Amity School of Foreign Languages (ASFL) organized a two-day International Conference on the theme “Cross-Cultural Sensitivity in Foreign language teaching/learning” at Amity University, Noida. The objective of the conference is to provide a common platform to all the foreign language academicians, teachers, language professionals, research scholars to share their ideas on cross cultural studies in foreign languages; to develop future collaboration to excel in the field of foreign language teaching/learning; to promote the basic and applied research in the sector of foreign languages and to exchange ideas and learn from the experts from different institutions.
Teachers, language professionals and experts, Research Scholars and Students presented their research papers that helped to identify and share the most important aspects of the cross-cultural studies in foreign language teaching/learning, which would further be incorporated in the foreign language class rooms and curriculum to utilize innovative strategies and bring better outcomes.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Inderbir S. Kochar, HOI, ASFL said that foreign language, in the contemporary era of globalization, is playing a huge role in connecting people from various countries, cultures and ethnicity. He apprised that the exchange of ideas, experiences and expertise become extremely crucial when it comes to getting accustomed to foreign languages. He averred that teaching the language is easy but transmitting the culture and imparting cultural sensitivity to the students is the biggest challenge for the teachers.
Dr. D.S Rathore, Advisor, ASFL apprised that learning a foreign language is beneficial because of primarily two reasons. First, it boosts the confidence of the students and second, it enhances their knowledge acquiring power. He stated that teaching richness can be enhanced by supplementing it with the culture, literature and heritage of that country. He said that it is important for teachers to go into the nitty-gritty of teaching foreign languages and inculcate among the students a desire to learn more.
Mr. Jamel Boujdaria, Deputy Chief, Embassy of Tunisia said that foreign language is one of the major pillars of cross-cultural communication. He said that it is extremely important to have cross-cultural sensitivity because until and unless we know about the culture, tradition and beliefs of a particular region or nation, we cannot use the language to its full potential. He apprised about the steps that the Tunisian government has been taking to promote study and research in the field of foreign languages. He encouraged the students to learn as many foreign languages as possible because in this way they come closer to becoming global citizens.
Ms. Puneet Kaur, President, InDaF (Indo-German Teachers Association) and General Secretary, International German Teachers apprised that foreign language teaching, and imparting cultural knowledge goes hand in hand. She exclaimed that “culture is not just about music, art and painting, it’s also about understanding their sensitivities and their outlook. A language differs through time and space and thus we need to be sensitive to these language differences for better understanding of foreign cultures.” She expressed her delight to witness several students, pursuing specialization in various languages and told them that there is great scope and huge opportunities waiting for them in the field of foreign languages.
Addressing the students during the occasion, Dr. Rajiv Saxena, Professor and Chairperson, Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin American Studies, JNU, Delhi said that for a foreign language student, every day is a learning process but before learning other cultures we must be very well-versed with our own culture. He apprised that because of the dynamic nature of languages we need to be politically and culturally sensitive while we learn foreign languages. He emphasized on the importance of body language and non-verbal cues by citing examples of people’s varied response to the same cues in Japan, U.S and India. He said that body language and cultural components are extremely important for capturing the market in the current scenario.
Mme Maryline Laidin, Attaché for cooperation in French Language, Institut Français en Inde said that the way in which we perceive the world has changed drastically over the past few decades. Today, all of us are striving towards becoming global citizens and contribute towards humanity. She exclaimed that French language is a great example of cross-cultural sensitivity, as it is spoken in more than 45 countries and is the official language of 29 countries across Europe and Africa. She advised the students to not just focus on the grammar and vocabulary part of the language but also relish to the essence that a language brings with it.
During the two-day conference, detailed discussions and deliberation were conducted on various topics such as Teaching foreign language in an inter-cultural classroom, Comparative literature and Cross-cultural studies, 21st Century research orientation in foreign language and Recent pedagogical approaches in foreign language teaching.
Veterans in the field of foreign language pedagogy like Dr. Geeta Kochhar, Assistant Professor, Center for Chinese and South Asian Studies, JNU, Delhi; Dr. Sushant Mishra, Professor, Centre for French and Francophone Studies, JNU, Delhi and Dr. Deepanwita Srivastava, Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Languages, IGNOU addressed the students regarding various issues related to foreign language teaching and learning.