A Cultural Studies Approach to Intercultural Encounters and Interculturality

The Danish School Reform from 2014 introduced early foreign language learning, and English language learning now begins at the first year of school. Many students use English outside school and the subject is changing its status to a global lingua franca and a language for cultural mediation. Furthermore, as a result of the Danish Teacher Education Reform in 2013 and the revision of Common Objectives in 2014, intercultural competence now has a prominent role in foreign language curricula in Denmark. This raises a number of questions in relation to the planning of foreign language teaching in particular what knowledge and what skills teachers need in their daily work with language- and culture teaching. The chapter introduces a Cultural Studies approach to intercultural encounters and interculturality, which has the potential of supporting teachers’ and students’ metalinguistic awareness of texts and media as social constructions, the meaning of representations and different perspectives on cultural phenomena in a global world. The knowledge and skills dimensions draw on Cultural Studies, critical intercultural communication and critical media literacy.