An investigation into the intercultural competence of native and non-native English language teachers in London colleges
type: CreativeWork
description: Intercultural communicative competence has come to be of greater interest in English language teaching and learning over the past decades. However, a review of relevant literature shows that there is a lack of research on English language teachers‘ perceptions of intercultural competence and how it could be promoted within ESOL and EFL colleges in London. Through interviews and non-participant observations in London colleges, this research examines native and non-native English language teachers‘ perceptions of intercultural competence and the factors conducive to the development of this competence. The study‘s aim is to establish how these factors can impact the teachers‘ educational beliefs and consequently their practices. Employing interviews and non-participant observations enabled the researcher to obtain further insight into native and non-native English language teachers‘ awareness of intercultural competence. Direct interpretation was the method used to analyse the data from both the interviews and observations. The analyses of the interviews were also triangulated with those of the observations. My study reveals that native and non-native English language teachers seem to have implicitly internalised intercultural competence to some extent, and this competence has influenced their educational beliefs and practices to varying degrees. It should be noted however that most English language teachers had an indistinct view of intercultural competence; furthermore, only a few English language teachers were aware of intercultural competence and how it could be integrated effectively into their practices. This study also reveals that non-native English language teachers showed a broader awareness of intercultural competence (compared to the native teachers) and are thus more likely to teach it effectively. As evidenced in my observations, the lack of the promotion of intercultural competence could stem partly from native English language teachers‘ strong reliance …
abstract: Intercultural communicative competence has come to be of greater interest in English language teaching and learning over the past decades. However, a review of relevant literature shows that there is a lack of research on English language teachers‘ perceptions of intercultural competence and how it could be promoted within ESOL and EFL colleges in London. Through interviews and non-participant observations in London colleges, this research examines native and non-native English language teachers‘ perceptions of intercultural competence and the factors conducive to the development of this competence. The study‘s aim is to establish how these factors can impact the teachers‘ educational beliefs and consequently their practices. Employing interviews and non-participant observations enabled the researcher to obtain further insight into native and non-native English language teachers‘ awareness of intercultural competence. Direct interpretation was the method used to analyse the data from both the interviews and observations. The analyses of the interviews were also triangulated with those of the observations. My study reveals that native and non-native English language teachers seem to have implicitly internalised intercultural competence to some extent, and this competence has influenced their educational beliefs and practices to varying degrees. It should be noted however that most English language teachers had an indistinct view of intercultural competence; furthermore, only a few English language teachers were aware of intercultural competence and how it could be integrated effectively into their practices. This study also reveals that non-native English language teachers showed a broader awareness of intercultural competence (compared to the native teachers) and are thus more likely to teach it effectively. As evidenced in my observations, the lack of the promotion of intercultural competence could stem partly from native English language teachers‘ strong reliance …
author: Jamali, Mehrnaz
keywords: 370 Education, 420 English & Old English
date published: 2022-04
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:54:47Z
provider: London Metropolitan University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: London Metropolitan University