Intercultural Awarenessin the Esl Classroom: a Study Based on the Comenius 2 Project

This work aims to explore the meaning, function and importance of intercultural awareness in the ESL environment. It does not intend to explore the teaching of Anglo-American culture. Rather, it concentrates on the English language as an international communication tool and, as such, it raises intercultural awareness among ESL learners. It further discusses the possibilities of transmitting culture through foreign language teaching and cultural sensitivity together with its practical and moral aspects. The study is based on a period of language assistantship of English in an Italian primary school. The assistantship improved intercultural awareness both from the point of view of the teacher and the learners through a variety of projects and activities. The thesis attempts to describe the procedure and to evaluate the results of the programme confronting real achievements with the expectations of the organising office on the basis of the recommendations of the Council of Europe. It concludes with possible approaches to consider in the future.