Intercultural perspectives

The purpose of this book is twofold. Firstly, it aims to give an informed assessment of British media discourse on 'Germany' and 'the Germans' after unification. A number of controversial issues in Anglo-German relations in the 1990s have been discussed from a historical and political perspective elsewhere. In contrast, this volume focuses on the analysis of media discourse and its agenda setters throughout the 1990s by bringing together a wide variety of sources from the British press, radio and television, which are not always easily accessible to a wider audience. Secondly, the book aims to show that the power of the media to create and perpetuate simplified and distorted national images and also to convey more balanced ones is something which those working in language education must come to grips with. There are a number of contributions in the book which demonstrate how language teaching can derive considerable benefit from an intercultural approach to the teaching of 'Landeskunde' (German Area Studies) in particular. By equipping language learners with the means to access and analyse cultural practices and meanings, language teachers will enable them to adopt a critical and constructive approach to what they receive through the media. Above all, it will enable them to develop a sense of common, shared world with their European neighbours. Notes on Contributors Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Krönig, J.: Vergiften die Medien die deutsch-britischen Beziehungen? Tenberg, R.: > Szenen einer Beziehung<: Zum Deutschlandbild in den britischen Medien nach der Wende Theobald, J.: Manufacturing Europhobia out of Germanophobia. Case studies in populist propaganda Head, D.: Teaching Kraftwerk not Craft Work: Britain's favourite animate and inanimate Germans and their potential contribution to cross-cultural teaching and learning Byram, M.: Teaching 'Landeskunde' and Intercultural Competence Hall, Ch.: Teaching Intercultural Communication to Modern Languages Students Fandrych, Ch.: Sprachbewusstsein und Landeskunde: Ein Ansatz zur Erarbeitung von sprachlichem und landeskundlichem Wissen im Fortgeschrittenenunterricht Hope, J.: Ecology As a Paradigm of Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Intercultural Implications of Ecological Themes in the German Teaching Context Phipps, A.: Seeing Green: Zones of Contact in Intercultural Encounters Price, S.: Pride and Prejudice: Evidence for Stereotyping on the Part of British Students of German Coleman, J.: Stereotypes, objectives and the 'Auslandsaufenthalt' Trouille, J.-M.: The Franco-German Partnership - A Model for Britain?