AITEFL CARDIFF 2009
TEACHERS EXPERIENCES,
BELIEFS AND PERCEPTIONS ON
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Julio C. Torres
Intercultural Communicative Competence
Studies: EFL Teachers and I.C.C.
Sercu 2006 Profile of FL&IC
Teacher
Be familiar with foreign cultures, they should have
varied and frequent contact with those cultures.
Cultural general knowledge.
Employ teaching techniques to promote the
acquisition of savoir, savoir-apprendre, savoircomprendre, savoir faire and savoir etre.
Study
General Aim
To explore EFL teachers experiences, perceptions
and practices of IC using a case study approach,
resulting in the understanding of the influence of
previous intercultural experiences on their
conception of intercultural competence and how
this cognition affects their practices.
Research Design
Qualitative Case Study
3 EFL Teachers
Instruments
An Autobiography of Intercultural
Encounter.
Semi-structured Interview
Research Questions
What intercultural experiences have EFL teachers
had?
What is EFL teachers' perception of Intercultural
Competence?
What are the teachers reported practice?
Teachers quotation
In my country, most people are interested in learning
English not because they love Americans or British or
because they love the president. But most people
want to access literature in English, because they
want to do research or surf the internet in English,
because they want to understand the lyrics of the
songs I dont think, to be honest, they are studying
English because they love the US or the British
culture, but this is the way of accessing certain
benefits like getting a better job
Teacher Cognition and
Intercultural Competence
Teacher Cognition is used here to refer to the
unobservable cognitive dimension of teaching
what teachers know, believe and think Borg 2006
Personal Experiences
Previous Intercultural Encounters
Beliefs /Personal Theories
Practices
Teacher Cognition Assumptions
Teachers as active, thinking decision makers, play
a central role in shaping the classrooms events
Knowledge and Beliefs exert a strong influence in
human actions
Understanding teaching cognition is central to the
process of understanding teaching
Experiences determine the way teachers see varied
aspects of the teaching-learning process
Previous Experiences
All the informants have had previous
intercultural experience in an English
speaking country (USA and Britain)
For all the informants, having lived in an
English speaking country is a fundamental
part of their lives as ELT professionals.
My experience interacting with a British family in
England
The very first time they visited us I think it
was an experience full of curiosity on both
sides. Their clothing had nothing different but
their behaviour did.Their appearance was
just like typical British people, good looking,
tall, blond hair, and most of all a very strong
British accent.
Teachers Perception of I. C. C.
Out of the three teachers, two still have an
essentialist perspective of culture.
Participants hold different perspectives of
ICC depending on the conception of culture
they have.
Teachers Quotations
I think, that for a language teacher intercultural competence should not be an
issue in itself. You probably do not even write it into your lesson plan but you
say I am going to include something on culture. As you develop as a
language teacher you are expected to share not only skills but also something
about the culture of the target language. Daniel
I think it depends very much on teachers awareness. If teachers are not
aware of this intercultural competence, nothing will make them aware, you can
not pass onto your students something you do not believe in. It is not
something that is stated in a plan but something that arises in the development
of the lesson if you are aware. So, If you either are not acquainted or if you
dont care, you will never make your students be good at or even perceive that
there are different codes. Stella
Teachers Reported Practice of
ICC
One of the teachers has actually incorporated
elements of IC pedagogy into her lessons using
films and literature as cultural artefacts.
Another teacher is aware of the importance of IC
but only incorporates it into his lessons by
providing students with anecdotal knowledge of a
target culture.
The other teacher does not take into account the
development of IC in her lesson in an explicit
way. She/he does not think IC is relevant to her
own context.
Problematic Issues Raised in the
Interviews
The Ethical Dimension of teaching Intercultural
Competence
The Relationship between Culture and English as
International language.What English to teach?
What culture to choose?
So far the selection is either from British or American model
(language), but nowadays the market is expanding, so should I pick up
an Indian model? Should I pick up a Chinese or Japanese model?
Would it benefit my students? What does this choice require apart
from language? Because we have patterns of intonation that are
different, different pronunciation, different words. It could be critical,
problematic to start to think of these Englishes, all of them being o.k
It is difficult Stella.
Some Implications for Teachers,
Trainers, Educators
The need of teacher training on cultural and
intercultural issues
Training on Critical Intercultural Communication
Awareness of world Englishes
Intercultural competence as a cross-curricular
element in todays education
The need of research into what teachers actually
think, believe and do regarding the development
of ICC in different contexts.
QUESTION
Do you believe in the development of Intercultural
Competence in your own EFL/EIL context?
This is the starting point of research into ICC within
Teacher Cognition Domain on Inquiry.
Teachers have a say in these matters
