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Article published In:
Policy and practice in early language learning
Edited by Janet Enever and Patricia Driscoll
[AILA Review 32] 2019
► pp. 64–90
CLASSROOM PEDAGOGY

Cultural threads in three primary schools

Introducing a critical cosmopolitan frame

| Canterbury Christ Church University
| Canterbury Christ Church University
This paper explores headteachers’ and teachers’ perceptions of foreign languages(FL) and cultural learning in three primary schools in areas of disadvantage in England. Drawing upon a new theoretical frame for primary languages, Critical Cosmopolitanism (Delanty, 2006; Beck and Sznaider, 2006) and The Grammar of Culture (Holliday, 2018), we argue that the grand narrative of a target language inhabited by a target culture is outdated and approaches to cultural learning in primary schools could lead the way. There is substantial evidence that most learners find language lessons fun, particularly activities such as songs, stories and intercultural events (Driscoll et al., 2004, 2014; Cable et al. 2010). The discourse on conditions for inclusive practice is less commonplace and little is known about FL learning in areas of high deprivation (Nikolov & Mihaljević Djigunović, 2011). Teachers and headteachers in this study were committed to cultural learning and staff adopted creative approaches to teaching. The findings, however, also indicate that traditional notions of a mono or homogenised national culture with associated stereotypes linger in teachers’ framing of FL. There exists a need for a more personalised approach to cultural learning drawing upon children’s own cultural experiences. Data was analysed thematically following strict ethical guidelines and all names were anonymised to ensure confidentiality.
Keywords: primary languages, foreign languages, critical cosmopolitanism, cultural learning, disadvantaged coastal regions
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Context of the study
  • Essentialist language and culture narrative
  • Critical cosmopolitan narrative
  • Ideological construction
  • Cultural prejudice
  • The monolingual, monocultural fallacy
  • Moving from blocks to thread
  • A richer picture
  • Searching for threads
  • Interculturality
  • Methodology
  • Findings
  • Profile of foreign languages
  • A prevailing sense of national culture
  • Connecting cultural threads across the curriculum
  • Global issues
  • British values
  • Conclusion
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 7 April 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.00021.dri
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Søgaard, Karoline
2024. Intercultural encounters through two picturebooks in the lower primary EFL classroom in Denmark. Language Teaching for Young Learners DOI logo
Read, Carol
2022. Creating a Model for Intercultural Competence in Early Years and Primary ELT. In Innovative Practices in Early English Language Education, ► pp. 57 ff. DOI logo

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