Language and culture in real-time Brazil and the United States

Icone Project

Authors

  • Magda Silva Duke University
  • Walkyria Magno e Silva Universidade Federal do Pará

Keywords:

Foreign language learning, critical pedagogy, inter and intracultural learning, ecological approach, motivation

Abstract

Learning a foreign language is much more than learning words and structure. Cultural awareness that grows from intra and inter cultural processes is mandatory if one wishes to be proficient. Making use of affordances is part of this process. Aiming at involving students in real life communication practices as well as in awareness about others and proper culture, three professors from two different parts of the world started ICONE Project a few years ago. This text briefly explains the history of the project, anchoring it on present day theoretical views such as inter and intracultural learning, ecological approach, and a dynamic understanding of motivation. Results show that the goals of the project were thoroughly met with American and Brazilian students learning from their peers in many different ways. In a brief evaluation conducted by both professors, students pointed out that they not only learned a great deal about the other students’ culture, but also came to appreciate their own culture. They also mentioned that being able to choose the topics of the conversations motivated them to keep on talking, even after ICONE sessions were over.

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Author Biographies

Magda Silva, Duke University

Dr. Magda Silva holds a doctoral degree in Brazilian Studies and Portuguese language from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the Coordinator of the Portuguese Language Program at Duke University and director of the Duke in Brazil Summer Program. Her interdisciplinary interest has reached a variety of fields including Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies, Law, and Business. Her current research focus on Critical Pedagogy, and Intercultural/Intracultural learning. She applies these two pillars to all teaching material and projects she creates as an educator of second language acquisition. Dr. Silva’s research is the foundation of her pedagogical material, one that provides full clarification of cultural, linguistic, and global political issues.

Walkyria Magno e Silva, Universidade Federal do Pará

Dr. Walkyria Magno e Silva holds a bachelor's degree in Portuguese and German from the Universidade Federal do Paraná (1976), a bachelor's degree in English from the Universidade Federal do Pará (1987), a master's degree in Linguistics from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (1980) and doctorate in Language Sciences from the Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès (Toulouse II le Mirail), France (2002). She has experience in Linguistics, focusing on Applied Linguistics, more specifically on autonomy, additional languages teaching and learning, language learning advising, language learning as a complex adaptive system. She acts as a reviewer for national journals. From 2008 to 2010, she chaired the Modern Foreign Languages School at UFPA. Presently, she directs the Institute of Letters and Communication at UFPA.

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Published

2023-09-02

How to Cite

Silva, M., & Magno e Silva, W. (2023). Language and culture in real-time Brazil and the United States: Icone Project. Law and Public Policy Review, 3(2). Retrieved from https://seer.unirio.br/rdpp/article/view/12854

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Doutrina

License

Attribution non-commercial creative commonslicense (BY-NC). Allows one to copy, distribute, exhibit, execute, as well as create derivative Works, except for comercial purposes, under the condition of giving credit tothe original author, in the manner specified by the authoror licensor.