Rules of engagement: Cross-cultural glances in critical writing on recent French and Australian 'youth' films

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The Seduction of Sarah: travel memoirs and intercultural learning

The paper explores the nexus between intercultural storytelling and intercultural learning. Noting the wide appeal of the travel memoir set in France, it takes as a case study a book that, while positioned within that genre, attempts to shift some predictable patterns: Sarah Turnbull’s best-selling Almost French. Analysis shows that the book in fact participates in a subtle play of genres, whereby the lure of the travel memoir is used to entice readers towards a position where they read the book as a guide to French culture. The particular form of hybridity attempted is, however, a delicate enterprise, as the reception of the book demonstrates, in that the intercultural lessons on offer risk being overshadowed by the expectations readers bring to the genre of the travel memoir. The paper examines the competing seductions operating throughout the text and relates the conditions for taking up the opportunity for intercultural learning to questions of genre. It offers a pedagogical uptake of the textual analysis, thus bridging disciplines in a way that mirrors Turnbull’s bridging of genres

Antipodas: Journal of Hispanic and Galician Studies

Special title: De La Mancha a Nueva Nurcia. Imágenes de identidad en viejos y nuevos mundos: From La Mancha to New Nurcia. Images of identity in old and new worlds. In memory of Ben Haneman, doctor of medicine and friend, who contributed to the spread of quixotic ideals in Australia.

Understanding the mental health of refugees: Trauma, stress, and the cultural context

Long considered important for professionals working with minority and under-represented populations, cross-cultural competency has become a requisite for all health care providers. As society in the US increasingly diversifies, there is a crucial need to prepare health care professionals to effectively treat this changing population. The Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health addresses the importance and relevance of cultural sensitivity in US mental health. Prominent researchers and clinicians examine the cultural and cross-cultural mental health issues of Native American, Latino, Asian, African American, Middle Eastern, Refugee and LGBQT communities. The discussion includes understanding the complexities in making mental health diagnoses and the various meanings it has for the socio-cultural group described, as well as biopsychosocial treatment options and challenges. In understanding the specific populations, the analysis delves into overarching concepts that may apply to specific populations and to those at the intersection of multiple cultures. An invaluable resource for mental health professionals, including clinicians, researchers, educators, leaders and advocates in the United States, The Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health provides the necessary understanding and insights for research and clinical practice in specific cultural and multicultural groups.

Cultural information gathering by Australian students in France

Interviews with Australian university students returning from study in France indicate that problems in accessing crucial information are common experiences, and frequently lead to students reproducing stereotypes of French administrative inefficiency. Our paper argues that the issue is not one of information per se but of cultural differences in the dissemination of information. It analyses the ways in which students interpret their information-gathering difficulties, and the appropriateness of the strategies they devise for overcoming them. It then examines the pedagogical implications for preparing students for study abroad, suggesting means of both equipping students with alternative ways of understanding 'information skills' and intervening in the perpetuation of stereotypes. Cet article se base sur une quarantaine d'interviews avec des étudiants australiens ayant effectué des séjours d'études en France. La difficulté d'accéder aux renseignements jugés indispensables revient souvent au cours des entretiens, source de frustrations qui amène les Australiens à reproduire un stéréotype de l'inefficacité française. Nous posons qu'il s'agit moins d'un manque d'informations que d'une différence culturelle dans la diffusion des renseignements. Notre analyse porte sur les façons dont les étudiants interprètent leurs difficultés, ainsi que sur l'utilité de leurs stratégies pour réunir les données souhaitées. Ce travail a des conséquences pédagogiques pour la préparation de tels séjours : nous suggérons des moyens de conduire les étudiants à concevoir autrement la recherche de l'information et leurs expériences, intervenant ainsi dans la transmission des stéréotypes.

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum: Electronic discussion and foreign language learning

Amongst the opportunities for cross-cultural contact created by the burgeoning use of the Internet are those provided by electronic discussion lists. This study looks at what happens when language students venture out of the classroom (virtual or otherwise) to participate in on-line discussion groups with native speakers. Responses to messages and commentary by moderators and other participants on the (in) appropriateness of contributions allow us to determine what constitutes successful participation and to make suggestions regarding effective teaching strategies for this medium. A case study examines the threads started by four anglophone students of French when they post messages to a forum on the Web site of the French newspaper Le Monde. Investigation of these examples points to the ways in which electronic discussion inflects and is inflected by cultural and generic expectations. We suggest that successful participation on Internet fora depends on awareness of such cultural and generic mores and an ability to work within and/or with them. Teachers therefore need to find ways in which students can be sensitized to such issues so that their participation in such electronic discussion is no longer seen as linguistic training, but as engagement with a cultural practice.

Border Patrol in the Borderless World: Negotiating Intercultural Internet Discussion

Public Internet discussion forums appear to offer limitless opportunities for communication across linguistic, geographical and cultural borders. Closer inspection, however, reveals that cordial intercultural exchanges are far from widespread in this genre. And yet, such forums have a great deal to offer the independent language learner in terms of ease of access, potential for meaningful language practice and feedback, and exposure to different cultural conventions. This paper explores obstacles to the participation of advanced language learners in public forums of this kind through an examination of the speaking positions most readily available to the non-native speaker. A case study of sustained intercultural interaction on a public discussion thread suggests an alternative to these. Here a core of Francophone and Anglophone participants manage to negotiate an intercultural identity in order to pursue their communicative goals. The paper traces the way in which participants shift footing to regulate insider and outsider status on the forum and draws conclusions regarding the conditions for successful intercultural exchange in this genre