<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The article presents the initial stage of research conducted at the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno. The aim of the research is to examine the departmental students’ intercultural competence (IC) at the beginning of their studies (autumn 2011), compare it with their level of IC at the end of their studies (autumn 2016) and investigate the influences that played a role in their IC development. In this paper, only the initial stage of the research is presented, i.e. examining the students’ IC at the beginning of the studies. The Intercultural Development Inventory®, version 3, was used for the purposes of the research. Since this instrument is not currently being used for academic or corporate purposes in the Czech (or Slovak) Republic, a secondary aim of the article is to introduce it to the wider academic community. The results indicate that students tend to overestimate their level of IC, and find themselves in ethnocentric stages of intercultural development at the beginning of their university studies.</abstract>

Intercultural competence of first year students of English at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University: a report of research

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In recent years, many international students from different parts of the world have been studying at Turkish universities, which creates a multicultural educational setting. Due to the multicultural educational setting, English has become the most widely used language for exchanging and sharing knowledge, therefore many international universities in Turkey put a great emphasis on English language education and offer English preparatory courses to students. In order to succeed at better language education, universities employ native English instructors to provide a richer language experience with cultural components embedded in language content. In this qualitative case study, cultural reflections of native English instructors at a Turkish university were investigated. Individual and focus group interviews were data sources for the study. Findings indicated that cultural responsiveness was considered to be constructed through time, and a necessity of orientation process was emphasized. However, the native instructors’ presumptions cause intolerance and underestimation of the host culture. In addition, educational issues and students’ misbehaviors, such as cheating and calling their instructors by their first name, were attributed to cultural background of the students.</abstract>

Zirve University - Faculty of Education Kizilhisar Campus,Gaziantep, TURKEY 27260, Tel: 90-342-211-6666 ext. 6986

Cultural responsiveness in EFL teaching: reflections from native instructors

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Cyber-culture points out the life in cyberspace and goes beyond national cultures. It is particularly attractive for the young people who use Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to express their attitudes, values, beliefs and thinking. Those do not need to be necessarily in accordance with the standards of an individual society. Cyberculture becomes dangerous. Great risk lies in cyberbullying that represents negative impact of cyber-culture on human behavior. The aim of the study is to detect cyberbullying as a negative impact of cyber-culture among of Slovak children and adolescents. The research was carried out on a sample of 1619 11-18-year old respondents (average age was 14.51). Results of cyberbullying research carried out using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) have proved the appropriateness of 3-latent-class module. Relative entropy of the module reached 0.915. It was demonstrated that 52.9% of respondents belonged to the group of uninvolved, 42.7% were victims and 4.4% were victims-aggressors. Being a negative consequence of cyber-culture, cyberbullying is a challenge that educators - including other assisting professions - face when educating children and adolescents to orientate in cyberspace, behave responsibly, express themselves in a way that would not interfere others’ integrity and identity (personal and virtual). The study was written under VEGA MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV č. 1/0244/15: “Detekcia a riešenie kyberšikany”.</abstract>

Cyberbullying as a negative result of cyber-culture of Slovak children and adolescents: selected research findings

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Although the smile is a universal facial expression, the use of smiles in communication varies across cultures. This may lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication. Both Americans and Europeans experience the same frustration and communication failure when they do not find smiling faces in Russia. At the same time, it is common for Russian people to perceive the smiles of Westerners as artificial and insincere. What is the reason for such a difference in perception? Why don’t Russians smile in some situations? The study of the use of the smile as a non-verbal sign in a few chosen communicative contexts across Russian, European and American cultures showed the difference in its meaning and distribution according to the cultural tradition. The reason could stem from the difference of Russia’s history when compared to that of Western Europe, as well as in the specific restrictions in Russian Orthodox Christianity and the traditions of laughter in Russia. All the meanings and specific cases of distribution are clearly retained and expressed in the languages. If we compare the Russian улыбка and улыбаться with the English smile, we can see both common and distinctive semantic elements and different connotations.</abstract>

A cross-cultural study of the smile in the Russian- and English-speaking world

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> U.S. Latina/o identity is a complex and panethnic construction. One of the most enduring tropes surrounding Latina women in US culture is that of tropicalism, which by erasing ethnic specificity helps construct homogenous stereotypes such as bright colours, rhythmic music, and brown skin that are represented in visual texts. Tropicalization helps position the Latina body as oversexed as well as sexually available; all that is identified with seductive clothing, curvaceous hips and breasts, long brunette hair or extravagant jewellery. The article concerns Latina images in US media and popular culture and focuses on such stars as Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek in order to explore the gendered signifiers surrounding Latinidad and Latina iconicity. The female ethnicity is depicted as other through its categorization and marginalization in relation to dominant constructions of Whiteness and femininity. The article bridges the approaches of gender studies and Latina/o studies with recent research on hybridity and transnational identities.</abstract>

The Exotic Other: Representations of Latina tropicalism in U.S. popular culture

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> In my paper I would like to present the student and the teacher in educational space. I’d like to say about difficulties in communication between them and the search for a common language for dialogue. The context for this discussion will be the current socio- cultural space and the expectations of both the teacher and the student. The purpose of the text is to show the conditions through which the agreement between the student and the teacher is possible and identify a cultural experience of a common language. Considerations will be conducted from the perspective of the anthropological concept of education and subjective view of the student and the teacher.</abstract>

In search of a common language: teacher and student in educational space

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Several studies in the field of applied linguistics have explored images held by language learners about a target language country. However, for the most part, these studies focused on learners of modern European languages, such as German, Spanish and French and they were conducted in Western educational contexts. Besides, none of the previous investigations attempted to conduct a systematic classification of the language learners’ images. The present longitudinal study addressed these gaps in the research literature. It explored images about Russia held by Malaysian learners of the Russian language in a large university in East Malaysia. This article reports the findings of three questionnaire surveys conducted in 2004, 2007 and 2010. It was found that the images about Russia held by the participants were diverse and clustered around eight countryrelated aspects. Content of some categories of images was stable and changed little over time. Other categories were more fluid and more prone to change. The paper concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications that can be derived from the findings.</abstract>

A longitudinal study of language learners’ images about Russia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> Advertising as one of the phenomena of modern times is often an inseparable, though undesirable part of our everyday lives. Current trends indicate that there are still more and more anglicisms, internationalisms, and particles of different cultures penetrating billboard advertisements in many towns and cities around the world, and Slovakia is no exception. The crucial question of this article is: How is it possible to use advertisements in English language teaching and learning? To answer this question, the examination is focused on: (1) defining the role and characteristic traits of advertisements; (2) searching for the linkage between the psychological principles of advertising and psychology of learning foreign languages; (3) the frequency of anglicisms and internationalisms in billboard advertisements in particular areas of selected Slovak cities; (4) concrete suggestions for teaching practice based on the previous findings.</abstract>

Visual advertisements: a tool for English language teaching?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The article is focused on Tatar ethnic group. It tries to show on its example, how one can be open on other cultures without losing one’s identity and how to persevere in a different cultural environment. It refers to Tatars’ religious writings as the source helpful in maintaining cultural identity. An example of connection between Tatar translations and European tradition of translation, is used to characterize both permeation of cultures and features which served to build cultural separateness of Tatars living in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.</abstract>

Culture as a distinctive feature of an ethnic group (based on the example of translated handwritten literature of Polish-Lithuanian Tatar)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The article discusses liberature in the context of its mathematical qualities. In this trend which inextricably connects the textual and physical layer of the work, each element in the book is expected to be created according to a certain formula which should bring a holistic piece of literature. After 1999, a great number of mathematically-oriented works have appeared which are strictly liberary. In the presentation, I base on the theoretical idea behind liberature when discussing Zenon Fajfer’s liberary work Ten Letters (Pol. Dwadzieścia jeden liter). This innovative piece is analysed mainly from the point of view of geometry and play with numbers, which is visible already in the title: the ten-letter phrase “ten letters.” Mathematical qualities are indicated on various layers of the piece: the physical, the textual, and the visual, but especially in its form. The game of numbers is found not only where it is obviously visible and essential to understand the message, but also in places which might not have been intended. Liberature is analysed as literature but at the same time, it is shown not to be literature, and in this respect, to be mathematical at the core.</abstract>

Mathematics and Liberature: Fajfer’s Ten Letters

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Journal of Language and Cultural Education

 Journal of Language and Cultural Education (JoLaCE) is a double-blind peer-reviewed international journal promoting international scholarly exchange among researchers, academics, and professionals. It carries only original, previously unpublished full-length research and survey articles that reflect the latest research and developments in both theoretical and practical aspects of language, literary and cultural education. Review studies, research-in-progress reports, short research notes, commentaries, and in-field publications reviews are invited to be published as well.  Rejection Rate   53,2%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 