How Can We Use Language to Help Build Peace? A Review of Peacebuilding in Language Education: Innovations in Theory and Practice

摘要

It is not often that one comes across a book squarely located within one academic field with applicability across a range of disciplines. Peacebuilding in language education: Innovations in theory and practice is one such text. Drawing on a nested conception of peace that ranges from internal/inner peace to peace at the global and ecological levels, the editors of this text engage with a range of topics and issues that, though oriented toward language teachers/teacher educators, will resonate with many in the peace and conflict studies field. The book is organized into sections based on the Language of peace approach described in the first chapter, which conceptualizes peace as consisting of six dimensions: inner peace, interpersonal peace, inter-group peace, intercultural peace, international peace, and ecological peace. Chapter 2 discusses foundational knowledge and competencies teachers of foreign languages should have in relation to peace and peacebuilding, as well as presenting activities that can be used in language teaching classrooms to help establish these competencies; chapter 3 focuses on nonverbal elements of communication and their significance for peacebuilding.