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The article’s title is Intercultural Communicative Competence in Foreign Language Classroom.

The article explained about an analysis of viewpoints in the development of intercultural

competence in the English as foreign language teaching classroom in Iran. Based on the article

statement, Intercultural competence is the key component of foreign language studies, increases

the need to adapt teaching methods and materials to raise learners’ intercultural awareness. In

this article, researcher assumes a range of terms to explain intercultural competence and the

component.

Based on the article, Chen and Starosta (1999) define “intercultural communication competence”

as “the ability to effectively and appropriately execute communication behaviors that negotiate

each other’s cultural identity or identities in a culturally diverse environment” (p. 28). They

outline three key components of intercultural communication competence: intercultural

sensitivity (affective process), intercultural awareness (cognitive process), and intercultural

adroitness (behavioral process), defined as verbal and nonverbal skills needed to act effectively

in intercultural interactions. Chen and Starosta (1996) note that effectiveness and appropriateness

are two other concepts commonly applied to communication competence.

Other term that are cited by researchers on this article, Byram (1997), in his model of

intercultural communicative competence, puts much importance on the language (linguistic

competence) and also identity and cultural understanding in his conceptualization. He argues that

a comprehensive definition of intercultural communicative competence should include the social

context and non-verbal dimensions of communication. For him the components of intercultural

competence are attitudes, knowledge, skills and complemented by the values one holds because

of one's belonging to a number of social groups. These values are part of one's social identities.

Byram (1997) asserts that the foundation of intercultural competence is in the attitudes of the

intercultural speaker.
Several of characteristics and components have been identified in order to be cope with the

inrtercultural experiences as the willingness to engage with the foreign culture, self-awareness

and the ability to look upon oneself from the outside, the ability to see the world through the

others’ eyes, the ability to cope with uncertainty, the ability to act as a cultural mediator, the

ability to evaluate others’ points of view, the ability to consciously use culture learning skills.

In the context of foreign language education, intercultural competence is linked to

communicative competence in a foreign language. Modern approach to language education has

shifted the aims of language learning from communicative competence to intercultural

competence. Intercultural competence requires learners to develop a view of two cultures (their

own and that of target language) and a position where they mediate between these two.

In Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence (1997), foreign language teachers

are asked to guide learners through the process of acquiring competencies in attitudes,

knowledge, and skills related to intercultural competence while using a foreign language.

Teachers must lead students through activities in which attitudes about the “other” are

considered, and ideally transform the learner. The goal for the students is to start by questioning

their preconceived ideas before entering into a process of discovery about the “other” with the

intent of becoming more willing to seek out and engage with otherness in order to ultimately

experience relationships of reciprocity (Byram, 1997).

As students continue to engage in analysis of other cultures, certain knowledge must be acquired.

It is imperative that the foreign language educator allows time to explore the national identity of

the home culture and the target culture in relation to history, geography, and social institutions

(Byram, 1997). Once learners have taken time to discover the similarities and differences

between their culture and that of the target culture, the teacher must craft activities that will

prepare students to build relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and languages

(Byram, 1997).
Next, foreign language students must be provided the time and the space to develop skills in

interpreting and relating. When students begin to identify ethnocentric perspectives and

misunderstandings related to cross-cultural situations, they become able to understand and then

explain the origins of conflict and mediate situations appropriately in order to avoid

misinterpretations (Byram, 1997). Finally, skills in discovery and interaction allow intercultural

speakers to identify similarities and differences between home cultures and foreign cultures

resulting in successful communication and the establishment of meaningful relationships

(Byram, 1997). A successful intercultural speaker seeks out opportunities to meet individuals

from diverse cultures in order to share information through communication in a foreign

language.

Based on the information provided in Byram’s model of intercultural communicative

competence (1997), foreign language teachers must reconsider methods for teaching language

and culture in the classroom if the goal is to create true interculturally competent speakers of the

language. Traditional methods for teaching foreign languages emphasized the importance of

students practicing language structures, pronunciation and vocabulary in order to become native

like speakers.

In this study case, the researcher formulate several of research question that related to the topic.

The questions are follows:

1. Do English as foreign language learners’ attitudes become more positive due to the impact of

intercultural learning?

2. How do they benefit from the impact of intercultural learning in their attitude and overall

language proficiency?

Based on the study carried out at Iran Language Institute (ILI) with two intact classes,

comprising 48 intermediate participants participated. They were female and their first language

was Persian. The initial homogeneity of the participants was further assessed via a Preliminary
English Test (PET). Two intact classes were further randomly assigned to one experimental

group and one control group, each including 24 participants.

The Experimental group received additional text with some information about the target culture

while working on reading comprehension tasks. No additional text and information was offered

in the control group. The treatment lasted for ten sessions. All the groups received 3.5 hours of

English language instruction every week through an integrated skills development approach

which is the dominant method of teaching at ILI. English was used as the medium of instruction

and communication in the classrooms.

In this study case, researcher used Preliminary English Test (PET) as a pre-test to get the data of

the groups at the beginning of treatment. There are three sections in this test; they are grammar,

reading and vocabulary, and writing. At the end of the treatment the results of the learners’ final

scores in achievement test was analyzed. The instrument of the study is a questionnaire survey.

When the participants’ initial homogeneity in English was verified and the groups randomly was

assigned, the researchers launched the ten session treatment, which continued for two months.

During the treatment, all participants were taught the same teaching materials comprising five

reading passages that were presented based on the standard method of pre-reading, reading and

post-reading reading tasks.

What differentiated the groups was the additional text related to the theme of the topic of the

units which focused on the cultural aspects taken from net in experimental group. In the control

group, however, the teacher started teaching reading after some warm-ups without any additional

text and emphasis on the cultural aspect before or after reading. At the end of the treatment,

another PET was administered to all the groups as the post-test.

I will explain the result of the problem that formulated by the researcher based on the article.

The first research question in this study addressed the impact of intercultural communicative

competence on learners’ attitudes of Iranian intermediate language learners. The scores of

experimental group.

The result table of SPSS showed that due to the impact of intercultural learning, participants

benefited from intercultural learning and demonstrated those learning outcomes in different

kinds of attitudes and in their final scores. Of three kinds of attitudes (i.e. towards native

speakers, towards the target culture, and towards communication and interaction with native

speakers), attitudes towards communication and interaction with native speakers were found to

be the only kind that became more positive as a function of treatment.

The second research question addressed the effect of the positive attitudes from the intercultural

learning on the overall language proficiency test which administered in two groups at the same

time and with the same items. The results of the scores were presented in SPPS on The

Descriptive Statistics and results of Final Scores in Experimental and Control Group. It shows

the experimental group with mean of 86.29 benefited more than those in the control group with

mean of 74.91 in terms of positive attitudes.

Based on The result of One-Way ANOVA in Final Achievement Scores of Experimental and

Control Group. It shows the participants in experimental group outperformed the control group and
the result showed that the influence of intercultural learning on attitudes and overall proficiency was

statistically significant.

So, the conclusion that this study was to investigate the effectiveness of providing intercultural

information in English as a foreign language context on learners’ attitudes and the impact of the

attitudes on their overall language proficiency achievement test. The results of this research indicated

that learners in experimental group which received additional intercultural text and activities

outperformed control group.

The findings of this study have some implications for second language teachers since they would be

aware of the positive impact of intercultural communicative instruction in intermediate level. In

addition, they will know different techniques for application of these instructions especially in
classroom context. Moreover, the results of this research can have implications for material

developers help them design tasks to provide opportunities for focus on the most effective approach.

However, there are certain delimitations in this study. First, this study is limited to intermediate level.

There can be more in investigations for elementary and advanced levels of proficiency to infer some

generalizations.

Second, in this study only one form of activities related to the intercultural competence were used.

There are some other types of activities that can be considered in such investigations. Third, the

participants were Iranian and from Iran Language Institute, so the results cannot be generalized to

learners of other nationalities.

The article topic is Intercultural Communicative Competence in Foreign Language Classroom. The

researcher formulated some of problem related to the topic. They are; do English as foreign language

learners’ attitudes become more positive due to the impact of intercultural learning and how they benefit

from the impact of intercultural learning in their attitude and overall language proficiency.

According to the researcher result in this article, there are the strength of this study:

1. This study have some implications for second language teachers since they would be aware of the

positive impact of intercultural communicative instruction in intermediate level.

2. Second language teachers will know different techniques for application of these instructions

especially in classroom context.

3. The results of this research can have implications for material developers help them design tasks to

provide opportunities for focus on the most effective approach.

beside that, the researcher also listed the weakness of this study:

1. This study is limited for intermediate level

2. In this study only one form of activities related to the intercultural competence were used.

3. The participants were Iranian and from Iran Language Institute, so the results cannot be generalized

to learners of other nationalities.

The title of the article is Intercultural Communicative Competence in Foreign Language

Classroom. This study presents an analysis of viewpoints in the development of intercultural

competence in the English as foreign language teaching classroom in Iran. Intercultural

competence is acknowledged as the key component of foreign language studies, increases the

need to adapt teaching methods and materials to raise learners’ intercultural awareness. The

researcher formulated some of problem: do English as foreign language learners’ attitudes

become more positive due to the impact of intercultural learning and how they benefit from the

impact of intercultural learning in their attitude and overall language proficiency. This study was

conducted in two classes at Iran Language Institute with 48 participants. To get the data of the

groups at the beginning, the researcher used Preliminary English Test (PET) in the pre-test.

There are three sections: grammar, reading and vocabulary, and writing. The results of the

learners’ final scores in achievement test will analyze at the end of the treatment. The instrument

that used in this study is a questionnaire survey which adapted from Hong. The researcher used

procedure for this study. The researcher launched ten session treatment. During the treatment, the

participant were get same teaching materials comprising five reading passages that were

presented based on the standard method of pre-reading, reading and post-reading reading tasks.

The groups was differentiated by the additional text related to the theme of the topic of the units

which focused on the cultural aspects taken from net in experimental group. In the control group,

the teacher started teaching reading after some warm-ups without any additional text and

emphasis on the cultural aspect before or after reading. At the end of the treatment, another PET

was administered to all the groups as the post-test. Next, the researcher used SPSS to get the

result. For the first research question, based on SPSS the results showed that due to the impact of

intercultural learning, participants benefited from intercultural learning and demonstrated those

learning outcomes in different kinds of attitudes and in their final scores. Attitudes towards

communication and interaction with native speakers were found to be the only kind that became
more positive as a function of treatment. For the second research question, the results of the

scores were presented in SPSS table (The Descriptive Statistics and results of Final Scores in
Experimental and Control Group). It shows the experimental group with mean of 86.29 benefited

more than those in the control group with mean of 74.91 in terms of positive attitudes.

On SPSS table (The result of One-Way ANOVA in Final Achievement Scores of Experimental and

Control Group). It shows the participants in experimental group outperformed the control group and

the result showed that the influence of intercultural learning on attitudes and overall proficiency was

statistically significant.

In conclusion, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of providing intercultural

information in English as a foreign language context on learners’ attitudes and the impact of the

attitudes on their overall language proficiency achievement test. The results of this research

indicated that learners in experimental group which received additional intercultural text and

activities outperformed control group.