Abstract
Intercultural competence in the language classroom involves pupils learning both about other cultures and how they relate to their own cultures. The first part of this chapter will look briefly at theories relating to intercultural competence, and how its influence can be seen in the Norwegian curriculum. In the second part of this chapter, extracts from a selection of textbooks used in English language teaching at secondary schools in Norway are discussed, looking at how well intercultural awareness and the development of intercultural competence is promoted in the texts and tasks. The final section of this chapter will discuss how the examples from Norway can be used by teachers worldwide and offers suggestions for how teachers can work with assessing curriculum and textbook content.
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Appendix 1
Appendix 1
Extract from English Curriculum used in Norwegian Schools (2013).
Grade 2:
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converse about aspects of the day-to-day life of children in English-speaking countries.
Grade four:
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converse about some aspects of different ways of living, traditions and customs in English-speaking countries and in Norway.
Grade seven:
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converse about the way people live and socialise in different cultures in English-speaking countries and in Norway, including the Sami culture.
Grade ten:
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discuss and elaborate on the way people live and how they socialise in Great Britain, USA and other English-speaking countries and Norway
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describe and reflect on the situation of indigenous peoples in English-speaking countries.
Final year of compulsory teaching:
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discuss and elaborate on culture and social conditions in several English-speaking countries
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discuss and elaborate on texts by and about indigenous peoples in English-speaking countries.
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Murray, H.M. (2021). Intercultural Competence in the Curriculum and in Textbooks—Which Lessons Can Be Learnt from EFL Textbooks in Norwegian Schools?. In: Victoria, M., Sangiamchit, C. (eds) Interculturality and the English Language Classroom. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76757-0_6
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