Introduces students to the sociocultural contexts that impact language teaching, learning, and acquisition to support and ensure the development of equitable and inclusive classroom and school environments for multilingual learners of English. Students examine and assess the role that intercultural communication plays in how and why teachers and learners behave and communicate as they do. At the completion of this course, students identify, understand, and explain real and potential communication breakdowns in instructional and assessment practices that impact language learning and acquisition. They recommend and design instructional and assessment strategies that demonstrate and build intercultural awareness and communication skills in teachers of multilingual learners of English and learners themselves. Students pursuing an MEd also review academic research on the intercultural awareness and intercultural competence of pre-service and in-service teachers, and they compose a white paper for the Department of Education outlining the gaps in professional development, as well as a rationale for suggested changes.
3.0 Credit Hours