"The task of writing the local for a global audience is an interesting way to motivate students to think critically about their own knowledge." So says Ruth Breeze, a researcher at project 'Public discourse' of the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra, on the occasion of a project with journalism students on the development of critical thinking. Specifically, they were asked to write local news for an international audience.

The researcher has included the conclusions in the chapter 'promote la conciencia cultural crítica en la universidad internacional' (Promoting Critical Cultural Awareness in the International University). teaching I t is part of the book Essential Competencies for English-medium University Teaching, published by the international publishing house Springer and co-edited by her and Carmen Sancho Guinda.

Breeze points out that " critical cultural awareness is an essential component in today's thinking" and that "it is increasingly necessary to build effective relationships in a highly globalized world". In his opinion, it involves questioning what is taught or what is known as given or established, thinking about the knowledge received from a skeptical point of view. "This subject of awareness," Breeze explains, "allows students to relate to people from other cultural backgrounds.

The specialist comments that although this critical skill is very important for Education, in some countries it is not taught. She says that the problem lies in conceiving Education as "the mastery of a body of knowledge received", so that teachers are an authority to be believed.

In his work he concludes that students will be better able to relate to people from other countries and cultures if they develop this critical capacity and argues that they can begin by "questioning their own preconceived notions of the intangibles of culture."

As they advance in critical cultural awareness, "they may be confronted more deeply in those areas of the cultural iceberg below the surface," he says.

Language to teach

"Language itself plays an important role in intercultural encounters," stresses Ruth Breeze, for whom mastery of writing implies that a person is able to explain and develop texts for different types of readers.

Because of these described benefits, it is a highly recommended activity to put on internship students' skills and help them develop their critical capacity. "This activity is highly recommended in English-speaking education systems, but not considered a priority elsewhere," he laments.