ICC acquired on a school exchange - Does it lead to a better understanding of the target culture?

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics - English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,7, LMU Munich, language: English, abstract: This raises the question why culture should be of such an importance for language learners anyway? First of all you have to consider that ¿language learning cannot be separated from culture learning as language manifests many of the social actions of a society and expresses the values and beliefs which underlie these actions¿(O¿Dowd 2006:62). Cultural Studies has not only found its way into MFL teaching but has become an important part of Intercultural Understanding. The central aim of Cultural Studies is therefore¿ [...] to understand [...] a particular culture and society and [...] to learn to understand cultures in general. At the same time, it is intended that the process of understanding a culture which differs from one¿s own should also lead to a better understanding of one¿s own culture as learners compare the home and target culture and reflect on their own¿ (Kramer 2000:42).