The Intercultural Competence Teacher and Foreign Language Education in Saudi Arabia’s Diverse School Settings

Abstract

In today‘s interconnected world, English acts as a universal language to bond any cultural divide; however, language proficiency alone may not overcome the challenges of cultural differences. Integrating intercultural competence into language education becomes an important part of improving students‘ linguistic and intercultural skills to succeed in an increasingly diverse society like Saudi Arabia. This research‘s purpose is to understand language teachers‘ awareness, perspectives, and teaching skills regarding language and culture integration into foreign language education. The methodology used to conduct this research is qualitative methods to explore teachers‘ stories and experiences. Five teachers were interviewed using semi-structure interviews. The findings showed that teachers possess cultural awareness, teaching skills to some extent, however, they showed different beliefs about the language-culture integration. The majority of the teachers interviewed highlighted the importance of including intercultural skills inside the language classroom, while others maintained a reserved stance, believing that language and culture cannot be taught simultaneously. Rather, in language education, some teachers emphasised that the focus should be primarily on teaching linguistic skills. The research looked at teachers‘ beliefs as an attempt to explore the subject matter at hand to gain more insights and knowledge from the participants. Finally, based on the findings, it is suggested that the responsibility of teaching intercultural skills in language classrooms in Saudi schools should not be primarily the responsibility of teachers, but it is a collaborative responsibility including the educational systems and curriculum designers.