Language Learners as Ethnographers

Abstract

This book describes a new approach to teaching and learning cultural studies. Borrowing the idea of ethnography from anthropologists, it argues that language students can be taught methods for investigating the cultural and social patterns of interaction and the values and beliefs that account for them. Doing an ethnographic study while living abroad immerses students in the life of particular groups, proving an intellectual challenge and the opportunity for intense intercultural encounters. The first half of the book discusses some of the current concepts in cultural and intercultural learning. The second half is a description of how the ethnography program can be run in higher education institutions, using extensive examples from ethnography courses and student projects. Overall, this book argues that the idea of language learners as ethnographers can be transferred to many contexts and that language learning should be interdisciplinary. This book is relevant to teachers of modern and foreign languages, European Studies, Latin American Studies and to teachers of upper secondary school students and trainers in intercultural communication.