Karen Risager

The cultural dimensions of language teaching and learning

Language teaching and learning has many different cultural dimensions, and over the years more and more of these have been the subject of research. The first dimension to be explored was that of content : the images of target language countries and the world that were offered in textbooks and presented in class. The next dimension was that of the learner : the (inter)cultural learning, competence and identity of the learner or subject. The next dimension was context : the situation and role of language teaching and learning in society and in the world.

Language hierarchies at the international university

Abstract This article presents a framework for the analysis of language hierarchies at the international university. Taking into consideration that more than 50 different languages may be present among the language resources of students and staff, the article approaches the problem of how one can analyze practices of hierarchization, inclusion and exclusion of languages in a de facto multilingual setting such as a university. The major analytical categories are those of language hierarchization in practice and in representations, as well as distinctions of language hierarchies at different levels: the global, the regional, the state and the institutional levels. The article positions universities in this complex linguistic landscape and presents a case in which a multilingual policy has been implemented: Cultural Encounters at Roskilde University, an educational program that deals with issues of multicultural and multilingual society in a global and postcolonial perspective.

International cultural studies at Roskilde university

Abstract The paper describes Cultural Studies in the distinctive project‐based degree programmes, basic and specialised, at Roskilde University Centre (RUC). The orientation, in keeping with the traditions of RUC, is interdisciplinary and thematic, with an emphasis on the social and human sciences. The work is required to incorporate the perspectives of Science, Language and Literature, History, and Psychology and the Social Sciences. Students work together in groups that generally combine a number of different cultures. The paper discusses the form and content of Cultural Studies in this setting and provides examples of themes and projects.