Diary and portfolio as tools for monitoring one's Intercultural learning.

2.Introduction to cultural identity (workshop led by Student Services counsellor).

• Looking at the self
• Unpacking one’s assumptions
• Non verbal behaviour

3. Attitudinal issues (workshop led by Student Services counsellor)

• Self awareness: how constrained, how relaxed when going into other place / culture?
• Judgmentalism. Assessing one’s ethnocentrism.
• Issues of conformity. Norms of behaviour.

4. Home culture. Subcultures. Micro-communities. (module tutor)

• Reporting back on discussions with foreign students / FLA’s about "British Culture"
• Stereotypes
• Personal sociogram

5. Stereotypes and Intercultural Incidents (module tutor)

• Contrasting stereotypes of the British to stereotypical representations of others (including ICP database)
• Selecting and contrasting intercultural incidents in ICP database
• Discussing preferences: open ended? single solution incident?

6. Factors in Intercultural Incidents. Language. Attitudes. Expectations. (module tutor)

• Designing intercultural incidents based in home culture.

7. Sociolinguistic Awareness and Competence: language in home culture (module tutor)

• Discussing samples of texts and their contexts. Medium.
• Participants. Age. Gender. Shared knowledge etc...
• Giving advice to potential students of English on where and how to learn to communicate in English. Reflecting on motivation behind advice.

8.Sociolinguistic Awareness; language in foreign culture (specific language tutors).

• Discussing and analysing features of written and spoken texts in FL.
  Literature, business, music, sport, education, administration etc...
• Appropriateness of formality, familiarity.

9. Sociolinguistic Awareness and Competence (specific language tutors)

• Reflecting on statements such as: "the only way to learn the language is to live in ..." "you can’t learn the language by living in region x".

10. Expectations. Objectives. Motivation. (module tutor)

• Report on findings through database activities.
• "Leeds pack" workshops
• Own expectations from YA. Others’ expectations (home / host institutions, employers etc...).
• Card game: defining priorities.

11. Presentation of portfolio (module tutor)

• Setting Objectives for PRA.
• Strategies for coping in foreign country (socially, linguistically).

12. Viva (with Student Services counsellor)

• reporting on impact of course, on emotional, attitudinal shifts
• surprises? expectations?
• are objectives (for YA) defined more clearly?

B YEAR ABROAD

• Work / study placement
• Continuation of personal diary
• Sociolinguistic investigations
• Continuation of portfolio

1. Presentations in conjunction with mainstream classes (specific language tutors)

2. Feedback (to Student Services counsellor):

• how useful was it to look at own culture?
• high / low points whilst abroad?
• when did shift occur from "visitor" to "resident"?

3. Workshop with foreign nationals (module tutor)

• Comparing first impressions of being in the other country.
• Comparing preparation, learning process.

4. Preparation of workshops in tandem with foreign students, for the benefit of outgoing students (to include setting up mailing list).
Reflecting on / observing working methods, organisation etc. (module tutor / EFL tutor).

5. Careers workshop (Careers tutor)

• Employability skills from Year Abroad.
• What do employers want from Graduates?
• How do students create employability skills?
• Audit of own employability skills.
• Translating employability skills into real life applications.
• "Owning" and defining one’s skills.
• Being selective about one’s skills.

6. Diary ends. Write analytical account of the learning process, based on diary (2000-3000 words). (assessed by Student Services counsellor).