230599 EFL: Literature, Media and Intercultural Learning (Gym/Ge) (S) (SoSe 2008)

English has become the lingua franca of our world. Another lingua franca that has existed ever since is music. Across the borders of language, nationality and culture, both transfer meaning and values; both allow for understanding and communication. In this course we will closely look at how artists combine these aspects to create a multidimensional intercultural context. We will analyse songs of musicians who use English as the language of their lyrics, even though it is not their mother tongue or their cultural background would allow them to choose another language. Additionally, we will discuss what has to be considered when using music in the foreign language classroom, what the syllabus guidelines are, and how music can foster intercultural learning and understanding.

Each participant will be expected to send the title and the lyrics of at least one song which fulfils the above mentioned criteria to silja.fehn@uni-bielefeld.de by March 17.