Teaching language and culture in an era of complexity: interdisciplinary approaches for an interrelated world

摘要

This publication is a collection of papers presented at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, France, on the theme of interrelatedness, or reliance. The aim of this collection is to introduce a new paradigm in the teaching of foreign languages, signalling a shift from the emphasis on the acquisition of grammatical competence separated from real and purposive communication to a broader understanding of learning a foreign language as the acquisition of intercultural competence or savoirs (Byram, 2008). The three sections of the book are centred on the notion of interrelatedness explored through the interdisciplinary approach advocated by Morin (2001), the development of intercultural understanding with particular attention towards the affective factors that determine not only the motivation to learn but also attitudes towards language and the role of language learning in a variety of contexts.