ABSTRACTS & BIODATA
OPENING PLENARY | 9.00 - 10.30
Claudia Ferradas, PhD
Ourselves - in English
One of the central concerns of foreign language learning is how to
communicate our hybrid, fluid identities in a language used to express
worldviews different from our own.
In a context of growing international contact, virtual as well as face to
face, intercultural competence has become paramount. This
competence involves not only the capacity to understand the values
and customs of others but also to be able to express our own meanings
so that others can understand them. How can we find the words to
express concepts, habits and perceptions which do not seem to have
an equivalent in another culture? How can we find points in common
that make communication possible? And how effective is English as the
language of international communication to express local meanings?
This session explores literary (though not necessarily printed) texts in
English in which intercultural encounters are highlighted and proposes
activities and resources for the classroom which aim at crossing
intercultural borders. The encounter with otherness can encourage
reflection on how meanings can be communicated across cultures.
Considering such products critically and comparatively and then finding
ways to respond to them can contribute to developing the linguistic
repertoire necessary to express our own meanings in English.
10 | APIBA ANNUAL SEMINAR 2015: TEACHING AND BEYOND