Learning involves

This means that students

This means that educators

Active construction of knowledge.

use language purposefully in a range of tasks in which they discover and create meaning in interaction with people, texts and technologies. They develop personal ways of responding to linguistic and cultural difference. They explore the culturally conditioned nature of human behaviour.

support students in making connections in their learning. They encourage interaction with peers and others. They encourage ‘noticing’. They give time for formulating questions, observing, discovering, discussing and experimenting. They select/design tasks that stimulate students’ interest and extend their thinking about language and culture.

Challenging initial concepts to lead to new insights.

develop ways to re-think their initial conceptions, and to transform themselves (identity) and their knowledge. They combine learning of language and culture with learning across the curriculum.

They develop a growing understanding of language, culture and values, and their interdependence.

begin tasks with understanding that students bring from home or their local community and draw upon the diversity of their learners. They provide scaffolding through interactive questioning, instruction, resources and technologies. They suggest possible alternative explanations. They encourage learners to observe, predict, compare, explain, integrate and inquire. They encourage interaction and connections across texts and contexts. They show learners how bridges are made.

Social/interactive situations

engage in interactive talk and questioning with the teacher and others, through which they are encouraged to notice forms, processes and strategies in the context of tasks. They work towards reciprocal relationships, directly exploring more than one culture, conceptual systems, sets of values, linguistic and cultural boundaries, and seeing their own and others’ cultures in a comparative light. They recognize that social interaction is central to communication.

promote social involvement of all learners. They value and promote discussion, thinking, inquiry and experimentation. They listen to and build upon student responses. They guide conversation to include learners’ views, judgements and rationales. They draw upon multiple ideas, knowledge, beliefs, values and behaviours.

Critical and constructive reflection

reflect critically on language, culture, knowing and learning. They develop the capability to reflect on and engage with difference, and developing ways of modifying behaviour. They monitor their own production and the effects of their own production on others. They question stereotypes. They develop a metalanguage for discussing the relationship between language and culture. They understand the need for that metalanguage development.

encourage new learning through language and about language. They promote reflection on linguistic and cultural concepts. They create an intercultural space for engaging with cultures, without students abandoning their primary culture(s). They discuss goals, processes and judgements with learners. They provide clear and accurate feedback. They foster the development of intercultural sensitivity.

Accepting responsibility

seek and respond to feedback on their own learning. They take responsibility for their own learning. They show willingness to interact positively with people from diverse languages and cultures. They develop awareness of the validity of diverse value and conceptual systems. They recognize the need to ‘decentre’ from their own cultural perspective. They understand the naturalness of multiple perspectives.

support the setting of personal goals. They foster engagement with difference. They encourage awareness of generalizations such as ‘cultural reductionism’. They foster cooperative learning. They develop awareness of the ethical uses of knowledge. They encourage self-monitoring and self-assessment. They demonstrate understanding through personal attitudes and behaviours.