CC BY
103UDC 378.046.4
DOI: 10.17223/24109266/4/10
THEORETICAL BASICS OF THE COMMUNICATIVE-ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
P.V. Sysoyev
Moscow Sate Humanitarian University named after M.A. Sholokhov (Moscow, Russian Federation), Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin (Tambov, Russian Federation).
E-mail: psysoyev@yandex.ru
Abstract. The paper describes theoretical basics of the communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching a foreign language and culture. The author a) states the importance of the problem; b) defines key concepts of the research "ethnography", "communicative competence", "intercultural competence", "communicative-ethnographic approach"; c) describes the content of teaching intercultural communication; d) defines methods of the communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching a foreign language and culture; e) defines characteristics and positions of this approach.
Keywords: communicative-ethnographic approach; intercultural competence; communicative competence; problem-solving methods of teaching.
Introduction
The increase in international contacts in the fields of education and tourism every year allows greater and greater number of Russian pupils and students to travel abroad. Immersion into an authentic socio-cultural and linguistic environment has a great didactic and methodological potential, which can and should be used by the learners to continue their linguistic and socio-cultural education. It should be noted that currently implemented in the Russian system of secondary and higher professional education sociocultural, multicultural and communicative and cognitive approaches are focused on the systemic teaching the foreign language and culture of the country of the target language to the pupils and students outside the cultural and linguistic environment [1-11].
Developed in the 90s of the twentieth century by Michael Byram and his colleagues, the ethnographic approach focuses specifically on the studies of culture of the country of the target language in immersion [12-13]. However, the analysis of a number of studies devoted to the implementation of this approach in practice suggests that the educational process is reduced to the study of specific, in some cases, discrete facts or realities of culture [14]. The case-method is often used as a methodological solution. As such, the ethnographic approach does not allow students to develop a complete view on the culture of the target language country, but only reveals the features of
its culture on the certain specific aspects. It is obvious that at the modern stage of development of the society in general and methods of teaching foreign languages in particular the study of cultural facts without considering them in relation to the historical and social context is not enough in the didactic and methodological, and in social and cultural plans, as well as teaching a foreign language can't be considered apart from teaching culture. Immersion into the cultural and linguistic environment of the country of the target language has a significant didactic potential to enrich the modern so-ciocultural education. In this connection, there is a need to expand and adjust the possibilities of the ethnographic approach, so that it should continue and enrich socio-cultural education of the Russian pupils and students during their staying abroad.
Operational definitions
It should be noted that in various fields, in spite of the differences in the subject and object of research, there are no significant differences in the interpretation of the term "ethnography". Let's view some definitions and express our understanding of the term "ethnographic approach" in relation to the methods of teaching foreign languages.
In the dictionary of the Russian language "ethnography" is interpreted as "1. Science studying ethnogenesis, material and spiritual culture, specifics of everyday life of a certain nation (nations). 2. Integrity of all the features of everyday life, customs and culture of a certain nation, area" [15: 770]. A similar conceptual meaning of the term can be found in many dictionaries.
The subject of analysis of cultural studies is a phenomenon of culture as a historically-social experience of the people embodied in the specific rules, laws, features of their activity, transferred from generation to generation in the form of values and ideals, and is interpreted in the "cultural texts" of philosophy, religion and the arts [16]. In cultural studies, the ethnographic approach deals with the study of culture as integrity of values, knowledge, customs and beliefs of a particular ethnic group. By an ethnic group we mean a historically developed stable group of people called a tribe, people or nation. In this case, an obligatory condition for the origin of an ethnos is a common territory and language. A cultural unity of the members of an eth-nos leads to the unity of their psychological mindset [17: 549]. Representatives of an ethnic group recognize their common origin, speak the same language, and share the same system of values and norms. It is this combination of characteristics that distinguishes the members of one ethnic group from another. Within the framework of the ethnographic approach, researchers can examine the mutual influence of cultures of different ethnic groups living in a particular area, but these issues will be of fragmental nature since the focus will be at the study of a specific, often the dominant in the area ethnic
group. In this regard, the study of an ethnic group most likely has a dia-chronic character (change and development in different historical periods).
The implementation of the ethnographic approach in cultural studies has much in common with its implementation in sociology. The object of study of sociology is the social life of the community, which consists in the set of social phenomena arising from an interaction of people, social groups and associations, their social ties and social relations. Therefore, in sociology the ethnographic approach is aimed at studying ethnos - community of people, the formation of which is based on the process of cultural self-identification (uniting people into groups on certain grounds). Studies of ethnos are focused on ethnic identity, which is studied in sociology as a social construct [18].
It should be noted that none of the definitions of the ethnographic approach in cultural studies or sociology refers explicitly to "immersion" as an essential condition for the implementation of this approach. It is represented implicitly in the description of the methods of the ethnographic approach that can be implemented only in the target cultural environment and in direct contact with its representatives.
Of particular interest for the analysis is the doctrine of the American anthropologist and sociolinguist Dell Hymes on "ethnography of communication", which he proposed to consider as an approach to the study of language patterns in the speech of the representatives of a language community. [19]. Work by D. Hymes was a response to the conception of N. Chomsky on "ideal speaker-hearer" having an innate knowledge of the native language grammar (generative grammar). D. Hymes argued that language competence is not only the competence in grammatical structure and vocabulary, but also the conception of social and cultural context of communication, which will determine the process and outcome of a dialogue: "there are rules of functioning without which the grammar rules are useless" [Ibid: 278]. Considering the fact that the "use" in the real life can never directly represent competence (knowledge) (except non-existent ideal conditions), this term and its didactic content, according to D. Hymes, can't be used in the descriptive linguistics. In contrast to the concept of N. Chomsky, Dell Hymes introduced the concept of "communicative competence", which is suggested to consider as an ability to understand the use of linguistic competence in different social contexts. Competence is a modular construct that includes both knowledge and an ability to use knowledge in practice in the social and cultural context [Ibid: 282]. Thus, D. Hymes has transformed the conception of N. Chomsky, moving the use of language from the ideal into the real social conditions of communication. In this, ethnography will be an effective method to study the social and cultural context of language use.
Development of foreign language communicative competence in a variety of its components (linguistic, verbal, compensatory, socio-cultural, ed-
ucational and cognitive) and intercultural competence is one of the main goals of foreign language teaching at the various stages of training, along with the education and personal development [1-2, 5-7]. In this regard, in the methodology of foreign language teaching it would be appropriate to speak on communicative ethnographic approach as one of the cultural studies approaches aimed to study foreign language and culture in immersion of the students into the linguistic and socio-cultural environment. The combination of the two key concepts - "communicative" and "ethnographic" in the approach name highlights the importance of these two components. The "communicative" component represents one of the main goals of education -teaching a foreign language as a means of communication through communication with representatives of different countries and cultures. The "ethnographical" component emphasizes an important condition for the implementation of the process of teaching foreign language and culture - students must be in the linguistic and socio-cultural environment and to act as ethnographers who observe and study a foreign language and culture by observing the communicative behavior of representatives of the country of the target language and communicating with them. Direct immersion in an authentic linguistic and socio-cultural environment and contact with its representatives is a distinctive feature of this approach in comparison to other culturological approaches. In addition, unlike other areas of scientific knowledge, the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach in foreign language teaching should not be limited to studying only one ethnic group living in the country of the target language (e.g. culture of the establishment), though in some cases it can be the purpose of the study. At the modern stage of studying multicultural communities of the countries of the native and target language, of special importance is the acquaintance with a number of people living in the same area, and the study of their interaction and mutual influence in the diachronic and synchronic aspects. In this case, pupils and students can form not false stereotypes and generalizations, but the ideas of multiculturalism as a normal coexistence of cultures in the modern multicultural world [5-7].
Intercultural competence
Communicative-ethnographic approach creates didactic conditions for the development of students' intercultural competence more effectively than other culturally-oriented approaches. This is possible due to the real contact with people in second language countries. The importance of the development of the intercultural competence is emphasized in the papers of many scientists dealing with the issues of language and culture teaching. One of the first models of intercultural competence (in relation to foreign language teaching) was represented by the famous British methodologist M. Byram
[20]. The scientist proposed to include five components in the construct of intercultural competence: Attitudes
They are most often described in terms of curiosity and openness towards other cultures. Other key words are "cultural sensitivity", "tolerance of ambiguity", "respect of otherness", and "empathy". This involves a certain willingness with learners to relativize their own culture by questioning their existing values and beliefs. In the classroom it makes sense to focus on what cultures have in common and to start from similarities and common perspectives instead of looking for differences in order not to reinforce existing stereotypes and prejudices.
Knowledge
You can only change your attitudes and values if you have socio-cultural knowledge. English as a lingua franca plays an important role in a global world where the focus is no longer on the Anglo-Saxon countries. Cultural difference might therefore create mighty cultural communicative challenges. Knowledge is important not only in everyday behavior situations, but also in terms of religious beliefs, values and attitudes. Knowledge in a wider sense therefore goes far beyond "background studies" (so-called Landeskunde in Germany) - it covers not only literature and well-known pieces of art (so-called high culture or Culture with a capital C) - but also everyday phenomena in relation to time, distance and nearness.
Skills (I) of interpreting and relating
These skills include text-based learning and working with documents. It is a main aim in the classroom to enable students to analyze the cultural meaning being conveyed to them by classic literature and other sorts of texts, documents or events, to explain it and to relate it to documents from their own culture.
Skills (II) of discovery and interaction
They are the ability to acquire new knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-time communication (face-to-face-encounters) and interaction. Social interaction in real time can of course also take place via Internet. Foreign language skills are a central element here. In order to cope with such encounters, students need to be able to interpret, to explain, to enquire and they also need strategies of politeness.
Critical cultural awareness
Critical cultural awareness / political education is the aim of intercultural learning. Students should be able to perceive (see, hear and feel) and critically evaluate perspectives, practices and products in their own and the target cultures and countries. In a process of balancing their own perspective in relation to the other perspectives, students should develop intercultural sensitivity which is acceptance as well as tolerance towards intercultural phenomena [20: 9].
In spite of the extensive use of M. Byram's model in the Western academic literature, it is not without controversial moments and raises some questions. Firstly, the content of the knowledge-component, in our opinion, refers rather to the socio-cultural competence, i.e. knowledge of the social and cultural groups of the native country and country of the target language, rather than intercultural. The knowledge component of intercultural competence should include knowledge about the phenomenon of culture, about the types of relationships between cultures, etc., because everything that is universal for "cultural interaction" is not tied to a particular country or culture of the country of the target language.
Secondly, the skills of interpretation and critical evaluation are inextricably linked with each other and should therefore be considered as a whole. The ability for critical interpretation is the key to comparing and contrasting cultures.
Thirdly, the development of skills to acquire information about the culture of the target language country is not a component of intercultural competence. It is a universal skill which is formed in the student from the beginning of the school period, regardless of the subject, and traditionally constitutes the content of educational and cognitive competence.
Thus, in his model of intercultural competence M. Byram failed to allocate and put together only the unique components that are relevant only to the interaction between cultures and to the ability of a person to be a mediator between cultures. The inclusion of some non-unique and invariant but universal components, or components that are also relevant to other types of competence, on the one hand, raises the question: why just those and not other known components that are no less important in the intercultural interaction were included in the model? On the other hand, the component structure of the model of intercultural competence blurs the edges of this theoretical construct, which also has a negative value for both theory and practice.
However, the diachronic perspective on M. Byram's conception and doctrines of many of his colleagues indicates a lack of clear understanding of the different types of competences and the boundaries between them at an early stage of research on intercultural communication. According to some scholars, the ability to interact with people of different cultures can be achieved on a specific cultural material and, as a result, socio-cultural and intercultural aspects of verbal interaction should be interrelated [21-22]. Undeniable merit of the scholar is focusing the attention of the wider scientific community on the problems of intercultural interaction and formation of intercultural competence, which has stimulated a series of research in this area.
Speaking about the importance of cross-cultural component of foreign language communication, Claire Kramsch in her works introduced the term "intercultural speaker", which in its conceptual content combines the simultaneous development of the two types of competences: foreign language
communicative and intercultural competencies. Kramsch criticized many existing models of foreign language communicative competence [23, 24] because of their orientation to the native speaker as a model of the linguistic norm [25]. It should be noted that scientists still have not reached an agreement on representative of which ethnic group, social class, education, age, occupation, etc. can act as a "native speaker".
Therefore, instead of seeking to trying to achieve the competence of an ideal native speaker, students need to be taught how to become "intercultural speakers" [26: 16-17]. Under the intercultural speaker the scholar proposes to understand the learner who retains his / her social, cultural and linguistic identity, who in his / her communicative behavior does not imitate a "native speaker" and who, being competent in the culture of his / her native country and the countries of the target language, is able to be a kind of mediator between the two cultures.
It should be noted that partially this theory has a kernel of truth. C. Kramsch draws scholars' and practitioners' attention to the fact, that methodology focuses on the desire to achieve perfection in foreign language competence (aspects of the language and kinds of speech activity), and in many cases it is done at the expense of other more important aspects of professional communication. In particular, why spend a lot of time on the formation of phonetic or grammatical skills, when in fact, in most cases the student does not get rid of the accent or grammatical errors. And what is the meaning to identify oneself as "native" in the country of the target language? The status of a "foreigner" or "speaking in a foreign language" gives the learner a number of advantages and privileges. For example, the right not to know certain lexical units or cultural realities, etc. On the other hand, in her works, the author does not say to what extent it is possible to move away from the "linguistic norm" (classical version of the language, which is presented in the textbooks, grammar references, etc.). And whether it will lead to chaos in the use of a language and, as a result, a partial or complete lack of understanding between the interlocutors? Do not complicate the process of understanding and communication? In addition, when it comes to training in the field of foreign language teaching (teachers and professors), focus on the "norm" is paramount, because today's students later on will teach this language to the new generation. And if everyone will depart in one or the other side of the linguistic norm and it would be considered normal, what will be the result?
Certainly, the concept by Claire Kramsch raises an important problem of determining the goal of teaching a foreign language and culture, which, obviously, can be adjusted from time to time. Nevertheless, the teaching of an "intercultural speaker" has contributed to the appearance of a new construct in the academic literature - intercultural communicative competence [27-28]. According to this teaching, the intercultural component intertwines
with all the components of a foreign language communicative competence. Of course, the foreign language and intercultural communicative competences are closely interrelated and in some cases we can talk about the formation of intercultural communicative competence when it comes to a particular target language and when the level of foreign language skills and intercultural communication is high enough. However, the desire to combine the intercultural and foreign language communicative competences into a single construct often leads to confusion in the conceptual meaning of the terms when intercultural competence is put on a level to the socio-cultural and is considered as a part of the foreign language communicative competence [11] or when the knowledge-component of the socio-cultural competence (knowledge of history and traditions of the country of the target language) is attributed to intercultural competence.
However, in this study, while not denying the relationship between the two types of competences, for didactic purposes we consider it appropriate to separate them. This distinction is due to the different nature of these types of competences. Foreign language communicative competence is the ability and willingness to interpersonal communication in a foreign language with the representatives of different linguistic and cultural communities. Intercultural competence is the ability of an individual to successfully communicate with the people of different cultures, being aware of his cultural identity.
Thus, foreign language communicative competence is limited to one specific foreign language and intercultural competence in this perspective includes universal knowledge, skills of intercultural communication and attitudes no matter with representatives of what cultures to interact. So, according to his / her ability to communicate with representatives of different countries and cultures one person can possess intercultural competence. In this case, his / her foreign language communicative competence will be formed only in English. In French, German, Japanese, Chinese and other languages his / her foreign language communicative competence will not be developed. This separation of foreign language and intercultural communicative competences can be found in the works of other researchers involved in issues of formation of intercultural competence and training students to intercultural communication [1, 4-5, 7, 29-36].
Of particular interest for the methodology of foreign language teaching is a thesis by V.G. Apalkov [30] in which the author suggested the component structure (educational content) of intercultural competence. Following the traditional structure of intercultural competence (knowledge, skills and attitudes), the author avoids including elements of sociocultural competence (within the framework of foreign language communicative competence) and highlights only the distinctive elements of intercultural competence.
In particular, the component "knowledge", according to the author, should not include information about the culture of the target language country or directly the foreign language, as it is represented in the papers of many researchers. Conversely, the component "knowledge" includes information on how the different cultures can interact through their representatives. The frameworks of culture are defined by the characteristics that unite people into the groups (race / ethnicity, social class, gender, place of residence, religion, language, etc.). On this basis, the culture will not be limited by the political boundaries of the country. Furthermore, within a country, each of us belongs to several types of cultures in accordance with the unifying features. Culture also has the characteristics to which scientists refer the following. Culture is dynamic, it has a framework, culture can be taught, it can be transmitted, culture is ethnocentric, and there is integrity of all the components of culture.
The component "skills" is composed of universal skills to contact with representatives of different cultures and interpret the gathered information, regardless of what culture comes into contact. To the crosscultural communication skills we refer the skills to initiate intercultural dialogue, to interpret cultural facts and events, to identify cultural similarities and differences between the people of different cultural groups, to resolve cultural conflicts, to identify situations of intercultural conflicts, to critically evaluate contacting cultures from the viewpoint of their own value systems, to act as a representative of his / her native country / culture.
The component "attitudes" represents the ability of an individual to display openness, curiosity, tolerance, a willingness to initiate communication, to act as a representative of the native culture, to take a different culture and understand that the other culture may have different values and norms.
This model forms the basis for the development of the methods of intercultural competence development with secondary school (profile level) pupils (V.G. Apalkov) [30], university students majoring in linguistics under conditions of immersion into the culture of the target language country (N.A. Sushkova) [35] and on the basis of the case method (V.V. Filonova) [36].
N.I. Almazova [29] in her thesis distinguishes the intercultural component of the formation of linguistic personality by the material of the linguistic higher school students. The author argues that the purpose of foreign language teaching in a higher school is the formation of a linguistic personality that is able to interact effectively in the context of a particular culture. In the structure of foreign language communicative competence that a linguistic personality should possess, a special place belongs to the intercultural competence related to filling cultural gaps, and to adaptation of communicators to the realities of the new foreign culture.
Dominant methods
The methodological dominant in the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach should be, in the first place, the basic methods of ethnography, which include observation, interviewing, questionnaires and interviews. However, for a complete and systematic linguistic and socio-cultural education the methods of ethnography are not enough. Depending on the age of the students, stage of foreign language teaching and level of their cultural training along with the four methods of ethnography we recommend using different kinds of problematic culturological assignments. Let us dwell on the methodological component of the implementation of the communicative-ethnographic approach.
Method of observation is one of the most effective methods of ethnography, it involves immersing the student into the real linguistic and socio-cultural environment in which he / she takes part in the life of the cultural community under study, observes the communicative behavior of its members, gathers information on the issues under study, makes an analysis and draws conclusions.
Questioning is the second method of the ethnographic approach. The student-researcher prepares a questionnaire with the questions on the target aspect of language or culture, offers the respondents (representatives of linguistic and cultural community) to answer the questionnaire, analyzes, classifies, summarizes and interprets the data. Questioning is conducted both face-to-face (with the personal participation of the student), and distantly by Internet services or e-mail.
Survey is a third method of ethnography, aimed at gathering the necessary primary information for subsequent classification, synthesis, analysis, and interpretation. At first, the student creates a questionnaire on the target aspects of a language or culture, and then questions the respondents. The survey can also be both face-to-face - during interpersonal contact of the respondent with the interviewer and distant, when the respondents answer questions by Internet services.
Interview is the fourth (the most difficult in terms of language training) method of ethnography, consisting in a personal conversation of the student with representatives of a language and culture. First, the student prepares questions on the target problem, and then talks on them with the representatives of the community under study. The conclusions are made on the basis of the discussion.
Obviously, the choice in favor of one or another method of ethnography should be made taking into account the age and cognitive features of the students, the general level of foreign language communicative competence and general cultural competence. In particular, interviewing requires a higher level of foreign language communicative competence than a survey or poll. The
observation method can be used at any level of foreign language teaching. For the purpose of systemic formation of foreign language communicative and intercultural competences, along with the described methods of ethnography, it is necessary to use different kinds of problematic culturological assignments.
Problem-solving cultural tasks and assignments are described illustratively and in sufficient detail in the works by V.V. Safonova [37], which have also been implemented into the teaching materials for grades 8-11 of the secondary schools with advanced exposure to the English language (team of the authors led by Prof. V.V. Safonova (1995-2008). In her work, the author distinguishes three main types of problem-solving assignments: a) search-and-play, b) cognitive-searching, c) cognitive and research tasks) [Ibid]. Search-and-play tasks are aimed at developing students' subject and subject-situational observation, thinking, intelligence, recreating and creative imagination in the process of formation and improvement of communicative skills. According to the characteristics of cognitive development and communicative abilities of the students, the most effective use of search and play assignments will be in the 3-7 grades. At a higher stage - in high school - "search-and-play" assignments will be somewhat complicated, and will be transformed into cognitive-searching or cognitive-research culturally-oriented assignments. Cognitive and communicative abilities of the high school and university students allow active using in foreign language teaching the cognitive-search and cognitive-research culturally-oriented assignments, culturally-oriented communicatively-oriented role plays and culturally-oriented projects.
It should be noted that if some continuity can be observed in the purpose of foreign language teaching between secondary school and university, then the continuity should also be observed in the implementation of methods of problem-based teaching between the school and the university. In particular, role-playing games aimed at the development of communicative skills and the ability to implement the search, selection of the material, its systematization, analysis, synthesis, representation in the form of a written project or presentation will be used at the middle and high levels of secondary education in accordance with the characteristics of students' cognitive development, cognitive-search and cognitive-research culturological assignments (grades 8-11) [37-38]. In the system of higher professional education, the chain of problem-solving types of the students' educational activities should continue, and the level of independence should rise.
In the context of the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching language and culture the dominant place should be given to the problem-solving and research assignments or projects which are implemented in extracurricular time through the four methods of ethnography. Preparation for observation, questionnaires, surveys and interviews can be carried out at the seminars, problem-solving lectures of research nature using individual and
group work. Moreover, it is crucial that culture studies assignments should alternate with the methods of ethnography, complementing each other and enriching students' linguistic, socio-cultural and crosscultural practice.
During their stay in the country of the target language, of course, the emphasis in teaching should be made on using methods of ethnography. Preparation for their implementation, as well as students' immersion in the context of linguistic or socio-cultural issue, depending on the training program and the period of immersion into the cultural environment, can be conducted both in the host country and in the native country. At the final stages of using all four methods of ethnography, it is important that students together with the teacher a) interpret the information with a view of further formation of the components of foreign language communicative and intercultural competence, and avoid creating false perceptions and stereotypes about the cultural community; and b) produce a cultural reflection on the native culture. According to some empirical studies (P.V. Sysoyev) [5-7], the students will be able to come to a better understanding of themselves as the cultural and historical subjects through reflection and interpretation. Problem-solving assignments and additional materials used in ethnographic research should be aimed at creating a holistic view on the target aspect of culture in relation to other aspects within a particular historical, cultural or social context.
The teacher's role in the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach is to facilitate the educational process. While preparing for the use of the methods of ethnography and at the final stage of data interpretation and reflection, the teacher's role, at the first glance, will be more pronounced. All students' educational and cognitive activity using problem-solving assignments will be in the classroom in the presence of a teacher. At the stage of implementation of ethnographic projects, the function of the teacher will be reduced to monitoring educational and cognitive activity of the students. And it can be done both face-to-face when the students make a poll or make observations in the presence of the teacher, and distantly, when students communicate with the teacher for advice while implementing the ethnographic project or for phased reporting.
Characteristics of communicative-ethnographic approach at the present stage
Communicative-ethnographic approach has a number of characteristics which, on the one hand, distinguish it from the other culturological approaches, and, on the other hand, show the didactic and methodological potential of immersion into the language and cultural environment for the purpose of teaching foreign language and culture (table). All of them should be taken into account while developing training programs and training materials for teaching language and culture under conditions of immersion.
Characteristics of communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching foreign language and culture
№ Characteristics Description
1 Individualization and differentiation of teaching 1) taking into account individual abilities, interests and needs of the students in the field of linguistic and sociocultural education
2 Conditions of immersion 2) immersing students into the linguistic and sociocultural environment of the country of the target language with a view to perform the role of researchers-ethnographers, observing, exploring and interpreting the phenomena of language and culture
3 Methodological dominant -methods of ethnography 3) the main methods of ethnography (observation, interviewing, questionnaires, interviews) as well as different kinds of problemsolving assignments a) search-and-play, b) cognitive-search, c) cognitive and research tasks serve as the methodological dominant
4 Context teaching 4) studies of the phenomena of language and culture in the real social and cultural context in diachronic and synchronic aspects
5 Communicative teaching 5) research work of the students on the basis of the methods of problem-based teaching involves direct communication in a foreign language with the representatives of the language and culture (principles of communicative orientation and functionality); 6) the constant change of the methods of ethnographic research, techniques, forms of work, and communicative tasks aimed at forming the competence in the foreign language and culture of the target language country; 7) changes in the content of training considering the individual needs and interests of the students; 8) analyzing the variation of verbal statement (lexical, grammatical, stylistic, and other aspects) depending on the situations of both formal and informal communication
6 Sociocultural education 9) studying the systems of values, the values and norms of different cultural groups (according to territorial, ethnic, social, religious, etc. characteristics) and identifying the dominant values of the cultural community in a particular area; 10) studying the ethnic culture in relation to the regional (continental) culture (e.g. examining the culture and lifestyle of the religious Amish communities in relation to the Anglo-Saxon culture in the USA); 11) studying nationally specific social characteristics and peculiarities of communicative behavior of the representatives of the target culture; 12) studying the influence of cultural background (according to the territorial, social, economic, religious and other features) on the image and style of life in the country of the target language; 13) formation of intercultural competence of the students
7 Multicultural education 14) studying the spectrum of cultures of a target culture (based on social, ethnic, religious, etc. factors); 15) students' awareness of themselves as representatives of the native culture with multi-group affiliation (according to religious, territorial, social, political, and other aspects); 16) using in the educational process the assignments on analysis, comparing and contrasting the data (linguistic, verbal or socio-cultural material) on different cultural groups when comparing native and target cultures; 17) students' reflection; 18) development of students' intercultural competence
Characteristics of communicative-ethnographic approach presented in the Table 1 testify that at the present stage, due to the revision of the didactic and methodological possibilities of the communicative-ethnographic approach, its objectives are much more detailed and complicated in comparison with the objectives that were set in the 1990s. In particular, if the initial description of the approach indicated its separate existence, nowadays communicative-ethnographic approach in the didactic terms should continue communicative and cognitive, socio-cultural and multicultural approaches, creating a unique environment for teaching a foreign language and culture. In addition, the objectives in the modern version allow forming the aspects of foreign language communicative competence and intercultural competence of the pupils and students in a systematic and integrated way. Analysis of the proposed characteristics of the communicative-ethnographic approach indicates the continuity between the approaches used in Russia and an in the language and cultural immersion environment. In other words, communicative-ethnographic approach can solve a number of educational tasks that were previously assigned to the communicative method of language teaching (positions 5-8) (E.I. Passov) [39], socio-cultural approach to teaching languages of international communication (positions 9-13) (V.V. Safonova) [34] and multicultural approach (positions 14-18) (P.V. Sysoyev) [5-7]. All these provisions in their integrity create didactic conditions for the formation of the students' intercultural competence.
Directions of the communicative-ethnographic approach
On the basis of the selected characteristics we can identify the main directions of the communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching a foreign language and culture.
1. Communicative-ethnographic approach is one of the culturological approaches to teaching the foreign language and culture of the target language country, implemented fully or partially during students' immersion in the linguistic and socio-cultural environment of the country of the target language. It is implemented in cooperation with the competence, systemic, personal and pragmatist, cognitive-communicative, sociocultural and multicultural approaches and is focused on the further development education of the students and development of their foreign language communicative competence and intercultural competence.
2. Communicative-ethnographic approach to teaching a foreign language and culture involves systemic and contextual study of the linguistic and cultural realities. The students study the phenomena of language and culture in the real social and cultural context in diachronic (observing changes in the different historical periods and analyzing reasons for these changes) or synchronic (studying the interaction and mutual influence of the target aspects of language and culture in a series of the similar) aspects.
3. The choice of educational content should be based on the following methodological principles: didactic culture-conformity, dialogue of cultures (V.V. Safonova) [37], cultural diversity (P.V. Sysoyev) [5-7], cultural opposition (V.G. Apalkov) [30].
4. Methodological dominants in the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach are the four methods of ethnography: observation, questionnaires, surveys and interviews. Alternating with the problemsolving assignments (a) search and play, b) cognitive-searching, c) cognitive and research), they create backgrounds to enriching the linguistic and cultural practices of the students and to developing their foreign language communicative and intercultural competencies.
5. A considerable amount of time in the implementation of communicative-ethnographic approach is assigned to independent educational activities of the students. This, firstly, would contribute to the development of their abilities of independent educational activities for self-study and "learning throughout life" (N.F. Koryakovtseva) [40]. Secondly, it allows implementing the models of training on individual paths, including the use of modern information and communication technologies (P.V. Sysoyev) [41-47].
6. An essential step in the application of communicative-ethnographic approach is reflection that allows students, on the one hand, to compare the target aspects of the language and culture with the native language and culture with a view to adopt linguistic and cultural diversity as a norm of multi-culturalism in the modern multicultural world. On the other hand - to identify successful aspects of their own cognitive activity while using methods of ethnography and performing problem-solving assignments and aspects requiring further improvement.
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