Intercultural wonderland: experience of integration of national culture into Russian foreign language education at higher school

https://doi.org/10.20339/AM.09-17.110

V.A. Goncharova is Cand.Sci. (Pedagogy), doc., head of sub-faculty e-mail: v-goncharova@yandex.ru; and V.V. Alpatov is Cand.Sci. (Philology), doc. e-mail: alpatov.v@list.ru

Institute of Foreign Languages of Moscow City Pedagogical University

Presented is analysis of present-day social context of foreign language education within the intercultural approach. Intercultural language education is determined by the fact of mono-cultural expansion which means a superior position of the target culture compared to the learner’s home culture in terms of knowledge and attitudes being formed. To illustrate the possibility to fight this the article exemplifies the course in Russian culture for students acquiring foreign language education in Moscow City Pedagogical University. The potential of the intercultural approach to foreign language education under analysis, the authors emphasize the necessity of reflection as its basis. In particular, the idea of metaculture is grounded which implies self-reflective personal evolution of a learner as an agent of intercultural mediation. To conclude, the authors give related principles of intercultural foreign language education.

Key words: intercultural foreign language education, foreign language culture, home culture, ethno-centrism, cultural identity, reflection, meta-culture.

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