Page 11 - BB_Textbook

Bending Bamboo builds on the
work of experts in linguistics and sustainable development to create
an integrated and engaging text that develops English fluency and deepens knowledge about development.
Bending Bamboo values the Communicative Approach of
Second Language Acquisition, which emphasizes the context, content, tasks, and norms of language learners, as summarized by Dr. Andy Curtis. Bending Bamboo also draws on Dr. Stephen Krashen’s Input Hypothesis
(i + 1), which encourages students
to build on what they know in Vietnamese about the opportunities and challenges they face in Vietnam.
It invites students to problem-solve in a country that is pursuing sustainable development and ecosystem resilience on its own terms, not those set by outsiders, a pedagogy advocated long ago by Dr. Paulo Freire.
Bending Bamboo calls this “i + 1 +
1” whereby learners build language competency on the basis of what they already know in their mother tongue, and gain confidence to craft lasting solutions in development on the basis of communicative bilingualism.
Moreover, Bending Bamboo uses global classrooms—video
conferencing technology—to link rural and urban schools. Technology is secondary, however, compared
to the value of collaboration
among instructors—both native
and Vietnamese users of English.
A global language such as English, facilitates academic, commercial and social exchange. Inter-culturalism helps build bridges across these
three domains. It validates poetic and scientific, rural and urban, majority and minority, rich and poor, agricultural and industrial, and inter-generational and gendered perspectives.
Bending Bamboo’s iC5 approach— Inter-Cultural and Communicative Competence, Confidence, and
COMMUNICATIVE LINGUISTICS
iC5 Approach, Methods, Techniques and Tools
Out-of-Class Techniques (tasks)
Global Classroom Tools
In-Class Techniques (activities)
Bending Bamboo Methods & Materials
BENDING BAMBOO
INTRODUCTION 11
Delta-wide Collaboration
Inter-Cultural Norms
Professional Confidence
Communicative Approach
Linguistic Competence