Fostering intercultural competence within the EFL context: a practical approach through festivities

Abstract

[eng] The present dissertation aims at analyzing the introduction of non-Anglo saxon festivities in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching practices to foster intercultural competence. In this globalized and multicultural society, the educational system has to prepare students for the challenges of the century. Thus, new teaching practices that stimulate students’ cultural awareness, critical thinking and cultural perspectives need to be adapted. Globalisation has redefined the English language as lingua franca, transforming it into an international language. It interacts with many non-Anglosaxon cultures that should also be tackled in the language learning process. Under this premise, introducing source culture as well as international culture results in a better involvement of students in the tasks. By introducing a wide variety of cultural perspectives, all students are able to identify themselves, which results in increasing participation and motivation. Festivities stand out among other cultural elements to foster intercultural competence because they enable highly dynamic and attractive techniques for students. As a result, this dissertation intends to test students and teachers’ perceptions about introducing different cultures within EFL practices. In order to do so, a case study in a secondary school in Majorca was carried out. The results showed a positive perception shared by both teachers and students. Taking the results into account, this study presents a didactic proposal which consists of a school year calendar which combines both Anglosaxon, source and international culturally-based festivities. Besides, two festivities have been selected from the calendar, Sant Antoni and Ramadan, to create ten activities which can be used to foster intercultural competence.