Language and Culture Acquisition

Purpose and Prerequisites

This course provides a good starting place for all expecting to live and work in a community whose language and culture you need to learn. Typically, this will be a language where formal language teaching is not going to be available to you; sometimes there may not be much written down in the language either. We particularly recommend this course as essential preparation for all who are going to engage in depth with a language and culture in one of the remoter parts of the world. We do not teach any specific language but rather seek to give you skills and tools to learn any language and culture.

LACA usually forms part of initial training for those working with SIL.

The course may also be taken as part of one of our MA programmes, either the MA Field Linguistics or MA Literacy Programme Development.

Prerequisites for this course include the ability to function well in English. You will also need to be used to formal learning and to that extent a degree is useful, but not a requirement, to take this course. You will need to be open to:

Learning how to organise and manage your own language learning and adaptation to a new culture
Learning experientially through personal interaction
Reflecting on and developing your own self awareness and interpersonal communication skills.