Art-based Research Methods in Intercultural Competence and Multilingualism (ECM140)

Summary: Intercultural skills have been recognized as the top-valued skills for not only employers in various industries but for education from the earliest age. Multilingualism goes hand in hand with intercultural competencies, and is already a stated goal for EU-education and a need in increasingly diverse working and living contexts. Therefore, the aim of the summer school course is to explore and critically evaluate the key issues in research on intercultural competence and multilingualism, especially from the standpoint of teacher education and foreign language teaching. More specifically, the application of alternative and art-based data elicitation techniques in the field of intercultural competence (e.g., narrative inquiry, fiction-based research, poetic inquiry, visual arts), has shown promising results with learners of different ages and is helpful in developing self-awareness and fostering mutual understanding. At the same time, understanding bi- and multilingualism in diverse contexts is important to support multilingual learners in the best possible way, especially when it comes to maintaining and developing all languages relevant to a learner. Furthermore, many educational curricula including the new curriculum in Norway state that learners shall experience multilingualism and cultural diversity as a resource in the classroom. In this course, we investigate intercultural competence and multilingualism from educational, cultural, societal, linguistic and cognitive perspectives.

Content

Over the course of a week, students will actively work on a self-chosen topic within the general course framework on intercultural competence and multilingualism, prepare an oral presentation which would lead to a discussion with their peers. Students will gain knowledge of and practice in applying art-based techniques as well as examine key aspects from research into multilingualism combining teaching of many educational, cultural, societal, linguistic and cognitive aspects of multilingualism.

Knowledge

By the end of the course, students:

• have expert knowledge of the scholarly theories within and specialized insights into intercultural competence (ICC) and multilingualism, e.g. approaches and methods in the study of multilingualism; central aspects of individual and/or societal multilingualism

• can evaluate the feasibility and application of different methods and processes in research and scholarly projects related to ICC and multilingualism, e.g. evaluate differences in application and appropriateness of the techniques for different context

• can contribute to the development of new knowledge, methods, and interpretations related to the fields of ICC and multilingualism, e.g. design and analyse different art-based data elicitation techniques

Skills

By the end of the course, the students can:

• analyze and deal critically with various sources of information

• analyze existing theories, methods and interpretations in the field of ICC and multilingualism and work independently on practical and theoretical problems

• formulate problems, plan and carry out research and scholarly development work

• handle complex academic issues and critically evaluate established knowledge and practice in the field of ICC and multilingualism

General competences

By the end of the course, students can:

• analyze relevant academic, professional and research ethical problems

• apply their knowledge and skills in new areas in order to carry out research with scholarly integrity

• communicate extensive independent work and master language and terminology of the academic field

• manage complex interdisciplinary assignments and projects

• participate in debates in the field of ICC and multilingualism in international forums

15 minute oral presentation

- The student must attend 90% of the course

Fagperson(er)

Course teacher:

Course teacher: