European Languages and Societies Commons^™

Cultural Discovery As A Post-Year Abroad Agent Of Change For Uk Modern Language Students, Cathy M. Hampton Dr

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

In a twenty month project intended to confer social responsibility and to engender metacognitive reflection upon communal identity and global citizenship, students of French undertaking a study year abroad were invited to identify and collect realia (culturally-significant artefacts) in their host countries intended for the enhancement of language teaching and learning in UK elementary and secondary classrooms. On their return, they would develop their acquisitions into learning resources for local schools. This project brought together higher education and secondary Modern Foreign Language practitioners. Its impact is analysed using social realist and pedagogical theories focusing on the benefits of situated, collaborative …