ABSTRACT

Language educators in Australia and Finland are expected to foster intercultural understanding within foreign language education. This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study focusing on theoretical and practical intercultural understanding in secondary school language education. The data for this study includes lesson observations as well as student and teachers interviews collected in two secondary schools in Australia and Finland. The findings demonstrate the complex resources teachers and students draw on to develop and share intercultural understanding. The discussion addresses the value of different perspectives and the need for a new metaphor to conceptualise intercultural understanding.

摘要

预计澳大利亚和芬兰的语言教育者将在外语教育中促进跨文化理解。本文提供了定性案例研究的结果，重点是中学语言教育中的理论和实践跨文化理解。这项研究的数据包括在澳大利亚和芬兰的两所中学收集的课程观察以及学生和老师的访谈。调查结果表明，教师和学生可以利用复杂的资源来发展和分享跨文化的理解。讨论涉及不同观点的价值，以及需要新的隐喻来概念化跨文化理解的需求。