This book looks at the role of cultural studies and intercultural communication in language learning. The book argues that learners who have an opportunity to stay in the target language country can be trained to do an ethnographic project while abroad. Borrowing from anthropologists' the idea of cultural fieldwork and 'writing culture', language learners develop their linguistic and cultural competence through the study of a local group. This book combines a theoretical overview of language and cultural practices with a description of ethnographic approaches and materials specifically designed for language learners.

Celia Roberts is a Senior Research Fellow at King's College, London, Michael Byram is Professor of Education at the Durham University, Ana Barro is at University of Passau, Germany, Shirley Jordan is a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and Brian Street is Professor of Language Education, King's College, London.

Part I Language Learning and Ethnography: Theory and Practice
1 New Goals
2 Introducing Cultural Learning into the Language Curriculum
3 Theoretical Issues in Language and Cultural Practices
4 Representations, Discourses and Practices
5 Ethnography for Linguists
Part II The Ealing Ethnography Project: A Case Study
6 Teaching Ethnography
7 Developing the Principles for an Ethnography Course
8 The Ethnography Class
9 The Student Ethnography Projects
10 'The Year Abroad': An Ethnographic Experience
11 Conclusions and New Perspectives
Bibliography
Index