The contribution of language learning to the development of cultural understandings

With the continuing demand for Australians to develop second language skills to ensure, in part, the development of cross-cultural understanding, there is a need to examine critically the claim that language learning and cultural understandings are causally related. This paper examines the question of whether cross-cultural competence can exist independently of language expertise, and whether language learning of itself results in cultural tolerance and access to other world views. An examination of existing research, together with an analysis of the popular press in three Australian states, indicates that: (i) the wider community believes that learning a language will result in an understanding of and facility in the target culture; and (ii) languages learned in formal class settings do not necessarily lead to cross-cultural understandings and a lessening of insular cultural attitudes.