Carla Chávez Saavedra

Magíster en Lingüística Aplicada

Many opportunities for education and sustainable human development are being undermined by the lack of tolerance and intercultural understanding, upon which peace is founded. 

(Unesco)

Introduction Language from three perspectives The communicative approach The intercultural communicative

competence The intercultural English teacher: a

profile Suggested activities Shared conclusion

The concept of growing globalization requires the development of intercultural citizenship.

It is always necessary to try new ways to engage students in learning a second language. Emphasizing the cultural dimension fosters critical thinking, independent learning and positive attitude.

Currently, most teacher training programmes at Chilean universities seek to develop competences from the communicative approach in their language levels. A globalized world requires to emphasize the ICC in teacher training to turn them into intercultural speakers.

There is an interest to reorganize and improve English teaching trainning programmes at universities.

The results in public schools, in terms of proficiency and comprehension in EFL, are not satisfactory.

The opportunities to learn and practice English as a second language in private schools are varied. Students have the possibility to sit for international certificates such as PET, FCE, IB or IGCSE. They have contact with international students in exchange programmes or in sports activities. In this context the three dimensions of languages are in integrated, so this scenario provides the necessary elements to form intercultural speakers.

Canale and Swain (1983) present a four-component model, which has been the basis for most second language syllabi for more than thirty years. The components of this traditional approach are:

1. The grammatical competence2. The sociolinguistic competence3. The strategic competence4. The discursive competence

1. It doesn’t consider the ability for using the language because the authors consider it beyond the limits of any theory of human action.

2. However, strategic and discoursive competence make implicit references to this ability (Johnson 2001).

3. There is no explanation or identification of the mechanism responsible for interaction among the competences.

4. The definition of interaction is ambigual up to certain point. It is not clear if they refer to the individual’s mind or the one with the outside environment or both.

Nowadays, it is necessary to integrate the development of an appropriate linguistic competence with the cultural dimension, forming an intercultural speaker able to interact in real situations. (Byram 1997)

Most recent theory has stressed that when a foreign language is used for verbal communication between living individuals in real time, linguistic competence is insufficient.(Byram and Doyé 1999)

It is necessary to consider different ways of behaving, different beliefs and understanding of the world when communicating in a second language.

It is defined as:“The ability to see and manage the

relationships between themselves and their own cultural beliefs, behaviours and meanings, as expressed in a foreign language, and those of their interlocutors, expressed in the same language, which may be the interlocutor’s native language, or not” Byram (1997)

Develop a sense of national identity. Integrate linguistic and sociocultural

skills. Widen world knowledge as much as

possible. Develop other perspectives with interest

and curiosity. Know, investigate and analyse the

product and practices of social groups.

SkillsInterpret and relate

KnowledgeOf self and other:Of interaction:Individual and societal

EducationPolitical educationCritical cultural awareness

AttitudesRelativising selfValuing other

SkillsDiscover and/or interact

An intercultural English teacher: Guides learners through the cultural

experience to develop cultural knowing.

Organizes cultural experience joining cultural content and the learning process.

Helps learners to participate, describe, interpret and respond to cultural input.

Uses different teaching strategies.

5. Presents or elicits cultural information.6. Coaches and models cultural

behaviors.7. Guides and conducts research and

analysis.8. Listens, emphathizes and shares their

own experiences as culture learners.9. Is willing to take the time to

thoughtfully design new activities or modify existing ones.

Ability to perform the behaviours effectively, or accurately.

Ability to select the appropriate forms of behaviour.

Ability to recall or restate the information presented.

Ability to separate “fact” from their interpretation or evaluation of that information.

Ability to understand cultural content (the target culture, the learner’s culture, concepts of culture, personal experiences).

Ability to compare cultures. Awareness of one’s own feelings,

perceptions, beliefs, values and attitudes.

use videos, CD-ROMs or the Internet to illustrate an aspect of the foreign culture.

ask your pupils to think about what it would like to be like to live in the foreign culture.

use role-play situations in which people from different cultures meet.

decorate your classroom with posters illustrating particular aspects of the foreign culture.

ask your pupils to compare an aspect of their own culture with that aspect in the foreign culture.

talk with your pupils about stereotypes regarding particular cultures and countries or regarding the inhabitants of particular countries.

Organize chitchat clubs with native speakers. Include activities that call for story sharing and

personal narrative. Participate in Internet-based collaborative learning. Encourage students to enroll in volunteer

programmes in different parts of the world. Celebrate festivals and celebrations from other

cultures. Produce a guidebook, poster or webpage for visitors

to your town, country or region.

Intercultural communicative competence provides the opportunity to work with the communicative approach from an interactive perspective.

There are many factors that intervene in SLT (learning environment, learner’s motivation and affective filter, materials available, etc); in this way, teachers are called to promote innovative ideas and new approaches to help learners to be effective second language users in the global village.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing: Applied Linguistics.