Teachers beliefs and practices of intercultural communication competence in teaching and learning english a survey at a local high school in phu tho province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------ HOÀNG THỊ HIỀN TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF IN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

- -

HOÀNG THỊ HIỀN

TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH:

A SURVEY AT A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE

(Hiểu biết của giáo viên đối với năng lực giao tiếp liên văn hóa trong dạy và học tiếng Anh: Một nghiên cứu khảo sát

ở một trường THPT ở tỉnh Phú Thọ)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

HA NOI - 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG THỊ HIỀN

TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH:

A SURVEY AT A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU THO PROVINCE

(Hiểu biết của giáo viên đối với năng lực giao tiếp liên văn hóa trong dạy và học tiếng Anh: Một nghiên cứu khảo sát

ở một trường THPT ở tỉnh Phú Thọ)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh

HÀ NỘI - 2019

Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed

Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work

I have acknowledged all main sources of help

Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself

Signed: ………

Date: ………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Le Van Canh, for his valuable guidance, constructive comments, patient support and encouragement in the completion of this M.A thesis He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction whenever he thought I needed it

I would like to send my sincere thanks to my informants in this study, who I selected as the target subjects of this research Without their enthusiastic contribution and cooperation, this research would certainly not have been successfully conducted

My thanks also go to all my teachers for their great help in providing me with useful advice and constructive comments

In the thesis, it is inevitable that the ideas of many other writers in this field are reflected and developed Their ideas have stimulated my thinking on doing this paper My debt to the authors listed in the references is equally great To all these scholars, I offer my sincere thanks

Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family, colleagues and friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them My special thanks go to my parents who have always supported me and told me that I could achieve whatever I wanted I hope that they would be proud of me today

iii

It goes without saying that I am fully responsible for all shortcomings remaining in this study

Author

ABSTRACT

This study was done aiming at finding out how teachers perceive Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) in teaching and learning English Moreover, how their beliefs are integrated in their teaching practices were also the subjects to point out To fulfill the abovementioned objectives, the qualitative methodology was utilized, and the data mostly based on semi-structured interviews with six teachers of English at a local high school in a mountainous province were synthesized and analyzed The results of the study, in summary, showed that most of the teachers surveyed have poor understanding of ICC, which results in their confusion about ways to improve students’ ICC Those beliefs and practices may be influenced by some different factors such as teachers’ lack of experience, materials, As a result, suggestions and recommendations were investigated so as to deal with the problems Though the limitations were unavoidable, the study was expected

to be beneficial to teachers, students, and researchers of the related subjects

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 1: Fantini’s IC Model (2000) (1.3)

p 15

Table 1: Teachers’ perception of culture and its importance in

language teaching (3.1.1)

p 34

Table 2: Objectives of ELT in the context of globalization in

comparison with those of traditional ELT (3.1.2)

p 36

Table 3: Teachers’ perception of the components of ICC (3.1.3) p 38

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the research problems 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the research 3

5 Method of the study 3

6 Significance of the study 4

7 Structure of the thesis 4

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 The relationship between Language and Culture 6

1.2 Cross-cultural Communication vs Intercultural Communication 10

1.3 Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) 13

1.4 Teaching English as a lingua franca (ELF) and Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) 16

1.5 The current pedagogy to teach ICC 19

1.6 The role of teachers’ beliefs and practices 21

1.7 Previous studies on teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICC in teaching and learning English 22

Summary 25

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 26

2.1 The setting and participants of the study 26

2.2 Data collection instruments 28

2.3 Data collection procedure 29

2.4 Data analysis 30

Summary 32

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

3.1 Teachers’ beliefs of ICC in teaching and learning English 33

3.2 How teachers integrate their understanding of ICC into their classroom teaching 40

3.3 Teachers’ ideas about effective ways of teaching ICC 44

Summary 45

PART THREE: CONCLUSION 46

1 Summaries of the major findings 46

2 Pedagogical recommendations to improve students’ ICC 46

3 Limitations of the study 48

4 Recommendations for further related studies 49

REFERENCES 51 APPENDICES I APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW GUIDELINES I APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW SAMPLE VI

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the research problems

The rationale of this study emerged from my own experience as a graduate student and teacher Having been a teacher of English for more than ten years

at a high school in Vietnam, my perceptions of English teaching is affected a lot by the way I was taught when I was a student Like many other teachers, I paid much attention to grammatical structures and vocabulary Since the 7-year textbook set was implemented in my school, I have always tried to apply CLT into my teaching practices With a view to helping students develop the four communicative skills, I paid much attention to teach my students to pronounce the words correctly with American or British standards Not until I attended the workshop “Intercultural Communicative Competence and Education For Global Citizenship” by Prof Nguyen Quang did I realize that I had much to do to become a better teacher I started to know that the ultimate goal of teaching English is not just to help students develop the four communicative skills, but teaching English is for global communication, for social responsibility and for intercultural citizenship Therefore, I was motivated to do research on ICC to understand more about it and wish to help

my colleagues clearer about this issue

In today’s globalized world, beside acquiring the four skills, English learners need to develop Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) It is claimed to be a very important factor affecting the development of the ability

to use a foreign language, the ability to communicate and adjust attitudes of learners in multicultural contexts When students are equipped with the knowledge of other cultures, they have less difficulty in communicating with

people coming from different backgrounds Hence, teaching ICC along with the English language is considered to be extremely important in order to enable them to communicate inter-culturally, not just imitate the British or American people The development of ICC has become one of the ultimate goals of English language teaching in the context of globalization; however, the integration of intercultural content into English language education in Vietnam has not been paid enough attention

Although much research has been done on ICC in teaching English as a lingua franca in a variety of different contexts, not many studies on the topic have been conducted in the context of Vietnamese high schools Besides, the concept ICC is still alien to many Vietnamese EFL teachers working in the high school In addition, most teachers still have limited knowledge about ICC

For all of the abovementioned, I would like to carry out a small-scaled study

on “teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICC in teaching and learning English at

a local school in Phu Tho province” so as to help solve out the problems

2 Aims of the study

The research has two major aims:

- To explore high school teachers’ view about ICC in language teaching

- To find out how teachers integrate their understanding of ICC into their classroom teaching

3 Research questions

This study is conducted to address the two following research questions:

1 What are high school teachers’ understandings of ICC and its importance

in teaching and learning English?

2 How is their understanding translated into classroom teaching?

4 Scope of the research

The research explores the notion of ICC in English language teaching and learning from the perspectives of six teachers of English at a local high school

in Phu Tho Regarding its scope, the research was only aimed at exploring teachers’ understanding of ICC and how it is translated into their teaching

5 Method of the study

The method used in this study is survey research, with the use of one main instrument which is interview Interviews are carried out to idendify teachers’ beliefs of ICC in English teaching and learning In the second part of the interviews, some questions are raised with a view to examining how teachers apply their understanding into their teaching practices The use of interviews

to survey teachers’ beliefs and practices of teachers would help to get reliable data and help the researcher have a good investigation into the problems of teaching ICC to students

6 Significance of the study

It is necessary to be aware of teachers’ attitudes towards improving ICC for students Thus, this reasearch is beneficial to both teachers of English and high school students This may help to raise teachers’ awareness of English language teaching in direction of intercultural dimension The study focuses

on enhancing teachers’ understanding of the need and ways to teach English along with ICC appropriately and effectively In addition, it can be valuable for teachers to self-evaluate their experience in improving students’ ICC The findings of the study may also bring great benefits to curriculum designers and material developers Moreover, for the researchers, the study can provide useful information for further studies of the same topic in the future

7 Structure of the thesis

The study is composed of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part 1 generally introduces the rationale of the study, aims of the study, research questions The scope and method of the study are also included

After the significance is stated, part 1 ends with the structure of the study

Part 2 consists of:

Chapter 1: Literature Review, gives definitions of the key concepts, deals

with a review of previous studies most relevant to the problem under investigation, a statement of unsolved problems and provides the theoretical framework for the study

Chapter 2: Methodology, presents a detailed description of methodology

employed in the study, mentions the context of the study, including the description of the participants, the data collection instruments and procedure, the data analysis

Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion, represents the findings of the survey

research conducted at a high school in Phu Tho province It reveals the qualitative analysis of data from semi-structured interviews about teachers’ understanding of ICC in teaching and learning English and how their perception is translated into their teaching

Part 3, Conclusion, summarizes the key points and the outcomes of the study,

presents the author’s reflection as well as indicates some limitations of the study, then suggests the pedagogical implications for the teaching of ICC, and finally proposes some recommendations for further research

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the literature on ICC in ELF and teachers’ understandings of ICC is reviewed

1.1 The relationship between Language and Culture

The relationship between culture and language has long been one of the most important topics and of considerable interest to many researchers To think about this problem, we need to begin with the definitions of language and culture Since cultures spread across languages and likewise languages spread across cultures (Risager, 2007: 153), for many years, authorities have been engaged in exploring the relationship between the two terms and have concluded that the study of a language cannot be separated from culture studies and vice versa

According to Kramsch (1980), language is the “expressions of cultural reality”, the embodiments of cultural reality, and the symbols of cultural reality (Kramsch, 1998) It determines our thought, the way we think, the way

we communicate,… Hence, there is a dialectical relationship: culture influences language and vice versa language influences culture Communication creates culture, and culture is a means of communication All the definitions of language and culture imply that the two are closely connected to each other On one hand, culture seems so inclusive, it permeates almost every aspect of human life including languages people use

On the other hand, when people need to share a culture, they communicate through language It can be concluded that culture and language are heavily

entwined Language is created by human beings and represents human society It is because it reflects all aspects of human social life, the relationship among community members, and their history and development Hence, language is surely a part of culture and people use language to enact and reflect on culture People from different cultures have do things in their own ways, so the language they use to communicate reflects cultural differences It is noted that language and culture have an inextricable and interdependent relationship (Choudhury, 2013); they are not separable, but depend on each other and each supports the development of the other (Mitchell & Myles, 2004)

The relationship between language and culture has been researched by many linguists in the development of foreign language The two earliest linguists, named Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, determined the mutual relationship between language and culture through the “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” (reviewed by Hussein, 2012) The “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” proposed that language controls the thoughts and perceptions of individuals; therefore, language determines their worldviews People from different cultures have different worldviews and language shapes their cultures In other words, language and culture influence each other

The links between language and culture consist of: language as a part of culture (language is an important tool to master for anyone who wants to enter into and understand a given culture); language as an index of culture (language reveals the ways of thinking and doing things in the associated culture); and language as symbolic of culture (languages can be used as symbols to defend or foster the cultures associated with them) (summarised from Fishman, 1996, p 452) In a similar way, their relationship is

described, including: language expresses cultural reality (people use language to express facts, ideas or events for sharing information from their own viewpoints); language embodies cultural reality (the way people use language in communication to create meanings that are understandable

to others, for example, the way they use verbal or non-verbal languages means that they are expressing themselves); and language symbolises cultural reality (language is a system of signs that is seen as having a cultural value itself) (summarised from Kramsch, 1998, p 3)

The relationship between language and culture is strong, and “culture is embedded in language as an intangible, all-pervasive and highly variable force” (Crozet & Liddicoat, 1999, p 116) Points of articulation between language and culture are evident by five specific features of communication: culture in context; culture in the general structure of a text; culture within shorter units of texts; culture in the organisation of the units of texts; and culture in linguistic structures/ words/ syntax/ non-verbal These links can be briefly understood as follows: culture in context consists of knowledge about the world from individuals’ views, so culture contains specific and local meanings In context, culture has different implications

to language As such, culture is less apparently attached to language Culture in a text structure means culture can be found in the way spoken

or written texts have been shaped Textual features, like a part of language, differ from country to country and embody different cultural activities For example, in pragmatic and interactional norms, culture is expressed through the use of speech acts (for example, the ways to say

“thank you”) Language use determines the value of human communication, but more than that, a cultural framework guides the interpretation of

language use Culture in linguistic structures can be seen in the presence of culture in linguistic forms, words, syntax and non-verbal language

The relationship between language and culture is deeply rooted in the way that language reflects culture of one society and its world views In order to identify culturing of language, one often encounters expressions such as:

“language and culture are inseparable”, “language and culture are intimately connected”, “language is culture and culture is language” Language reflects and conveys culture and cultural connections Language can be a part of culture, simply defined as a sum of beliefs and practices in society On the other hand, culture is the product of socially and historically situated discourse communities, created and shaped by language

People use language to express their culture and in this way express their world view in that same society The individual describes his views using the language that is the product of his culture Language is a system of signs that

by itself has a cultural value People identify themselves and others through language Human culture always includes language, and human language cannot be conceived without culture Linguistic practice is always embedded

in some cultural context or another

Since language and cultures are intertwined with each other, learning a language cannot be separated from learning its culture Only by learning the culture can students better understand the language and use it in communication It is now generally believed that in language teaching, teachers and learners should pay attention to the culture differences since different languages reflect the different value systems and worldviews of its speakers By understanding the culture differences, one can avoid making mistakes in communicating as well as misunderstanding

1.2 Cross-cultural Communication vs Intercultural Communication

Culture is usually shared with people who live in and experience the same social environments Although the two terms cross-cultural communication and intercultural communication are both used to describe human communication which involves people from different cultural backgrounds, there is a clear distinction between these two concepts

The term “cross-cultural” is used to refer to the communication process that is comparative in nature Hence, cross-cultural communication implies the comparison of phenomenon across cultures in order to understand the dissimilarities and similarities between cultures Therefore, it requires an understanding of the involved individuals’ cultures The process of cross-cultural interaction is limited to the understanding of different cultures and the ability to make distinctions between them Cross-cultural “implies the meetings of two cultures across the political boundaries of nation states” (Kramsch, 1998) and refers to the understanding of cultures from two different countries It is clearly understood that cross-cultural communication tends to compare patterns of communication and interactions across peoples from different cultural backgrounds

The term “intercultural” is used to refer to the communication process between members of different cultural communities Intercultural communication takes place when our cultural group membership factors affect the communication process There are many definitions of intercultural communication by experts who offer different interpretations and meanings Allwood (1985) discussed that intercultural communication is basically the exchange of information between the individuals from the diverse cultural

backgrounds, dissimilar parameters of control and changed levels of awareness Ting-Toomey and Kurogi (1998) believed that intercultural communication is the symbolic conversation besides negotiation of collective result during the communication of the individuals from the diverse cultural backgrounds Bennett (1986) defined intercultural communication as the ability to understand dissimilar ways and patterns of communication for instance, norms or values, verbal/nonverbal communication and the gestures

of individuals Intercultural communication is considered as the skill of interaction appropriately and having a shared understanding among the individuals who are culturally different, it is very necessary to have an understanding of our own culture, and attempt for looking at the similarities

as well as the differences among the cultures (Bennett, 1986) One can head

to intercultural competence by simply accepting and appreciating the similarities and the differences of the other cultures Byram, M., Gribkova, B.,

& Starkey, H (2002) defined intercultural communication as communication

on the basis of respect for individuals and equality of human rights as the democratic basis for social interaction The definition by Samovar and Porter (2004) emphasizes that a person’s perception of the world around him/her is deeply entrenched in the system of symbols that his or her culture uses to make sense of the world Further, they claim that intercultural communication

is the “interaction between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event” (Samovar and Porter, 2004: 15) To develop the quality of intercultural relationship, communicators need to integrate knowledge and skills and practice their awareness in their communication process It is also defined by Ting-Toomy (1999) as the symbolic exchange process whereby individuals from two (or more) different cultural communities attempt to negotiate shared meanings in

an interactive situation within an embedded societal system When we attempt

to communicate with another culture, it is of great help to start out with an awareness of the principal types of cultural differences that can potentially impede successful communication and the arrival at acceptable shared meaning In order to understand a culture, we have to understand its belief systems and values, and how that culture makes sense of its environment It is only when we understand how a culture perceives the world around it that we will be able to communicate effectively with people from that culture

Some communication specialists propose that all communication is

intercultural, because there are microcultural differences between one family

and another, or even idio-cultural differences between two persons But this is not a useful stance in the attempt to communicate successfully across national cultures, as culture is commonly defined The act of understanding and being understood is more complex in a broad intercultural range than in a narrow

intracultural situation It is understood in this research that intercultural

communication involves the participation of individuals from different group identities, whereas cross-cultural communication refers only to the interaction among individuals from different nationalities Broader than the scope of cross-cultural communication is the scope of intercultural communication which involves understanding different cultures, making distinctions between them and then negotiating the cultural differences in order to find a common place in communication In conclusion, intercultural communication is distinct from cross-cultural communication, which examines the communicative behaviour of people within their own culture and compares this with the communicative norms of other cultures Intercultural communication takes place when individuals influenced by different cultural

communities negotiate shared meanings in interaction

1.3 Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC)

Our global village is turning out to be an unstable and often unfriendly place, so competent, effective intercultural communication has become critical for our well-being and survival Individuals and organizations struggle

to cope with problems in living and working with people of other cultures on

a daily basis And in the accelerating pace of face-to-face and technologically facilitated interaction, it becomes ever more desirable to achieve ICC as quickly as possible Byram (1997) defined ICC as an umbrella term that covers many components including linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and intercultural competence He also gave a model of ICC in which he further explained the term ICC as the ability that enables one to interact effectively and appropriately in a foreign language with people from different cultures Chen and Starosta (1999), similarly, defined ICC as “the ability to effectively and appropriately execute communication behaviors that negotiate each other’s cultural identity or identities in a culturally diverse environment” (p 28) ICC expects people to

be able to communicate with others from different cultural backgrounds and this requires them both to keep their individual self and have multiple identities at the same time (Byram, Gribkova & Starkey, 2002) In the current context of globalization, the issue of delivering ICC to ESL/EFL learners has been considered as one of the ultimate goals in the field of English language education (e.g., Byram, 1997; Deardoff, 2009; Fantini, 2000; Lázár et al., 2007) in an attempt to present learners with cultural differences which help learners become interculturally aware of their own culture and the presence of otherness as well as to appreciate and respect them English language

education, moreover, should equip learners with the knowledge of intercultural communication and the ability to use it effectively in order to bridge cultural differences and achieve more harmonious, productive relations (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2012)

The theoretical frameworks of ICC are still in the development stage Many related theories which have gained recognition and influence over the years have focused on successful intercultural interaction For example, Ruben (1976) listed seven dimensions of competence: display of respect, interaction posture, orientation to knowledge, empathy, self-oriented role behavior, interaction management and tolerance for ambiguity Several of these dimensions can be categorized in the three factors suggested by Hammer, Gudykunst and Wiseman (1978) that include the ability to deal with psychological stress, ability to communicate effectively, and ability to establish interpersonal relationships ICC refers to the abilities individuals have to communicate, and construct identities appropriately, effectively, and satisfactorily in intercultural encounters at cognitive, affective and behavioral levels (Spitzberg and Cupach, 1984) Though termed differently in various studies, the cognitive category has often been referred to as knowledge; the affective category is sometimes described as motivation; and the behavioral category is frequently labeled skills (Bradford et al., 2000, p 35)

To communicate daptively with culturally different others, we must understand the major characteristics that make up the intercultural

communication process Byram (1997) listed four key saviors: skills

(acquiring new knowledge of the target culture and applying it through

communication and interaction), attitudes (reforming values and belief), knowledge (understanding group and individual social actions), and critical

cultural awareness (the ability to evaluate) Similarly, Alvino E Fantini

(2000) gave a definition of ICC which is composed of “awareness, attitudes, skills, knowledge (A+ASK), and proficiency in the host tongue”

Awareness is considered as the most powerful dimension of the A+ASK quartet, so it is shown at the center of the graph below:

(Note: A+: Awareness, A: Attitudes, K: Knowledge, S: Skills)

Figure 1: Fantini’s IC Model (2000)

Awareness refers to the way we understand the situations, sensing the

atmosphere, perceiving the interlocutors’ needs, goals An awareness of cultural values has become imperative for effective and appropriate intercultural communication

Attitudes and motivations also play a very important role in ICC Motivation

was well-defined as the aspiration to participate in intercultural interactions for the determination of learning and understanding about other cultures (Arasaratnam, 2004) Arasaratnam (2006) further states that motivation is

“the desire to engage in intercultural interactions for understanding and learning about other cultures” (p 94)

Knowledge here refers to what one knows about a culture, its values, beliefs,

and worldview, so it is very important Cultural values are instrumental in determining and shaping our communication (Hofstede, 1980)

The fourth one to be mentioned is skills which refer to our operational

abilities to integrate knowledge, attitude, awareness in our intercultural social practice Ting-Toomey (1999) mentioned such skills as values clarification skills, verbal empathy skills, identity support skills, facework management skills, etc Flexibility in communication can be created by the abilities to adapt to intercultural interactions in an appropriate and effective manner as is required by the situation in which the interlocutors find themselves in

The very dominant component is language competence (verbal and nonverbal

language competence), which plays a key role in successful intercultural communication It refers to our knowledge of the language systems, and nonverbal systems, and our ability to use them

1.4 Teaching English as a lingua franca (ELF) and Intercultural

Communication Competence (ICC)

Conventionally, teaching practice uses the native speaker as a model for learners It helps to transfer the experience of learning the first language to learn the foreign language and places much emphasis on the linguistic or grammatical competence That is the reason why students tried to imitate British and North American English dialects with a view to communicating with the native speakers Besides, when culture was taught, it was the cultures

of the U.K and U.S (i.e., literature, opera, drama, classical music, etc.) that were taught rather than cultures that were the focus (i.e., the family, work, education, etc.) In addition, communicative language teaching was viewed as the most productive teaching method, especially insofar as it helped students communicate with native speakers

However, in this era of globalization and integration, when English is an

international language, the pedagogy based on the native-speaker notion of communicative competence is questioned In fact, EIL approaches recognize the value of all Englishes including the inner-circle Englishes (of the native speakers of the U.K., the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia), outer-circle Englishes (where English has official status and prestige in local varieties like Indian English, Singaporean English, etc.), and expanding-circle Englishes (where English is taught as a foreign language, but is nonetheless important and widely spoken as in Japan, Germany, etc.) (see Kachru, 1985, 1986) EIL

is often the focus of teaching because it recognizes the importance of communicating, not just with native-speakers of English, but also outer-circle speakers of English as well as with non-native speakers of English from expanding circle countries In addition, local and international cultures are respected above and beyond the cultures of the U.K and the U.S Language learners are experienced to become “intercultural speakers” who will be successful not only in communicating information but also in developing a human relationship with people of other languages and cultures Hence, it is urgent that intercultural approach in second language teaching emerge

As English continues to spread as an international language, the number of second language users of English will continue to grow, far surpassing the number of native speakers of English It is also the case in Vietnam when

Vietnamese learners of English use it to communicate more with the second learners of English rather than the native speakers Therefore, the goal of learning English shifts to enable learners to communicate their ideas and culture with not only the speakers of English but also those of other cultures Consequently, developing ICC is clearly indispensable in English language learning and teaching and has been accepted as the current stage of teaching culture in foreign language learning The objective of this approach is to prepare language learners as competent communicators across different cultures who are able to interpret the target culture through the lens of their own cultural background and knowledge The essence of this approach is not

to purely acquire knowledge of the target culture, but to understand how the target culture interacts with one’s own cultural experiences (Liaw, 2006) There has been incremental attention to ICC which is identified as one of the key competences for the twenty-first century citizens As a result, the focus of English language teaching is changing from a concern with English-speaking countries, especially Britain and the United States, to the role of English as a lingua franca One of the ultimate goals of teaching English nowadays is to educate learners to become intercultural speakers The intercultural speaker is seen as a person who is not only a language user but also a person who has the ability to employ language culturally (Byram, 1997) A person who is intercultural competent seems to be able to understand and interpret different cultures as well as to act as a mediator between cultures (Byram, 2008) It is necessary that students be prepared for future social interactions in which speakers of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds might meet The role of the language teacher is, therefore, to develop skills, attitudes and awareness of values just as much as to develop a

knowledge of a particular culture or country Nobody would nowadays raise doubts regarding the idea that there is a close relationship between language and culture and, consequently, that language teaching ought to encompass cultural issues It is necessary to enphasize culture pedagogy with regard to developing ICC

1.5 The current pedagogy to teach ICC

Among the major trends in the global EFL field is the dimension of communicative competence A large focus of recent research and publications has been expansion of the framework of communicative competence Some scholars have introduced a new way of looking at second language acquisition

as “multi-competence” (Cook, 2013), and others (Byram, 1997, Kohn, 2013) focus on the importance of ICC The implication here is that when teaching ICC, teachers need to attend to both local and international cultures The goal

is to produce effective language users competent to use English as an international language, not just learners who mimic the “inner-circle” countries’ languages and cultures With the changing views of communicative competence and the awareness of intercultural competence, teachers need to have good perceptions of effective English teaching and learning in order to help students develop their ICC

To help improve students’ ICC, it is essential that cultural content be integrated into the language syllabus It develops the learners’ global cultural consciousness and promotes their intercultural citizenship The cultural content for teaching materials in EIL can be target culture materials (e.g., American scenes), local culture materials (e.g., Cuban holidays), or international culture materials (e.g., international tourism and social contact)

In the recent years, cultural knowledge has become an important aspect of second or foreign language learning parallel to such language knowledge as pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary One of the main medium of teaching culture to help improve students’ ICC is through including it in second or foreign language textbooks

According to Liddicoat et al (2003), in order to foster ICC in English

language teaching and learning, learners should first understand their own language and culture Therefore, developing ICC does not simply involve learning basic aspects of the target language but also implies learners' introspection so as to better understand their own language and culture as well

as learners' exploration of the target language and culture Hence, developing students' ICC involves engaging them in different activities which help them

to use language appropriately in different social and cultural contexts To do

so, language teachers should not only exclusively focus on the linguistic aspects of the target language, but also on other components of the communicative approach such as intercultural competence, including awareness, attitudes, cultural knowledge and skills

A survey by Han, X and Song, L (2011) in a Chinese university shows that such activities as inviting guest lecturers, organizing students’ movie club, showing English movies during students’ spare time, performing English plays,… play a positive role in students’ attitudes towards and perceptions of the target cultures These activities provide more opportunities for students to practice English, to get information about the target cultures and for teachers

to teach those cultures By participating in these activities, the students can foster more interest in the target language and culture

Eva Reid (2015) gave brief guidance to teachers on how to develop ICC in English language lessons In this paper, several techniques such as comparison method, cultural assimilation, cultural capsule, drama, TPR, cultural island, reformulation, noticing, treasure hunt, prediction, role plays, research, songs, games, portfolio, field trip were suggested, with examples of how to deal with various aspects of ICC The aim was to enrich students awareness, attitudes, knowledge and skills concerning not only the target culture, but also their own culture and other cultures

In conclusion, ICC plays a paramount role in ELT and it is necessary to integrate such competence in English teaching and learning activities Introducing ICC in the language classroom does not necessarily entail a change in teaching methodology since it can be integrated in different engaging activities which help them to use language appropriately in different social and cultural contexts

1.6 The role of teachers’ beliefs and practices

According to Green (1971, p.104), a belief is defined as “proposition that is accepted as true by the individual holding the belief”, so teachers’ beliefs can

be understood as propotions that are considered true by teachers Similarly, Basturkmen, Loewen, & Ellis (2001, p 224) found that they refer to any statements teachers make about their ideas, thoughts and knowledge of what should be done Thus, there is the interrelationship between beliefs and practices Of course, teachers’ beliefs are inluenced by many factors and they are situated Beliefs actually shape what and how they really teach in the classrooms, and they are in turn shaped by their own accumulated teaching experience Teachers’ pedagogical behavior is guided by their thoughts

Burns (1996) pointed out that what teachers do is affected by what they think and their pedagogical beliefs She also noted teachers’ beliefs are fundamental

in motivating classroom interactions

The British educational theorist Pajares (1992) claimed that teachers’ beliefs have a greater influence than the teachers’ knowledge on the way they plan their lessons, on the kinds of decisions they make, and on their general classroom practices Teachers’ beliefs have great influence on how teachers determine their actual behavior towards students It is undeniable that teacher’s beliefs are far more influential than knowledge in determining how teachers plan lessons, organise activities, and behave towards students in the classroom

Therefore, to understand the teaching process and its effectiveness, we need

to identify teachers’ beliefs and how their cognitions are translated into their classroom practices

1.7 Previous studies on teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICC in teaching and learning English

The topic of teachers’ perceptions of ICC has attracted significant research attention all over the world A number of empirical studies have examined integrating ICC through lecturers’ perceptions Aleksandrowicz-Pędich (2003) and her partners carried out a research project with the recognition of the key importance of teachers’ views about foreign language education with respect to ICC in a broad European context The results revealed that few teachers had studied IC in a systemic way Although most of the teachers realized the important role of ICC in both education and everyday living, they

still lacked a clear understanding of how to integrate the ICC into foreign language teaching

A report on intercultural language learning (Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino

& Kohler, 2003), issued by the Department of Education in Australia, presented the similar results that there is no clear and coherent framework for conceptualizing culture and cultural learning in language programs due to teachers’ obscure perception of ICC and IC education Furthermore, there is a lack of resources of ICC education, a framework to design curriculum for foreign language learning, or an overall assessing framework of ICC Sercu et

al (2005) conducted a research project which focused specifically on teachers’ perceptions of ICC in foreign language education and on how teaching practices relate to the expected “foreign language and intercultural competence teachers (p.2) Their data revealed that no clear relationship exists between teachers’ beliefs with respect to integration and the way in which they actually shape their teaching practices Their findings further suggest that teachers are moving toward becoming IC teachers, but their profile fails to meet all the expectations regarding knowledge, skills and attitudes desirable

in the foreign language and IC teachers

Han, X and Song, L (2011) employed a questionnaire survey questionnaire survey to examine lecturers' cognition of ICC in Northeastern Chinese university The results showed that these Chinese lecturers feel doubtful about the possibility of achieving intercultural skills and integrating foreign language teaching with cultures Additionally, the results revealed certain challenges faced by these lecturers although these teachers are willing to promote students' ICC in the classroom

Eken (2015) also studied university teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding ICC by using semi-structured interviews The findings indicated that these Turkish lecturers are knowledgeable about ICC, and ready to put their knowledge into practice to raise students' cultural awareness, but certain challenges to their implementation on ICC were shown, namely crowded classes and uninterested students

Osman (2015) mix-method research examined English lecturers' perceptions and implementation of ICC in the preparatory year program at King Saudi University, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The results indicated a gap between English lecturers' perceptions of ICC objectives and their current practices in the classroom This gap resulted from the lack of ICC objectives

in the current curriculum

Some research on this concern has been conducted in a tertiary context of Vietnam Ho (2011) focused on the cultural components of the units by using

a set of standards for intercultural language learning with regard to raising learners' cultural awareness and engaging the process of learning cultures cognitively, behaviorally, and affectively The findings revealed lecturers' positive perspectives to fact-oriented approach to cultural teaching Tran (2015, p 30) gave the definition of ICC and its components He noted that ICC is the ability which enables one to effectively and appropriately interact

in a language other than one’s native language with others from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds It consists of language competence (linguistic, sociolinguistic, & discourse competence) and intercultural competence (attitudes, knowledge, skills, & awareness) that help one to be able to successfully integrate in a multicultural society

In conclusion, a number of studies have been carried out in the tertiary contexts regarding lecturers’ perceptions and implementation of ICC teaching In Vietnam, researchers started to pay attention to this issues just several years ago The aforementioned studies in the review of the literature clearly indicated a gap about teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICC in the high school context which could be filled by the present study In this study, the two research questions were formulated to investigate the understanding

of teachers of English at a local high school about ICC and to see how and to what extent their beliefs are reflected in their classroom applications

Summary

To sum up, this chapter has provided some different theories of the relationship between language and culture, the role of ICC in teaching English and the importance of identifying teachers’ beliefs and practices about developing students’ ICC in order to give a clear overview on the matter of the study The chapter ends with a review of previous studies in teachers’ beliefs and practices of ICC in Vietnam and abroad The following chapter will deal with the methodology with which the study was conducted

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

After reviewing a theoretical basis for the study in the previous part, in this chapter, the researcher will discuss the methodology used to implement the research The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research methodology used to investigate the teachers’ understanding of ICC and how they integrate their beliefs in their teaching practices The nature and the desired results of the proposed study entailed the choice of research methodology The chapter will cover four major parts, namely, participants and setting, research procedure, data collection methods, and data analysis

2.1 The setting and participants of the study

2.1.1 Setting

The school where study was conducted is a state upper secondary school in Phu Tho province Established more than 50 years ago, it has a pupil population of nearly nine hundreds, accomodated in 21 classes under the supervision of 48 teachers Although most of the students are from middle- and low-income families and have to help their parents with agricultural work, the school has always enjoyed a provincial reputation for its excellent teaching and learning achievements since its establishment

2.1.2 Participants

There are 6 teachers of English at this school, ranging from 32 to 52 years of age All of them are graduates from universities in Vietnam and have teaching experience of 8 to 28 years They have to work under pressure to help their students achieve good results at the examinations

All of the six teachers agreed to be the participants of this study Two of them are male and one of them is a retrained teacher of Russian Every year, they have the opportunity to participate in only one short in-service teacher training workshop organized by the Provincial Department of Education and Training The workshop usually lasts only two or three days

2.1.3 Materials and current English teaching situation

Like many other high schools in Vietnam, the school where the participants of the interviews work is under the direct supervision of the Provincial Department of Education and Training, which exercises inspection of teaching and learning activities The textbooks used are mandated by the Ministry of Education and Training and under the guidance of the Provincial Department of Education and Training Two sets of textbooks which are used parallel in this high school are the 7-year textbook set and the pilot English textbook set The former set consists of three different grades 10, 11, 12, and each textbook is composed of 16 units, each of which includes five lessons: (1) Reading - (2) Speaking - (3) Listening - (4) Writing - (5) Language focus With the latter set, each textbook consists of 10 units, each of which is composed of eight lessons: (1) Getting started - (2) Language - (3) Reading - (4) Speaking - (5) Listening - (6) Writing - (7) Communication and culture - (8) Looking back and project

Students have one optional period a week to consolidate their understanding

of the compulsory curriculum In addition to the regular hours of English in the morning, students attend a 2-hour lesson in the afternoon, focusing on test-like grammar, vocabulary and reading exercises The purpose of the

afternoon lessons is to prepare for the national general education certificate examinations

2.2 Data collection instruments

Concerning the aims at answering the two research questions, qualitative research approach was adopted in the study so as to reach the targeted goals This is a survey study which is aimed at exploring teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding ICC In a survey study, two commonly-used instruments are interviews and questionnaires In this study, as the number of teachers is small (n = 06), I chose interview because it is a commonly used method to collect data in qualititive research which helps researchers to gain in-depth understanding of the social phenomenon (Creswell, 2012) It is more personal, as compared to questionnaire, allowing us to have a higher response rate because respondents become more involved and, hence, motivated; they enable more to be said about the research (Oppenheim, 1992, p 81-2)

In order to solve the research problems, qualitative method is used mainly involving semi-structured interviews which “have a structured overall framework but allow for greater flexibility within that, for example in changing the order of questions and for more extensive follow-up of responses” (Jo McDonough & Steven McDonough, 1997) Semi-structured interviews were used as the sole instrument of data collection as “the interviewer has a general idea of where she wants the interview to go, and what should come out of it” (Nunan, 1992) Semi-structured interviews also help to “go deeper into the motivation of respondents and their reasons for responding as they do” (Cohen, Manion, and Morrisor, 2000, p.268)