Intercultural Communication in Language Education

JALT Intercultural Communication in Language Education - ICLE SIG - This SIG aims to explore various ways language teachers could help shape their students’ intercultural minds, raise their students’ cultural self-awareness, and educate for intercultural understanding. It promotes discussion about various approaches to teaching intercultural communication in a language classroom, allowing educators to become better informed about language intercultural education theory. We also promote the development of resources appropriate to a foreign language teaching environment while considering the practical challenges of taking culture into account in the language classroom. With globalization on the rise and intercultural contact becoming more common than ever before, a radical change in our mindsets, educators and students alike, is required in order to embrace the transformations a multicultural society brings with it.

In summary, we are an international community of educators in Japan that

• teach students of various ages;
• teach various languages;
• recognize the importance of culture in language education;
• support each other; and
• welcome new members.