Tertiary level efl teachers’ perceptions and practices of ICC

Abstract

This study investigated tertiary level EFL teachers’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) perceptions and their classroom practices to describe the current position of teachers. In order to inquire about their perceptions and practices further, their cross-cultural experiences, and perception towards ICC according to age, gender, undergraduate degree, last degree earned and teaching experience factors were examined. The study sampled 81 tertiary level EFL teachers working at Department of Basic English, Middle East Technical University. The data were gathered through a questionnaire. This instrument was additionally used as a guidance to select teachers with high perception of ICC to be observed for three weeks. The data analysis from the questionnaire revealed that teachers’ cross-cultural experiences were limited to touristic purposes. Moreover, teachers who graduated from ELT departments had more positive perception of ICC compared to instructors with degrees from non-ELT departments regarding culture-teaching activities. Additionally, novice teachers reported to have more positive perception of ICC in terms of how often they employ culture teaching activities. Finally, although teachers reported to have a positive perception of ICC, classroom observations during which instances of ICC were noted; however, it was not consistent throughout the observed lessons. The overall picture of the results indicated that although perceptions play a crucial role in shaping teachers’ classroom practices, this was not the case in this study.