Ibunka!
Intercultural Communication in Everyday Life
Ibunka! is a unique second-language textbook that introduces Japanese university students to basic topics of intercultural communication. Created by language teachers, it is dynamic, thought-provoking and fun!
It was designed for a wide range of intermediate-level EFL courses, including general English, communication and content-based classes.
The content is grounded in topics of everyday life, which are far more accessible than difficult theories and concepts. Students will learn to express themselves on these topics in a nuanced way.
How does "Ibunka!" work?
Ibunka! Intercultural Communication in Everyday Life
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ISBN：978-4-905343-30-1
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Authors：Stephen Richmond, Bruno Vannieu
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96 pages (A4), color
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Price: ¥2,500 + tax
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Free access multimedia site (audio tracks, vocabulary, etc.)
Structure of Lessons
Two-step Progression
In Part 1 of each unit, You and Your Culture, students reflect on their own habits and preferences, compare them with their classmates’, and express basic ideas about culture.
Part 2, People in Other Cultures, introduces students to other cultural patterns, and guides them to react to some examples of cultural differences and similarities.
Guided Expression
Throughout each lesson, students are given a variety of scaffolded language models. Language “toolboxes”, developed over three editions of our best-selling Conversations in Class textbook, provide a springboard for students to express themselves.
For intermediate-level EFL students with basic conversational ability, the next challenge is to learn to speak with nuance and express their opinions rationally:
• qualifying what they say, for example by saying
“Many elderly Japanese people like to … ” instead of
“Japanese people like to …”
• expressing their personal habits and points of view in relation to their society’s values:
“Most university students in Japan … but personally …”
• reacting respectfully to differences by explaining what they find to be and why:
“I found this to be surprising because …”
Online Resources for Teachers
1) Digital textbook
The entire textbook is available in convenient Flipbook format.
2) Online forms
Use these to assign homework or to gather and project student responses during class.
Concept
Intercultural Communication as Experienced by Real People
Through the Ibunka Survey, many people who live or have lived abroad shared their thoughts on a variety of everyday topics. This textbook is based on their responses.
Target levels
This textbook is for intermediate-level English learners. However, it can be adjusted to be used with a wider range of abilities and situations by using these features.
Supplementary materials
For users
You can access the Teacher website that contains:
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A list of all links to the teacher's digital textbook (lesson-per-lesson flipbooks and Google Slides).
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The Teacher's book in PDF format
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Audio tracks
The Teacher website is password-protected. You can request the password here.
For teachers considering the use of this textbook
You can look at samples of the supplementary materials below.
Please note that the answers in the sample of the Teacher's book have been blacked out to prevent students from referring to them.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.
Website
Digital textbooks and the Teacher's book
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A sample of the Teacher's book（Note that the answers are blacked out.）
Contact us / Request a sample copy
Thank you for your interest in our textbooks.
We send evaluation copies free of charge to teachers based in Japan.
We send evaluation copies through “mail-bin”. They will be delivered to you within a week, up to ten days.
If you have any questions or comments about our textbooks, please do not hesitate to contact us!
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