Exploring the intercultural communicative competence intergration in foreign teaching and learning

ISSN: 1859-2171 TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 3 
EXPLORING THE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE 
INTERGRATION IN FOREIGN TEACHING AND LEARNING 
 Bui Thi Huong Giang 
 Department of International Cooperation – Thai Nguyen University 
ABSTRACT 
For more than 30 years, English has played a significant role in various Vietnamese contexts as a 
mode of international communication. At present, English is officially taught to Vietnamese 
learners from grade three onwards. Previously, English language teaching and learning had long 
focused on putting in great efforts to develop the functions and uses of English. The fact is that 
despite being proficient in English, most Vietnamese students who graduate from a university are 
unable to communicate effectively in English with co-workers from different cultural 
backgrounds. Therefore, the object of the current research is to analyze the viewpoints of the 
second and third year English major students about intercultural competence development in 
foreign language teaching and learning classroom at School of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen 
University. The research findings show that learners do not get sufficient cultural information and 
seldom or never take part in disscussions about values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of people 
living in other cultures. Obviously, the possibilities of developing intercultural competence are not 
yet fully exploited in foreign language teaching and learning classroom. Therefore, a considerably 
stronger focus on the English language teaching and learning process should be given to the 
increase of learners‟ intercultural competence in accordance with the present day requirements and 
goals of education. 
Keywords: intercultural communicative competence; intercultural competence; foreign language 
teaching and learning; English major students; School of Foreign Languages; Thai Nguyen University 
Received: 20/02/2019 ; Revised: 26/3/2019; Approved: 07/5/2019 
NGHIÊN CỨU SỰ TÍCH HỢP CỦA GIAO TIẾP LIÊN VĂN HÓA 
TRONG DẠY VÀ HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ 
 Bùi Thị Hương Giang 
 Ban Hợp tác Quốc tế - ĐH Thái Nguyên 
TÓM TẮT 
Hơn 30 năm qua, tiếng Anh đã đóng một vai trò quan trọng như là một ngôn ngữ giao tiếp quốc tế 
ở Việt Nam. Hiện tại, tiếng Anh được dạy chính thức cho người học ở Việt Nam bắt đầu từ lớp ba. 
Trước đây, việc dạy và học tiếng Anh thường tập trung vào các chức năng và cách sử dụng của 
tiếng Anh. Thực tế cho thấy mặc dù thành thạo tiếng Anh nhưng hầu hết sinh viên Việt Nam sau 
khi tốt nghiệp đại học không thể giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh hiệu quả với đồng nghiệp từ các nền văn 
hóa khác nhau. Do đó, mục tiêu của nghiên cứu này là phân tích quan điểm của sinh viên chuyên 
ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ hai và thứ ba về việc phát triển năng lực liên văn hóa trong dạy và học 
ngoại ngữ tại Khoa Ngoại ngữ, Đại học Thái Nguyên. Các kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy người học 
không có đủ thông tin văn hóa và rất hiếm khi hoặc không bao giờ tham gia vào những bàn luận về 
các giá trị, niềm tin, thái độ và hành vi của những người sống trong các nền văn hóa khác. Rõ ràng, 
khả năng phát triển năng lực liên văn hóa chưa được khai thác triệt để trong lớp học và dạy ngoại 
ngữ. Do đó, quá trình dạy và học tiếng Anh cần tập trung mạnh mẽ hơn vào phát triển năng lực 
liên văn hóa phù hợp với các yêu cầu và mục tiêu giáo dục hiện nay. 
Từ khóa: giao tiếp giao văn hóa; năng lực liên văn hóa; dạy và học ngoại ngữ; sinh viên chuyên 
ngữ; Khoa Ngoại ngữ; Đại học Thái Nguyên 
Ngày nhận bài: 20/02/2019; Ngày hoàn thiện: 26/3/2019; Ngày duyệt đăng: 07/5/2019 
Email: bhgiang@tnu.edu.vn 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34238/tnu-jst.2019.06.330 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 4 
1. Introduction 
One of the most significant changes over the 
past decades has been the recognition of the 
cultural dimension as a key component of 
language studies. This has transformed the 
nature of the experience of teaching and 
learning languages to a great extent and the 
traditional aim of developing linguistic skills 
modeled on the norms of native speakers has 
lost ground. According to the intercultural 
model, language are related to the cultures, 
communities and societies that use them for 
communication and language learners should 
be encouraged to become competent 
intercultural speakers [1]. 
There is no doubt that we are living in time of 
great change. As we educators prepare our 
students for the 21st century, we are aware of 
many changes occurring globally. Population 
mobility continues throughout the world at an 
all-time high in human history, bringing 
extensive cross-cultural contact among 
diverse language and cultural groups. Policy 
makers include intercultural objectives in 
curricula, and teachers find themselves faced 
with the challenge of promoting the 
acquisition of intercultural competence 
through their teaching. This is true for 
teachers of a diversity of subjects. It is 
definitely true for teachers of foreign 
languages. Foreign language education is, by 
definition, intercultural. Bringing a foreign 
language to the classroom means connecting 
learners to a world that is culturally different 
from their own. Hence, all foreign language 
educators are now expected to exploit this 
potential and promote the acquisition of 
intercultural competence (IC) in their 
learners. Therefore, the purpose of the present 
research is to focus and analyze specifically 
on the second and third year English major 
students‟ viewpoints of intercultural 
competence development in foreign language 
teaching and learning classroom at School of 
Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University 
(SFL, TNU). 
2. Literature review 
Understanding the nature of the relationship 
between language and culture is central to the 
process of learning another language. In actual 
language use, it is not the case that it is only 
the forms of language that convey meaning. It 
is language in its cultural context that creates 
meaning: creating and interpreting meaning is 
done within a cultural framework. Learning to 
communicate in an additional language 
involves developing an awareness of the ways 
in which culture interrelates with language 
whenever it is used [2]. 
The notion of intercultural communicative 
competence (ICC) has been developing since 
the 1990s. Significant studies on FLT with 
respect to ICC can be found particularly 
through the multi-layered work of Michel 
Byram and Lies Sercu. As pointed out by 
Byram et al. [3], language teaching has been 
profoundly influenced by linguistics and there 
is still lack of good practice and inadequate 
attention is paid to the intercultural element in 
teacher education. Correspondingly, as stated 
by Sercu Sercu et al. [4], foreign language 
teaching is, by definition, intercultural; 
therefore, foreign language teachers face the 
challenge of promoting the acquisition of IC 
in their practice. 
In order to establish effective intercultural 
competence (IC), one must be able to predict 
how their interlocutor tends to behave and 
accordingly send appropriate verbal and 
nonverbal messages. This means that 
successful communication with the members 
of different cultural groups requires a certain 
degree of communicative competence. There 
are different theories on what IC consists of. 
These theories have changed depending on 
the context or one‟s point of view. According 
to Byram et al. [3], the components of IC are 
knowledge, skills, and attitudes, 
supplemented by values that are part of one‟s 
multiple social identities. According to 
Byram‟s intercultural model, language, which 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 5 
people use for communication, is intertwined 
with culture, community, and society. 
Consequently, in order for their students to 
become competent intercultural speakers, 
teachers should promote ICC among English 
language learners [5]. This process becomes 
an essential responsibility of English teachers 
who enable their students to succeed when 
communicating in English with people from 
different cultural backgrounds. 
3. Methodology 
The participants of present study were 178 
students of the second and third year English-
majors at School of Foreign Languages, Thai 
Nguyen University in 2018. Data for the 
present study, which is descriptive in nature, 
were collected in 2018 academic year by 
means of a questionnaire adapted by Sercu et 
al. [4]. The questionnaire aimed to investigate 
the students viewpoints of the development of 
intercultural competence in English language 
learning. Data collected from the 
questionnaire were analyzed by taking the 
frequency counts for each question. 
4. Findings and discussions 
In the first questionnaire, students were asked to 
indicate their viewpoints about the development 
of intercultural competence in English language 
teaching and learning and the statements are 
ranked on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from 
„always‟ to „never‟. The data of the students‟ 
questionnaire indicate that development of 
intercultural skills received less attention of the 
learners indicated „very often‟ about developing 
intercultural skills in the foreign language 
teaching/learning classroom and most of the 
students stated that they rarely developed 
intercultural skills in the foreign language 
teaching/learning classroom. „Looking for 
solutions of intercultural conflict situations in 
the foreign language classroom‟ (61.2%) was 
ranked most and „getting new information about 
your own culture in the foreign language 
classroom‟ (40.4%) was ranked least. The 
research data reflected the unfavourable 
situation for the development of learners‟ 
intercultural competence (see Table 1). 
Table 1. Students’ viewpoints of skills dimension of intercultural competence development 
Students’ viewpoints of skills dimension 
of intercultural competence development 
5 4 3 2 1 
 n % n % n % n % n % 
1. Do you look for solutions of 
intercultural conflict situations in the 
foreign language classroom? 
0 0.0 19 10.7 45 25.3 109 61.2 5 2.8 
2. Do you learn to handle intercultural 
conflict situations in the foreign 
language classroom? 
0 0.0 14 7.9 36 20.2 108 60.7 20 11.2 
3. Do you speak about the etiquette of 
other cultures in the foreign language 
classroom? 
0 0.0 16 9.0 42 23.6 102 57.3 18 10.1 
4. Do you learn to handle intercultural 
contact situations in the foreign language 
classroom? 
0 0.0 24 13.5 56 31.5 88 49.4 10 5.6 
5. Do you get new information about 
your own culture in the foreign language 
classroom? 
5 2.8 29 16.3 64 36.0 72 40.4 8 4.5 
6. Do you perform reflection on cultural 
differences orally in the foreign language 
classroom? 
0 0.0 16 9.0 58 32.6 89 50.0 15 8.4 
7. Do you perform reflection on cultural 
differences in writing in the foreign 
language classroom? 
0 0.0 14 7.9 62 34.8 91 51.1 11 6.2 
Bui Thi Huong Giang TNU Journal of Science and Technology 199(06): 3 - 9 
 Email: jst@tnu.edu.vn 6 
Students’ viewpoints of skills dimension 
of intercultural competence development 
5 4 3 2 1 
 n % n % n % n % n % 
8. Do you learn to reflect on cultural 
differences in the foreign language 
classroom? 
0 0.0 17 9.6 52 29.2 100 56.2 9 5.1 
5-always 4-often 3-sometimes 2-rarely 1-never 
Learners were asked to answer eight questions aimed at discovering to what extent classroom 
practices regarding knowledge dimension of intercultural competence were carried out in foreign 
language teaching/learning classroom in the second section of the questionaire (see Table 2). 
Table 2. Students’ viewpoint of knowledge dimension of intercultural competence 
Students’ viewpoint of knowledge 
dimension of intercultural 
competence 
5 4 3 2 1 
 n % n % n % n % n % 
1. Do you provide information about 
shared values and beliefs in the 
foreign language classroom? 
8 4.5 7 3.9 22 12.4 14 7.9 127 71.3 
2. Do you discuss values and beliefs 
of people living 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