Exploring the intercultural communicative competence intergration in foreign teaching and learning

iving in other culture in 
the foreign language classroom? 
0 0.0 5 2.8 6 3.4 135 75.8 32 18.0 
3. Do you discuss the significance of 
values and beliefs in one‟s life in the 
foreign language classroom? 
0 0.0 2 1.1 8 4.5 122 68.5 46 25.8 
4. Do you discuss the impact of 
foreign culture in the foreign 
language classroom? 
20 11.2 28 15.7 42 23.6 68 38.2 20 11.2 
5. Do you get information in the 
foreign language classroom about 
daily life and routines of the foreign 
country? 
11 6.2 22 12.4 52 29.2 83 46.6 10 5.6 
6. Do you get information in the 
foreign language about the political 
conditions of the foreign country? 
0 0.0 6 3.4 15 8.4 53 29.8 104 58.4 
7. Do you get information in the 
foreign language about the 
geography of the foreign country 
0 0.0 0 0.0 24 13.5 92 51.7 62 34.8 
8. Do you get information in the 
foreign language classroom about 
the history of the foreign country? 
0 0.0 6 3.4 15 8.4 102 57.3 55 30.9 
5-always 4-often 3-sometimes 2-rarely 1-never 
The students‟ answers reveals that the classroom activity that happens most in the EFL classroom 
was „the impact of foreign culture in the foreign language classroom‟ with 11. 2% and that takes 
least was the „information about shared values and beliefs in the foreign language classroom‟ 
with 71.3%. Getting „information in the foreign language classroom about daily life and routines 
of the foreign country‟ and providing „information about shared values and beliefs in the foreign 
language classroom‟ comes second and third among frequent classroom activity in knowledge 
dimension aspect. Discussing „values and beliefs of people living in other culture in the foreign 
language classroom‟, „the significance of values and beliefs in one‟s life in the foreign language 
classroom‟ and getting „information in the foreign language about the political, geography and 
history of the foreign country‟ takes least attention of the frequent activity in EFL classroom with 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 7 
0%. Most of the students‟ answers points out that providing „information about shared values and 
beliefs in the foreign language classroom‟ takes the first rank as seldom or never classroom 
activity. Following is getting „information in the foreign language about the political conditions 
of the foreign country‟ with 58.4% and „information in the foreign language about the geography 
of the foreign country‟ with 34.8%. 
The analysis of the research data revealed the learners‟ viewpoints of attitudinal dimension as 
shown in Table 3. 
Table 3. Students’ viewpoint of attitudinal dimension of intercultural competence development 
Students’ viewpoint of attitudinal 
dimension of intercultural competence 
development 
5 4 3 2 1 
 n % n % n % n % n % 
1. Do you learn to empathize with 
people living in other cultures in the 
foreign language classroom? 
0 0.0 25 14.0 46 25.8 72 40.4 35 19.7 
2. Do you take part in discussions about 
your own culture? 
0 0.0 21 11.8 35 19.7 89 50.0 33 18.5 
3. Do you take part in discussions in the 
foreign language classroom about 
respecting other/different culture? 
0 0.0 29 16.3 42 23.6 76 42.7 0 0.0 
4. Do you take part in discussions in the 
foreign language classroom about 
respecting own culture? 
0 0.0 54 30.3 78 43.8 107 60.1 0 0.0 
5. Do you take part in discussions in the 
foreign language classroom about 
different cultural values? 
0 0.0 34 19.1 98 55.1 46 25.8 0 0.0 
6. Do you take part in discussions in the 
foreign language classroom about 
stereotypes? 
0 0.0 33 18.5 87 48.9 58 32.6 0 0.0 
7. Do you develop attitudes of openness 
and tolerance towards other people and 
cultures? 
0 0.0 56 31.5 98 55.1 24 13.5 0 0.0 
5-always 4-often 3-sometimes 2-rarely 1-never 
As the most favourable classroom activities 
related with teaching culture in the attitudinal 
dimension, the stuents indicated „discussions 
about attitudes of openness and tolerance 
towards other people and cultures‟ (31.5%), 
„discussions about about respecting own 
culture s‟ (30.3%). As the second favourite 
classroom practices, „discussions about the 
foreign language classroom about different 
cultural values‟ (19.1%), „discussions about 
the foreign language classroom about 
stereotypes‟ (18.5%) and „about respecting 
other/different culture‟ (16.3%) were chosen. 
According to the respondents‟ opinion, least 
attention during EFL classes was paid to 
„discussions about about your own culture‟ 
(11.8%). According to the research data, it 
seems obvious that the possibilities of 
developing intercultural competence are not 
fully exploited in foreign language 
teaching/learning classroom. A comparison of 
the research data by form showed no 
statistically relevant differences in the 
development of attitudinal dimension. The 
research data analysis also revealed some 
important insights into the development of 
learners‟ skills dimension of intercultural 
competence. The respondents‟ answers 
showed that classroom practices in the skills 
dimension carried out in the foreign language 
teaching/ learning classroom. Such research 
data show which activities should receive 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 8 
more attention from teachers in order to 
strengthen the learners‟ abilities to manage 
intercultural situations better. The results of 
the study clearly reveals that there is a lack 
attention of the second and third year English 
major students at SFL on the intercultural 
competence development Therefore, the 
students‟ understanding of cultural elements 
should be integrated more in the curriculums 
in order to raise the students‟ awareness of the 
role of intercultural competence in their study 
and career. Learners‟ cultural awareness can 
be shown as their perceptions and deep 
understandings of both the target language 
culture and their own culture EFL teachers 
should incorporate classroom activities and 
projects that stress the importance of 
integrating intercultural communication 
aspects to dealing with different cultures and 
respecting all the diversities. Teachers can 
mention aspects of both the target language 
culture and the source culture, and the culture 
of other countries in their language 
classroom. It is suggested that the deep 
understanding of intercultural issues will then 
make a significant contribution toward 
developing EFL curriculums from an 
intercultural perspective. 
5. Conclusion and recommendations 
The present study aimed to investigate the 
opinions of English major students at SFL, 
TNU regarding the role of teaching culture in 
foreign language education and the extent to 
which they incorporate cultural activities into 
their classroom practices in order to train 
competent intercultural speakers. The results 
we have presented here suggest that 
intercultural dimension in English teaching 
has not been fully endorsed by the teachers. 
While teaching IC is a part of planning, 
teachers do not seem to implement it as an 
explicit task in their classroom practice. 
Given the complexity and significance of IC 
in the English language teaching, to 
understand the dynamics involved in the 
concept of IC, teachers need to be 
familiarized with the theory and available 
framework that is at an advantage in 
examining and clarifying the issue. They 
generally prioritize language teaching 
objectives over culture teaching objectives. 
They try to favor the development of 
openness and tolerance, but they still define 
culture teaching more in terms of passing on 
knowledge than providing intercultural skills. 
The results show that there are opportunities. 
First of all, culture teaching requires a critical 
dimension. Therefore, teachers and students 
need deeper knowledge of the cultural aspect 
in FLT that should be anchored in the 
available theories and frameworks. Secondly, 
policy documents should include a clear and 
applicable definition of IC and should clarify 
the assessment criteria. At the moment, the 
concept of IC is being left for individual 
interpretation by a teacher who applies this 
interpretation into his/her classroom practice. 
For that reason, teachers should be 
familiarized with the recent research 
concerning IC and encouraged to 
problematize the curriculum content about 
culture teaching. Lastly, educational 
authorities cannot simply introduce teachers 
to “new theories” but should invest in an in-
service teacher training that builds on the 
acquisition of IC and supply a teacher with 
the skills, abilities and reflective attitudes that 
are indispensable in teaching of IC. 
REFERENCES 
[1]. Alvarez, I., and Garrido, C., “Language 
teacher education for intercultural 
understanding”, European Journal of Teacher 
Education, 29(2), 163-179, 2006. 
[2]. Byram, M., Gribkova, M., & Starkey, H., 
Developing the intercultural dimension in 
language teaching: a practical introduction 
for teachers, Language Policy Division 
Directorate of School, Out of School and 
Higher Education, Council of Europe, 
Strasbourg, 2002. 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 9 
[3]. Byram, M., Nichols, A. & Stevens, D.(eds)., 
Developing Intercultural Competence in 
Practice, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 
2001. 
[4]. Liddicoat, A. J. & Scarino, A., Inercultural 
Language Teaching and Learning, Malden, 
MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. 
[5]. Sercu, L., Bandura, E., Foreign language 
teachers and intercultural competence: an 
international investigation. UK: The 
Cromwell Press Ltd, 2005. 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 10