Making Contextualised Intercultural Communicative Language Teaching Happen: Insights from the Saudi EFL Context

Abstract

Situated within the Saudi higher education context, this research study explores the effects of a contextualised intercultural communicative language teaching (ICLT) approach on facilitating an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher culture teaching and developing Saudi learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC). To this end, the research consists of two studies. Study One explored EFL teachers’ ICLT perceptions and self-reported practices via an exploratory research approach of a questionnaire followed by interviews. Adding a fresh understanding to the literature on intercultural education, the findings indicate that the participants, despite their interculturally-oriented perspective, had limited objectives in addressing ICLT in their practices. They appeared to prioritise knowledge-oriented ICLT practices rather than the development of other ICC components, and their practices were largely textbook-based. This apparent mismatch sheds light on the influence of contextual factors on shaping ICLT practices. Consequently, a contextualised ICLT approach might move the participating teachers towards fully integrating ICLT. Informed by the findings of Study One, Study Two proceeds, in a teacher-led intervention, to construct, integrate, and evaluate a contextualised ICLT approach aimed at adapting the textbooks’ objectives and instructions. Study Two drew its data from triangulated resources, including classroom observations of four classes (two regular and two ICLT classes), students’ pre- and post-intervention assessment surveys, interviews with the EFL teachers, and focus- group interviews with the students. Contributing to the scarce empirical research on ICLT, the findings highlight the influence of a contextualised ICLT approach. Notably, there was a shift in the class dynamic from the knowledge-oriented add-on, translation-based, and teacher- centred approach to a systematic, translanguaging, and student-centred ICLT where students’ ICC reflected a positive change. The study confirms the value of contextualising ICLT approaches for ELT, as this generates novel, evidence-based insights for stakeholders, including teachers, researchers, and policymakers in Saudi or similar ICLT contexts.