Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia

Cultural competence (Puren, 2013) has been considered a critical aspect for foreign language (FL) teaching and learning due to the wide range of cultural elements associated with the learning of FLs. Hence, this case study aims to describe and understand how encounters with peripheral individuals an...

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Main Author: Juliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas 2018-07-01
Series:Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/13102
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author Juliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez
author_facet Juliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez
author_sort Juliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez
collection DOAJ
description Cultural competence (Puren, 2013) has been considered a critical aspect for foreign language (FL) teaching and learning due to the wide range of cultural elements associated with the learning of FLs. Hence, this case study aims to describe and understand how encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities contribute to developing learners’ cultural competence in a Spanish as a foreign language course. The participants were three learners who got involved with peripheral individuals and rural communities as part of a voluntary program included in the syllabi of their course. The current study provides an emic perspective following the research participants’ views and was guided by the principles of qualitative research. Data were gathered from a variety of sources: An online questionnaire, semistructured interviews, classroom observation field notes, and audiotaped social interactions. Content and interpretive analyses were carried out on the data. The findings support the importance of social action and experiential learning for cultural competence development. In addition, the outcomes suggest that the studied encounters not only provided learners with opportunities to enhance knowledge about cultures, but also helped them to encounter otherness and to expand understandings of professional cultures.
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spelling doaj.art-755deb53c02e483da1a2d44e1b90465d2022-12-21T23:04:33ZengUniversidad Distrital Francisco José de CaldasColombian Applied Linguistics Journal0123-46412248-70852018-07-0121023010.14483/22487085.1310213102Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in ColombiaJuliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez0Universidad de La SabanaCultural competence (Puren, 2013) has been considered a critical aspect for foreign language (FL) teaching and learning due to the wide range of cultural elements associated with the learning of FLs. Hence, this case study aims to describe and understand how encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities contribute to developing learners’ cultural competence in a Spanish as a foreign language course. The participants were three learners who got involved with peripheral individuals and rural communities as part of a voluntary program included in the syllabi of their course. The current study provides an emic perspective following the research participants’ views and was guided by the principles of qualitative research. Data were gathered from a variety of sources: An online questionnaire, semistructured interviews, classroom observation field notes, and audiotaped social interactions. Content and interpretive analyses were carried out on the data. The findings support the importance of social action and experiential learning for cultural competence development. In addition, the outcomes suggest that the studied encounters not only provided learners with opportunities to enhance knowledge about cultures, but also helped them to encounter otherness and to expand understandings of professional cultures.https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/13102cultural competenceexperiential learningothernessperipheral individualsspanish as a foreign language
spellingShingle Juliana Patricia Llanes Sanchez
Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal
cultural competence
experiential learning
otherness
peripheral individuals
spanish as a foreign language
title Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
title_full Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
title_fullStr Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
title_short Encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development: A case study of learners of Spanish in Colombia
title_sort encounters with peripheral individuals and rural communities for cultural competence development a case study of learners of spanish in colombia
topic cultural competence
experiential learning
otherness
peripheral individuals
spanish as a foreign language
url https://revistas.udistrital.edu.co/index.php/calj/article/view/13102
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