Teachers’ perceptions of effective strategies for developing intercultural competence

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-358
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Gao
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Effective Strategies ◽  
Factors Influencing

Abstract How to effectively integrate culture into second language teaching has long been of concern in foreign language education. Despite advances in theory and practice for intercultural language teaching, there has been little research to investigate factors influencing teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and perceptions. This study addresses this gap by examining teachers’ perceptions of effective strategies that foster students’ intercultural competence in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language and factors influencing their beliefs. Twenty-nine school and university teachers in Australia completed a survey and a focus group interview. Quantitative analyses revealed that teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the strategies varied despite an overall positive attitude towards the teaching of culture. Their beliefs were significantly influenced by their years of teaching experience, educational setting, and native language, but not by gender, age group and educational backgrounds. Qualitative analyses attribute the inconsistency in teacher perceptions to teachers’ disparate conceptualisations of culture, teaching experiences, and educational contexts associated with different curricular and pedagogical requirements and learner characteristics. The findings reinforce the necessity for providing teachers with professional training, along with pedagogical guidance and resources in order to facilitate their intercultural language teaching practices.

scholarly journals METHODICAL APPROACHES OF THE INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE FORMATION OF FUTURE ECONOMISTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana V. Polyakova ◽  
Alina F. Nigmatullina ◽  
Margarita A. Mihailova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Simulation Games ◽  
Active Growth ◽  
Master's Degrees

The paper represents the results of conducted experiments on the formation of intercultural competence among undergraduate economics students of Kazan Federal University (Russia). Aimed at describing the advantages of the intercultural competence formation approach, the article focuses on the evidence of competence-based approach’s effectiveness in the formation of intercultural competence. The business games, projects, discussions, brainstorming, and simulation games were used as the methods of the formation of the intercultural competence. Both a linguistic and a cultural components have become increasingly important in the personality of an international level modern economist. In addition to knowledge in the professional field, future economist needs to possess cultural, sociocultural knowledge and skills that allow him to adequately represent himself in situations of intercultural communication. This problem is widely discussed these days due to the active growth of theoretical and practical interest in issues of intercultural communication. The introduction of a two-level education system (bachelor's and master's degrees) in Russia entails a considerable number of changes, including creating courses related to the world economy in a foreign language. These programs must be compiled in accordance with the federal state standards of the generation 3+ and must be implemented in the professional training of future economists at the Institute of Management, Economics and Finance of the KFU. Hence, there is a need to increase the level of intercultural competence of future specialists in the economy field and the need for pedagogical theory and practice in the formation of intercultural competence of students in the process of teaching a foreign language at a university.

The actual problems of the theory and practice of Russian as a foreign language teaching

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Barkhudarova ◽  
Dmitriy Gudkov ◽  
Lyubov Klobukova ◽  
Lidiya Krasilnikova ◽  
Irina Odintsova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Theory And Practice

scholarly journals CLT at the Higher Secondary Level in Bangladesh: Theory and Practice

IIUC Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Md Mohib Ullah
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Real Picture

With the progress of time, the aim of teaching and learning English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) changed, and so did the approaches and methods in language teaching. Different methods and approaches emerged and were replaced, influenced or contributed to the emergence of new methods. It is widely acknowledged that one umbrella approach to language teaching that has become the accepted "norm" in this field is the Communicative Language Teaching Approach. This study deals with the theories and practices of CLT at the Higher Secondary level in Bangladesh. Realizing the significance of CLT, The Ministry of Education in Bangladesh made groundbreaking attempts to implement CLT in the new context and also brought some changes in the curriculum in 1990s. Along with attempting to provide a real picture of how CLT is practiced and utilized in an ESL/EFL context, this study focuses on the Practice of CLT approach in Bangladesh. Moreover, this study intends to propose some propositions to be implemented for better practice of CLT in ESL/EFL contexts.IIUC Studies Vol.12 December 2015: 71-86

scholarly journals English foreign language teaching anxiety of Indonesian pre-service teachers of undergraduate internship program

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Huyi Intan Sari ◽  
Choiril Anwar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Teaching Anxiety

Anxiety is a topic mostly investigated in the field of foreign language education. Unfortunately, the main focus of the studies on the aforementioned topic has primarily been provided in relation to anxiety suffered by students not teachers. Anxiety in speaking English while teaching has been proven to be a separate obstacle to the success of the language teaching and learning. This still happens to teachers who even have years of teaching experience. This study aims to investigate the English language teaching anxiety as experienced by the pre-service teacher at the department. The FLTA questionnaire consisting of 27 out of 45 items was adopted to collect data. Since this study was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, the questionnaire was distributed to the participants via email. The analysis was then made by implementing the qualitative descriptive approach and simple quantification to support the description. The results show that there were five factors of anxiety occur during the program. They were teaching inexperience, self-perception of language proficiency, fear of negative evaluation, lack of student�s interest, and difficulty with time management. These findings are expected to become a reference for the efforts of developing an internship preparation program.

scholarly journals Interculturality in English Language Teaching – A Small Study with Portuguese Teachers

e-TEALS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-125
Author(s):  
Ana Ponce de Leão
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Abstract UNESCO and many other organisations worldwide have been working on approaches in education to develop tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, and intercultural dialogue. Particularly, the Council of Europe has laid out guiding principles in several documents to promote intercultural competence, following Byram’s and Zarate’s efforts in integrating this important component in language education. The commitment to developing the notion of intercultural competence has been so influential that many countries, e.g., Portugal, have established the intercultural domain as a goal in the foreign language curricula. However, this commitment has been questioned by researchers worldwide who consider that action is needed to effectively promote intercultural competence. The research coordinated by Sercu, for example, suggests that, although foreign language teachers are willing to comply with an intercultural dimension, their profile is more compatible with that of a traditional foreign language teacher, rather than with a foreign language teacher, who promotes intercultural communicative competence. In this study, I propose to examine teachers’ perceptions and beliefs about intercultural communicative competence in a cluster of schools in Portugal and compare these findings with Sercu’s study. Despite a twelve-year gap, the present study draws similar conclusions.

scholarly journals Modern Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching: The Case of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akzhan Abdykhalykova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Theoretical Methods ◽  
National University ◽  
Modern Information ◽  
Modern Technologies

Abstract Research purpose. The teacher of higher education should motivate students to use modern information technology training to study the discipline and develop professional competencies in foreign language teaching. The purpose of this research is to highlight the problem of finding the optimal didactic capabilities of modern information technologies used for improving the system of training specialists in the field of foreign languages teaching and to discuss the results of current studies in this direction. Design/Methodology/Approach. The authors summarized the relevant literature and results of the research and teaching experience. The main theoretical methods of research are modelling and designing the process of incorporating modern information technologies into foreign language teaching at the university. Theoretical methods are supplemented by empirical methods, such as observation, survey, testing, experimental work and methodological analysis. Findings. The article reveals the main components of the system of using modern technologies of foreign languages teaching at Theory and Practice of Foreign Languages Department of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. The article presents a description of training and monitoring online programs, their approbation in real conditions of pedagogical activity, the results of a pedagogical experiment, which proves the effectiveness of using modern technologies in the training of foreign and second language students. Originality/Value/Practical implications. The electronic educational materials, recommendations developed by the authors, can be used in the teaching of foreign language and can serve as a basis for the development of information, communication and instrumental provision in other subjects. The need for further research is as follows: to create online platforms, multimedia and testing programs and to develop variants of using modern technologies in foreign language teaching.

Language attention in content-based instruction

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Arias de la Cruz ◽  
Jesús Izquierdo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching Content ◽  
Instructional Roles ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
Communication Breakdowns

Subject-matter specialists teaching content via a foreign/second language in higher education often exhibit a meaning-based pedagogy, unsystematically attending to inaccurate language. This observational study examined whether two foreign-language-teaching-trained instructors teaching content in English in a Mexican undergraduate program would emulate these instructional patterns, or would attend to language favouring language-and-content-integrated pedagogy. In the study, over 400 instructional episodes, video-recorded during 18 hours of regular-classroom teaching, were analyzed using the COLT observation scheme (Spada & Fröhlich, 1995). Results showed that the foreign-language educators favoured content, erratically attending to inaccurate language during communication breakdowns. Language attention occurred reactively through word translations, lexical-gap scaffolding, and isolated explanations for non-target phonological forms. These instructional patterns may result from the language teachers’ newly assumed content-based instructional roles. To favour language attention during subject-matter teaching, language instructors need training and curricular support that helps them draw on their foreign language teaching experience as they deliver content.

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