EFL learners' attitudes towards learning intercultural communicative competence

Abstract

This study investigated the attitudes of Turkish university preparatory class students towards learning intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in EFL classrooms and whether the students’ attitudes change according to their gender, reasons for learning English, English proficiency levels, majors, and the medium of instruction in their departments. The study sampled 508 students studying at the preparatory schools of seven different universities: Anadolu, Akdeniz, Ataturk, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart, Istanbul, Karadeniz Technical, and Middle East Technical University. The data were gathered through a questionnaire consisting of two ranking questions, five point Likert-scale items, and several demographic questions. The analysis of data revealed that students generally have positive attitudes towards learning ICC, and gender, proficiency levels and medium of instruction do not play a significant role in students’ attitudes towards learning ICC. However, the students from the departments of social sciences tended to have more positive attitudes towards learning ICC. Students’ reasons for learning English, their motivation types, also had an effect on their attitudes. The higher their integrative and personal motivation was, the more positive attitudes towards learning ICC they had. On the other hand, there was a negative correlation between instrumental motivation and student attitudes. The responses provided by the participants indicated that most of the students were interested in learning about every aspect of culture but in a communicative way. The students preferred video films and documentaries for introducing cultural information in their English language classes.