Building Intercultural Sensitivity in Pre-Service EFL Teachers through Interactive Culture-Focused Speaking Tasks

Abstract

One way to develop intercultural sensitivity in learners is through the inclusion of intercultural training in ELT and teacher training courses. This study aimed at enhancing the intercultural sensitivity of EFL pre-service teachers through interactive culture-focused speaking tasks. Therefore, a task-based syllabus was designed based on the principles of constructivism and intercultural themes and implemented throughout one academic semester. An intercultural sensitivity scale was administered to find out any possible significant change in the level of intercultural sensitivity of the participants. At the end of the course, a self-report course evaluation survey was implemented in order to ask participants to evaluate different aspects and objectives of the course. The related data were collected and analyzed. The findings indicated that the level of intercultural sensitivity of the participants developed significantly through the intervention of mediating tasks. The findings of the self-report survey also showed that the participants` attitudes and evaluation of different parts and objectives of the course were positive.