The Role of “Instruction” in the Development of Intercultural Communication among Iranian Language Teachers
محورهای موضوعی : Research in English Language Pedagogy
Vahid Ghorbai
1
(
Arak university |Language teacher, ministry of education
)
Hamidreza Dowlatabadi
2
(
Arak university
)
کلید واژه: Intercultural Communicative Communication (ICC), Skills, knowledge, awareness, Attitude,
چکیده مقاله :
This paper explored the effect of instruction on the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) level of Iranian language teachers in four dimensions: skills, attitude, knowledge, and awareness. One hundred language teachers were chosen through convenience sampling and divided into two groups of experienced and novice teachers based on their teaching experience. All participants were chosen from state schools in Golestan province and they all taught English at English institutes and high schools. Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and ICC questionnaire were used to find the language proficiency level and ICC level of language teachers respectively. ICC questionnaire was carried out before and after instruction to determine the effect of instruction on ICC. The instruction lasted for 20 hours across ten sessions. The results of the study disclosed that the teachers' level of language proficiency was upper-intermediate. Also, it was revealed that instruction was effective as the ICC level of the teachers was below average before instruction and was improved after instruction. Therefore, the results of this study showed that instruction had an eye-catching effect on improving four dimensions of intercultural communicative competence of language teachers.
Adaskou, K., Britten, D., & Fahsi, B. (1990). Design decisions on the cultural content of a course for Morocco. ELT Journal, 44(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/44.1.3
Ahamdpour, S., & Kuhi, D. (2019). Attitudes towards the efficiency of English culture treatment at schools: A case of Iranian Kurdish EFL learners. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 9(5), 562-570. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0905.10
Alavinia, P. and Qadermazi, Z. (2013). Iranian EFL Learners' intercultural competence: EFL teachers' attitude explore. The First National Conference in Teaching English, Literature and Translation, Shiraz. https://civilica.com/doc.
Alimorad, Z. (2015). A critical evaluation of inter- and intra-cultural encounters of textbooks: Insights from Iran. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 5(1), 20–27.
Asadi, M., Kiany, G. R., Akbari, R., & Samar, R. G. (2016). Program evaluation of the new English textbook (prospect 1) in the Iranian Ministry of Education. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(2), 291-301. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0602.10
Baghermousvai, M. S., & Nabifar, N. (2016). Cultural manifestation in Iranian second grade junior high school textbook prospect 2: A semiotic analysis study. Enjoy Teaching Journal, 4(2), 1-11.
Bardkhani, P (2017). Iranian male and female EFL teachers’ attitudes toward intercultural education: Teaching L2 and transfer of culture. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 4(6), 136-152.
Bouchard, J. (2017). Ideology, agency, and intercultural communicative competence: A stratified look into EFL education in Japan. Springer.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. (2000). Assessing intercultural competence in language teaching. Sprogforum, 18(6), 8-13.
Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (1996). Intercultural communication competence: A synthesis. Communication Yearbook,19(1),353-384.
Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306287002
Deardorff, D. K. (Ed.). (2009). The SAGE Handbook of intercultural competence. Sage.
Deardorff, D.K. (2011). Assessing intercultural competence. New Directions for Institutional Research, 149, 65-79.
Erfani, S. M. (2014). Source culture, target culture, or international culture? Iranian English language teachers' perception of culture. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW), 6 (1), 317–337.
Estaji, M., & Rahimi, A. (2018). Exploring teachers' perception of intercultural communicative competence and their practices for teaching culture in EFL classrooms. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 6(2), 1-18.
Fantini, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. Center for Social Development. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7TB16CX
Gu, X. (2016). Assessment of intercultural communicative competence in FL education: A survey on EFL teachers’ perception and practice in China. Language and Intercultural Communication, 16(2), 254-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2015.1083575
Jalali, S. and Sa'd, H. T. (2014). Culture in ELT: A probe into Iranian EFL teachers' perspectives. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 3 (3), 15–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2013.599
Jackson, J. (2014). Introducing language and intercultural communication. Routledge.
Kazykhankyzy, L. (2019). Developing and validating a scale to measure Turkish and Kazakhstani ELT pre-service teachers‟ intercultural communicative competence. International Journal of Instruction, 12(1), 931-946. http://dx.doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12160a
Khanshir, A. A., & Mahammadifard, E. (2015). An evaluation of prospect book (Prospect 1). Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(3), 485-492.
Khodabandeh, F., & Mombini, R. (2018). Iranian EFL teachers' and students' perceptions towards the first grade high school english textbook (Vision1). Journal of English Language Pedagogy and Practice, 11(22), 141-167. doi: 10.30495/jal.2018.541070
Larzen-Ostermark, E. (2008). The intercultural dimension in EFL-teaching: A study of conceptions among Finland-Swedish comprehensive school teachers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(5), 527-547.
Lasonen, J. (2005). Reflections on interculturality to education and work. Higher Education Policy, 18(4), 397-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300097
Lloyd, S., & Härtel, C. (2010). Intercultural competencies for culturally diverse work teams. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(8), 845-875.
Maghsoudi, M. (2020). Intercultural communicative competence in high school English textbooks of Iran and India: A comparative analysis. Iranian Journal of Comparative Education, 3(4), 874-892. http//doi: 10.22034/ijce.2020.250406.1220
Mostafaei Alaei, M., & Nosrati, F. (2018). Research into EFL teachers’ intercultural communicative competence and intercultural sensitivity. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 47(2), 73-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2018.1424020
Nemati, A, Marzban, A, Maleki, E. (2014). The role of intercultural competence in foreign language teaching. International Journal of Language and Linguistics. Special Issue: Innovations in Foreign Language Teaching, 2(6), 8-12.
Pasand, P. G., & Ghasemi, A. A. (2018). An intercultural analysis of English language textbooks in Iran: The case of English prospect series. Journal of Applied Language Studies, 12(1), 55-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.201804172107
Perry, L & Southwell, L. (2011). Developing intercultural understanding and skills: Models and approaches. Intercultural Education, 22(6),453-466.
Rashidi. N, Soureshjani .HK. (2011). ‘The effect of teaching culturally- based texts on the Persian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ motivation and reading performance’. Journal of Languages and Culture, 2(8), 141-147. https://doi.org/10.5897/JLC.9000023
Sahragard. R, Rakhshandehroo. F, Izadpanah. M. A. (2014). On the Iranian language learners’ reaction to learning English cultural elements. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1631-1640. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.587
Salehi, H., & Amini, M. (2016). Critical analysis of a new English textbook used in Iranian junior high schools. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 3(3), 42-54.
Sercu L. (2006). The foreign language of intercultural competence teacher: the acquisition of a new professional identity. Intercultural Education, 17(1), 55-72.
Sotoudehnama, E., Marandi, S. S., & Mehran, P. (2012). A qualitative study of Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs about teaching/learning culture: A case study. Teaching English Language, 6(1), 1-37. doi: 10.22132/tel.2012.54918
Tafaroji Yeganeh, M. Raeesi,H.(2015). Developing cultural awareness in EFL classrooms at the secondary school level in an Iranian educational context. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 192, 534-542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.06.084
Vez Jeremas, J. M. and M. Gonzlez P. (2004). Intercultural competence and the European dimension. In Madrid, D. and McLaren, N. (eds.) (2004). TEFL in Primary Education. Universidad de Granada.
Wiseman, R. L. (2002). Intercultural communication competence. In W. B. Gudykunst, & B. Moody (Eds.), Handbook of international and intercultural communication, (2nd ed.) (pp. 207–224). CA: Sage.
Young, T. J., & Sachdev, I. (2011). Intercultural communicative competence: Exploring English Language teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Awareness, 20(2), 81-98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2010.540328
