Professional Documents
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Department of Foreign Languages Education, Akdeniz University, Dumlupnar Avenue 07058 Antalya, Turkey
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 10 December 2010
Received in revised form4 May 2011
Accepted 30 August 2011
Keywords:
Intercultural communicative competence
Linguistic prociency
Target culture experience
Formal education
a b s t r a c t
This study aims at exploring how linguistic prociency, target culture experience, and for-
mal education are related to the learning of intercultural communicative competence (ICC).
It presents the theoretical underpinnings of ICC in the light of recent literature. Then, it con-
tinues with the methodology section that includes a quantitative research study in which
35 students at the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at European University
of Lefke (EUL) participated. The participants of the study had different linguistic procien-
cies ranging from waystage or elementary level (A2) to vantage or upper intermediate level
(B2). The paper concludes by stating the ndings of the research and also by making some
recommendations for language teachers to better develop the learners ICC in teaching
English as a second language (TESL)/teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) contexts.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Inrecent years, interculturalityhas become anincreasinglysignicant component inthe eldof foreignlanguage teaching
in that humans around the world are experiencing more and more intercultural transactions as a natural outcome of glob-
alization. Sakuragi (2008) states that intercultural communication has a paucity of literature when considering the study of
languages. However, the notion of communicative competence dates back to the study of Hymes (1972). This notion is later
expanded by Byrams (1991) and Kramschs (1993) conception of ICC that accounts for a comprehension of the variations in
interactional norms between speech communities and the ability of unearthing the other. In Byrams (2000) viewpoint, ICC
is the ability to interact effectively with people of cultures other than ones own (p. 297). To put it differently, ICC involves
awareness of different values and behaviors of the others as well as skills to deal with themin a non-judgmental way.
Relevant to foreign language classroompractice, ICC refers to activities related to behavior and speech patterns, such as
appropriate choices for conversation topics, opening and closing a conversation, criticizing and complaining, stereotyping,
reacting to cultural shock, personal space restrictions, and non-verbal communication. However, in a research project
conducted by Skopinskaja (2000, 2003) in Estonia, it was hypothesized that because foreign language syllabi across
different countries are mostly exam-centered, teachers merely concentrate on promoting their students linguistic abilities
rather than their intercultural competences. Consequently, the majority of learners cannot learn during their classes
about intercultural dangers resulting from an inappropriate selection of conversation topics, dissimilarities in non-verbal
Tel.: +90 242 310 60 83; fax: +90 0242 226 19 53.
E-mail addresses: hismanoglu@gmail.com, hismanoglu@akdeniz.edu.tr
0147-1767/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.09.001
Please cite this article in press as: Hismanoglu, M. An investigation of ELT students intercultural communicative compe-
tence in relation to linguistic prociency, overseas experience and formal instruction. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.09.001
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2 M. Hismanoglu / International Journal of Intercultural Relations xxx (2011) xxxxxx
communication, proximity, or negative stereotyping. This situation probably means that such learners may end up learning
about culture shock through personal, perhaps traumatic experience.
At this juncture, in connection with the current status of ICC teaching in Cyprus, it can be noted that certain needs become
inevitable in the Turkish Higher Education System(THES) necessitating a shift in ELT curriculumfromlinguistic perspective
to interculturality. In fact, Alptekin (2002) has foreseen this urgent need of a new pedagogic model in the case of English
as a means of international and intercultural communication. He replicated Hydes (1998) insights in such a way that ICC
are to be developed among learners of English as a second/foreign language. These learners of English as a second/foreign
language are to be equipped with linguistic and cultural behavior so that they can communicate effectively with others.
Moreover, they are to be equipped with an awareness of difference and strategies for coping with such difference. Yet, the
expected realization of ICC has always been neglected in Turkish Higher Education Context for years. However, during the
past two years, certain attempts have been made to develop especially ELT students (i.e. students studying to be English
language teachers) ICC through incorporating some specic courses into the curriculumand organizing cultural programs.
Hence, this study aims at exploring how linguistic prociency (i.e. the ability of a student to speak or perform in the
target language), overseas experience (i.e. the process of studying or working in English-speaking countries such as England,
America, Australia) and formal education (i.e. instruction in ICC that is compulsory and structured and is learned within the
context of a university) have inuenced the learning of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). It displays the theo-
retical underpinnings of ICC in relation to recent literature. After that, it continues with the methodology section involving
a quantitative research study in which 35 students at the Department of ELT at EUL participated. The paper concludes by
stating the ndings of the researchand also by making some recommendations for language teachers for promoting learners
intercultural communicative competence in TESL/TEFL contexts.
2. Literature review
The term communicative competence (CC) was initiated by Hymes in the early 1970s as a reaction to the Chomskyan
concept of linguistic competence (Chomsky, 1957, 1965). The viewwas further promoted and elaborated by researchers like
Canale and Swain in the early 1980s in the USA and by Van Ek in the mid 1980s in Europe. It was Van Ek who incorporated it
into foreign language learning and changed it into a key concept in the development of communicative language teaching.
In foreign language teaching, CC has been dominant for about three decades and most textbooks on the market currently
employed by students conformto this methodology (Aguilar, 2009).
However, the termCCwas reconsideredover the years bydifferent authors indifferent directions. While some researchers
relied largely on pragmatics (Celce-Murcia, Alcon, & Safont, 2007), others made their modications of CC stemming from
Van Eks (1986) model, which presented cultural and attitudinal features. Van Ek, aside from the linguistic or grammatical,
strategic, sociolinguistic and discourse competences put forward and/or redened by several authors (Canale, 1983; Canale &
Swain, 1980; Chomsky, 1957, 1965; Hymes, 1972), included sociocultural competence and social competence. Sociocultural
competence refers to the sociocultural context where a language is situated. It denotes the use of a specic reference form
that is partially dissimilar to that of the foreign language learner. Social competence includes not only the volition but also
the skilfulness to interact with others. It contains incentive, attitude, self-reliance, empathy and the capacity to deal with
social situations (Aguilar, 2009).
Savignon (2007) stresses that the terms native or native-like seem to be inappropriate in the evaluation of CC in
that most speakers of English in the world do not possess it as their mother tongue. Similarly, Alptekin (2002) states that
the conventional model of communicative competence is no longer suitable for explaining learning and employing an
international language in cross-cultural contexts because of its rigid link to native speakers forms. At this juncture, we
should go beyond the concept of CC and deal with the concept of ICC.
With respect to the concept of ICC, Byram(1997) indicates that when persons fromdifferent languages and/or countries
interact socially, they bring to the situation their knowledge about their own country and that of the others (pp. 3233).
Moreover, Byram(1997) notes that part of the success of such interaction will depend on the establishing and maintenance
of human relationships, something which depends on attitudinal factors (pp. 3233). Furthermore, it should be indicated
that both aspects, knowledge, and attitude are affected by the processes of intercultural communication, that is, the skills
of interpretation and constructing ties between aspects of the two cultures and the skills of discovery and interaction.
In Byrams (2000) viewpoint, ICC entails the following components:
1. Attitudes: interest and clarity, willingness to delay unbelief about other cultures and belief about ones own.
2. Knowledge: of community groups and their outputs and applications in ones own and in ones interlocutors country, and
of the common stages of societal and personal interaction.
3. Skills of interpreting and relating: capacity to understand a document or event fromanother culture, to expound it and link
it to documents fromones own.
4. Skills of discovery and interaction: capacity to get new knowledge of a culture and cultural applications and the capacity
to utilize knowledge, attitudes and skills under the restriction of real-time communication and interaction.
5. Critical cultural awareness/political education: a capacity to assess critically and on the foundation of distinct criteria
prospects, applications and outputs in ones own and other cultures and countries.
Please cite this article in press as: Hismanoglu, M. An investigation of ELT students intercultural communicative compe-
tence in relation to linguistic prociency, overseas experience and formal instruction. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.09.001
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M. Hismanoglu / International Journal of Intercultural Relations xxx (2011) xxxxxx 3
Byram (2000) stresses that a speaker who can communicate interculturally in a powerful way displays a degree of
competence in several aspects:
[. . .] someone with some degree of intercultural competence is someone who is able to see relationships between
different cultures - both internal and external to a society - and is able to mediate, that is interpret each in terms of
the other, either for themselves or for other people. It is also someone who has a critical or analytical understanding
of (parts of) their own and other cultures - someone who is conscious of their own perspective, of the way in which
their thinking is culturally determined, rather than believing that their understanding and perspective is natural. (p.
10)
Intercultural communicative competence plays a key role in foreign language learning. According to Kramsch (1993),
learners of a foreign language should operate perfectly in a context in which at least two languages and two cultures, their
own and another one, exchange. In such a context, they may nd themselves in no-mans-land or, what she terms a third
place from where to be able to comprehend and mediate between the home and the target language and culture. Hence,
learners shouldbe arbitrators whoare capable of administering communicationandinteractionbetweenpeople of dissimilar
cultural and linguistic backgrounds, coming out from their own outlook and adopting another. They should be competent
in dealing with different clarications of reality. They should be persons with a privileged position between the home and
the target culture.
In the literature, a number of studies focalized on classroom practices which have been considered good practices for
fostering ICC. Singhal (1998) states that cultural capsules and cultural problem solving are good classroom activities to
provide students with intercultural information. Henrichsen (1998) indicates that culture assimilators and cultoons are two
interesting methods of giving students comprehension about intercultural information.
In Garcia and Biscus (2006) viewpoint, the introduction of specic drama activities in a collaborative classroomcontext
can help students develop their empathic attitude and foster their cognitive and emotional competence, which are crucial
aspects in an intercultural perspective. According to Lazar (2007), language teachers should utilize intercultural games and
activities such as association games, role play, ethnographic tasks and projects to incorporate intercultural communication
training into their teaching and hence foster students ICC.
3. Methods
3.1. Participants
Atotal of 35 students fromthe English Language Teaching Department of the European University of Lefke participated in
this study. The subjects were randomly selected. Thirteen were males and twenty-two were females. The age of the students
ranged from18 to 22, with a mean of 20. Six students had overseas experience, whereas twenty-nine students did not have
overseas experience. Of six students with overseas experience, three of themaccommodated in America for three months in
2009 and they worked as cashiers at a restaurant. One student accommodated in America for three months in 2008 and he
worked as a sh cleaner at a sh factory. One student accommodated in America for three months in 2007 and he worked as
a waiter at a restaurant. One student accommodated in Canada for twenty years from1989 to 2009 and she got her primary
and secondary education over there. Of six students with overseas experience, three of themhad formal education regarding
ICC, whereas three of themdid not have formal education. Overseas experience, being able to operate beyond ones home
environment, is a key to fostering ICC for many students of English language teaching. Students can learn how to adapt to
and respect a target culture by studying or working in English-speaking countries such as England, America, Australia. In
the present study, students were not offered a range of options so that they could develop their ICC. However, they were
merely asked if they had been to overseas countries.
Ten students got formal education regarding intercultural communicative competence, while twenty-ve students did
not take formal education regarding ICC. That is, ten students took a 3 credit compulsory course entitled ELT 377 Cultural
Studies in the Fall Semester of 20092010 Academic Year. Of these ten students getting formal education regarding intercul-
tural communicative competence, while three of themalso had overseas experience, seven of themdid not have overseas
experience. As seen in Appendix A, having overseas experience in addition to getting formal education made so much differ-
ence. That is, while students with overseas experience gave average 7.00 appropriate responses to the eight communicative
situations, students without overseas experience gave average 5.71 appropriate responses to the eight communicative sit-
uations. This course, taught by a colleague of the researcher at the ELT Department of EUL, focused on the prominence of
culture in our daily lives and the ways in which culture inuenced communication processes. The course was designed (a)
to prepare students for situations used to test ICC in this study, (b) to increase their sensitivity to other cultures. The specic
course goals were as follows:
1. to increase students comprehension of the concepts of culture and co-culture;
2. to maximize students awareness of their own cultural backgrounds, values, beliefs and assumptions;
3. to increase students awareness of and respect for cultural diversity;
4. to understand howcultural differences affect interaction in intercultural contexts;
Please cite this article in press as: Hismanoglu, M. An investigation of ELT students intercultural communicative compe-
tence in relation to linguistic prociency, overseas experience and formal instruction. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.09.001
ARTICLE IN PRESS
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4 M. Hismanoglu / International Journal of Intercultural Relations xxx (2011) xxxxxx
Table 1
Equivalency between international English exams and the KPDS examscore (60) and the Common European Framework.
KPDS TOEFLCBT TOEFLIBT TOEFLPBT TOEIC IELTS CEFR
60 137 57 455 531534 5 B1
5. to describe obstacles that arise from cultural differences in intercultural interactions and learn how to overcome these
obstacles;
6. to promote intercultural communication skills;
7. to offer an opportunity to integrate theory with practice in the foreign language classroomvia media, cinema, published
works, computer based media and communicative activities.
In this course, the teacher showed students some useful expressions on how to ask for money from a family member,
order breakfast at a restaurant, ask someone to be quiet in a movie theater, ask to borrowa car froma friend, apologize to a
friend or colleague for missing appointments or being late, ask for directions in the target language. Moreover, the teacher
asked the students to role play the given situations and compare and contrast howto performthese speech acts in both the
native language and the target language.
3.2. Instruments for data collection
The data for this study were collected through a questionnaire consisting of two parts. The rst part contained a series of
demographic questions about students native language, gender, linguistic prociency, year of education, overseas experi-
ence and formal education. The second part included eight different communicative situations which students are likely to
encounter in real life contexts. These items were selected by the researcher on the basis of an extensive reviewof literature
utilized in different educational backgrounds (for example, Bardovi-Harlig & Grifn, 2005; Klc kaya, 2010; Rasekh, 2005).
The development of the instrument was guided by a number of experts working in higher education settings. This panel of
experts including one associate professor of applied sociolinguistics, three native speaker experts and two non-native EFL
teachers evaluated the instrument for content and face validity. They contended that the questionnaire was appropriate and
comprehensive for the context of the study. The students were asked to read the given situations and write what they would
say in such situations into the spaces provided under each situation.
When evaluating the (un)acceptability of the responses given by the students in relation to eight different communica-
tive situations, the researcher not only collaborated with a native speaker expert but also had a control group of native
English speaking respondents. The number of NS subjects was 5. The NS informants were English teachers working in the
English Preparatory School of the European University of Lefke. By the help of the native speaker of English, the researcher
determined whether the given responses by the students were acceptable (