Non-Native Foreign Language Instructors’ Teaching Expectations Concerning Intercultural Communication Competence: Communicative Practices in the Classroom.

Abstract

Universities within China recruit thousands of foreign experts to teach Chinese college Students. Generally, institutions require foreigners to be native speakers of languages taught and possess a bachelor’s degree. In the 1980s and 1990s, international teachers were hired so students could master native like pronunciation in foreign languages such as English. Institutions within China are now discussing the current status and future of foreign language teaching in university classrooms. Essentially, department heads are debating if students should learn foreign languages for the purposes of communication with foreigners. In the case of Chinese college students, communicative language teaching may need to be supplemented by intercultural language teaching approach. Foreign experts have the opportunity to play a unique role in such discussions, and indeed are stakeholders themselves. In order to find out instructors’ opinions concerning Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) as a learning aim, and the placement of ICC in instruction, this study was designed. Overall, international instructors were favorable towards the inclusion of ICC in their syllabus and weekly lesson plans. However, most pedagogical choices revealed a situational approach to foreign language teaching. In order to make sense of findings, Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles, 2008) was used to analyze and interpret findings.