Language

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argue about what the final level of learners� sociocultural competence should be.
The Modern National Curricula Standards for the Foreign Languages (U.S.A.) has published official requirements for sociocultural education in Europe and Russia that state that as a result of L2 culture teaching learners should develop cultural awareness, which includes the development of tolerance and empathy towards representatives of different cultures (ACTFL, 1999; Byram & Fleming, 1998; Byram & Risager, 1999; Saphonova, 1999; Savignon, 2002). In our previous research, we argued that cultural identity is the next level L2 learners should achieve after cultural awareness (Sysoyev, 2001a, b; Savignon, Sysoyev, 2002; Sysoyev, 2002a, b). After learning about other cultures in the mode �we� and �they� (for details see Hall, XXX), which often results in the creation of false negative or positive stereotypes and generalizations about a L2 society, L2 learners should come to an understanding of their ...

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enable L2 learners to see people and societies polyculturally, aiding them in perceiving diversity as a norm in modern polycultural societies.

Cultural Identity in L2 Teaching

Identity as a theoretical construct is not a new idea. It was originally developed within the field of psychology, where the major focus of researchers was altering of an individual�s state and condition over time through changes in his or her contexts (e.g., Erikson, 1968). Initially however, for psychologists an individual�s identity represented a considerably stable construct, it was supposed to change only 4-5 times during an individual�s life, usually when that person entered a new age group (e.g., child ...

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