Incorporating Cross-Cultural Competence into the ISOL Programme through Cultural-Based Materials and Corpus-Based Approach

Abstract

This paper discusses the integration of cross-cultural competencies in the ISOL teaching programme based on the materials used during learning. ISOL is an Indonesian language learning programme for foreign speakers that often establishes materials on cultural and socio-humanistic aspects of Indonesian culture. The paper data were in the forms of discourse construed in the textbooks as learning materials. The data sources were three textbooks from three well-established ISOL learning institutions in Indonesia. Based on the qualitative content analysis, it can be stated that the incorporation of cross-cultural competence in ISOL was realized not only through the integration of competence in learning materials but also through the aspects of learning preparation as well-designed in the syllabus and teaching goals. In addition, cross-culture competence was also manifested in grammar teaching and skills mentoring activities. There was evidence regarding the evaluation aspect, namely the concept of competence already used as essential guidance in the final project. Moreover, I also extended the discussion of the results concerning the corpus-based approach to determine the way to collect and manage materials that contained cultural value as a part of the programme.