Cultural studies in multicultural classrooms: Implementing language and culture-reflexive approaches in language acquisition practice How can reflective approaches lead to the advancement of cultural studies in language education for immigrants?

Abstract

Aim: This research aims to investigate how the concepts of culture-reflexivity, intercultural citizenship and translanguaging are understood and implemented by language teachers’ who teach cultural studies in multicultural classroom settings of immigrant language learners. This is done by engaging withtwo analytical foci: i) an in-depth examination of the establishment of language and culture-reflexive concepts and the development of intercultural citizenship for immigrant language learners and ii) language teachers’ perceptions of these concepts and their reflective thoughts about application in practice. Theory: The study tries to shed light on the development of cultural studies as part of the second language learning curriculum. It offers a brief theoretical outline of intercultural communication and explores how Sociolinguistics broadens our understanding of language acquisition by focusing on the social aspects and the reciprocity of language learning and the construction of (intercultural) identity. An emphasis is set on language- and culture-reflexive approaches and intercultural citizenship development for language learners through cultural studies. Method: Within this research the development of cultural studies as part of language acquisition and the dominant narratives within this field are investigated. The data sets include policy documents, semi structured teacher interviews and teachers’ plannings. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of five teachers of German for immigrants in Austria as a starting point. Nexus analysis was utilized to evaluate interview data, teachers’ plannings and policy documents in the sociopolitical context of language learning. Results: The nexus analysis of the data sets indicates that the implementation of language- and culture reflexive approaches is affected by teachers’ multicultural backgrounds, discourses around normative conceptions of culture in policy documents, and limitations through challenging working conditions in the language courses offered by the Austrian Integration Fond (ÖIF).