Mindful of the fact that cultures are now more interdependent than ever, this book explores the development of critical cultural awareness through the processes of teaching and learning about foreign cultures. It draws upon theoretical foundations relating to inter- and intra-cultural communication from contemporary philosophical movements, namely Critical Theory and Postmodernism. The study adopts Critical Pedagogy, as it is described by Freire, Giroux and others, as the educational framework providing guidelines for taking a critical perspective towards both native and foreign cultures. It examines the critical dimension of some selected documents and models used worldwide for teaching/learning culture within foreign language classes. It includes a research project carried out among secondary school teachers of EFL in Portugal whose national syllabus suggests a critical approach to English-speaking cultures. This project aimed to illustrate how practising teachers approach foreign cultures critically, to provide some grounded theory for a definition of critical cultural awareness within foreign language/culture education, and to inspire a proposal for teacher education and development. Finally, this book submits a general proposal for the development of critical cultural awareness and intercultural communication competence among prospective and practising teachers of foreign languages/cultures.

By foregrounding successful transnational research projects conducted across Latin America and Europe, this edited collection contests epistemological hegemony and heterogeneity in the academy and highlights feasible models for research cooperation across diverse languages, cultures, and epistemologies. Chapters focus on the practical and theoretical tenets of responsible intra-national research and propose the "Glocacademia" framework as a means of enhancing critical reflection on issues that can inhibit plurilingual, intercultural, and inter-epistemic research. The text offers key recommendations to support institutions and researchers to develop intercultural awareness, multi-level citizenship, and a readiness to embrace diverse knowledge ecologies. The book builds on existing discussions on multiculturalism, interculturality, and transculturality to offer high academic value to the discussion of higher education and research. Offering important contributions to the study of global academic research, this volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers with an interest in international and comparative education, as well as multicultural studies in education research.

This volume provides a new perspective on prevailing discourses on translanguaging and multilingualism by looking at 'glocal' languages, local languages which have been successfully "globalized". Focusing on European languages recreated in Latin America, the book features examples from languages underexplored in the literature, including Brazilian Portuguese, Amerinidian poetics, and English, Spanish, Portuguese outside Europe, as a basis for advocating for an approach to language education rooted in critical pedagogy and post-colonial perspectives and countering hegemonic theories of globalization. While rooted in a discussion of the South, the book offers a fresh voice in current debates on language education that will be of broader interest to students and scholars across disciplines, including language education, multilingualism, cultural studies, and linguistic anthropology.

This book is a theoretical and practical discussion of intercultural communication and interaction and is aimed at academic courses as well as professional development programmes. It focuses, from a critical perspective, on the intercultural dynamics established between the members of multicultural groups/teams in various types of work environments. Selected academics and other experts on intercultural communication and interaction, representing different approaches and professional experience, joined, collaborated and contributed to the fulfilment of a three-year project where they developed a model in eight axes: - Intercultural Responsibility, Emotional Management, Intercultural Interaction, Communicative Interaction, Ethnography, Biography, Diversity Management and Working in Multicultural Teams. Each chapter provides an interdisciplinary account of its topic as well as an activity which aims to illustrate the ideas proposed.

This volume provides a new perspective on prevailing discourses on translanguaging and multilingualism by looking at 'glocal' languages, local languages which have been successfully "globalized". Focusing on European languages recreated in Latin America, the book features examples from languages underexplored in the literature, including Brazilian Portuguese, Amerinidian poetics, and English, Spanish, Portuguese outside Europe, as a basis for advocating for an approach to language education rooted in critical pedagogy and post-colonial perspectives and countering hegemonic theories of globalization. While rooted in a discussion of the South, the book offers a fresh voice in current debates on language education that will be of broader interest to students and scholars across disciplines, including language education, multilingualism, cultural studies, and linguistic anthropology.