styles and language learning strategies in the development of their English language and literacy skills.

SYNOPSIS

This course examines the relationship of language and culture to communication in the early childhood learning environment and wider school community context. It provides an introduction to second language teaching pedagogy, including second language learning/ESL, development and assessment, the communicative approach, intercultural literacy and reflective practice. The nature of effective language learning environments and the way linguistic, socio-cultural, psychological and psycholinguistic factors may impact on second language learners in mainstream are also considered. Strategies to support effective cross-cultural communication in the classroom and in the school community, and approaches to managing ESL children's English language development are explored, including a special focus on cross-cultural communication as it applies to Australian Aboriginal and South-East Asian cultures. Approaches to curriculum and criteria for evaluation, selection and production of materials designed to develop children's communicative skills, including the use of ICTs in second language programs are also considered. NOTE: Minimum enrolment numbers apply to this offering. Should enrolments not reach the minimum number required for on-campus study, students may be transferred to the EXT or WEB offering and advised of this change before semester commences.

OBJECTIVES

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On completion of this course students will be able to:

1.

critically discuss the impact of language and culture on communication (Seminar)

2.

design and implement strategies to support effective cross-cultural communication (Seminar)

3.

demonstrate knowledge of and assess children's second language learning and development (Seminar and Project)

4.

demonstrate knowledge of the linguistic, socio-cultural, psychological and psycholinguistic factors that impact on children as second language learners (Seminar and Project)

5.

develop a second language pedagogy that takes account of the principles of communicative language teaching, the need for intercultural literacy and reflective practice (Seminar and Project)

6.

create, modify and select curriculum materials to develop ESL children's communicative skills, including use of ICTs (Project)

7.

demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of English language and literacy, including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing (Seminar and Project)

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

O'Neill, S & Gish, A 2008, Teaching English as a second language, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic.

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Whether you are on, or off campus, the USQ Library is an excellent source of information http://www.usq.edu.au/library. The gateway to education resources is here... http://www.usq.edu.au/library/faculties/education/default.htm

Anderson, M 2001, Cross-cultural communication in the global classroom: issues and implications, Monash University Faculty of Business & Economics, Caulfield East, Vic.

Creese, C & Martin, PW (eds.) 2004, Multilingual classroom ecologies: inter-relationships, interactions and ideologies, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon.

Davison, C (Ed.) 2005, Information technology and innovation in language education, Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong.

Fleer, M & Williams-Kennedy, D 2002, Building bridges: literacy development in young indigenous children, Australian Early Childhood Association, Canberra.

Piper, T 2001, And then there were two: children and second-language learning, 2nd edn, Pippin Publishing, Markham, ONT.
(Electronic Resource from USQ Library)

Shelton-Colangelo, S, Mancuso, C & Duvall, D (eds.) 2007, Teaching with joy: educational practices for the twenty-first century, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md.

Tabors, O 1997, One child, two languages: a guide for preschool educators of children learning English as a second language, Paul H Brookes, Baltimore.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

NOTES

1.

APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The USQ library provides advice on how to format information sources using this system. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/apastyle/default.htm 1. Due date for seminar to be advised in class and on Study Desk

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no examination in this course.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

1. Students will require access to e-mail and have Internet access to USQConnect for this course.

This version produced 11 Dec 2009.