In a multicultural context, most of the common problem among individuals is that people hold an ethnocentric perspective, as they tend to idealize their own culture and ignore cultural differences. In this regard, interculturalism has come into play as it encourages ethno-relative perspective in that it stresses the importance of openness to and acceptance of different beliefs, values and customs (e.g., Coulby, 2006;Lentin & Titley, 2011;O'Cinneide, 2012;Jokikokko & Karikoski, 2016).This intercultural trend has brought a new language approach called "Intercultural Learning" that aims at promoting intercultural competence in EFL classrooms and prepare EFL learners to meet the requirements of such a globalized world. The thrust of the argument in this paper is that culture courses should not be a place where learners are exposed only to the target culture; it should rather be a place where learners can experience cross-cultural situations, reflect on their experience, and act as intercultural speakers/mediators with the ability to communicate and interact appropriately and effectively in different intercultural situations. It offers insights into the challenges that lead to the emergence of intercultural learning. It also gives an account of the importance of culture in language learning. The paper discusses intercultural learning pedagogy, as it defines the notion of intercultural learning, discusses its principles and explains the key element of intercultural learning "experiential learning" and how it is implemented. It also provides implications for teachers at the university level.

<p><em>Intercultural learning is a new pedagogy that encourages learners to establish relationships between their own culture and the other culture, managing dysfunctions and mediating differences. These skills and others will enable learners to develop intercultural competence and help them become intercultural speakers/mediators (Byram, 1997). However, learners’ intercultural competence cannot be developed without an appropriate intervention and guidance on the part of the teacher who represents a central element in the intercultural learning process. Thus, the issue at stake is the degree to which teachers demonstrate knowledge of skills and competencies they need for the development of students’ intercultural competence and awareness. In this respect, the present study is an attempt to </em><em>explore the extent to which </em><em>the teachers’ competencies and skills meet the specifications formulated in the literature regarding intercultural teaching competence</em><em>. It included 25 Moroccan university teachers who have already taught culture at the university. In line with the objective of the study, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was adopted as a major data collection procedure. The results revealed that the majority of Moroccan university teachers demonstrated negative attitudes towards and lack of awareness regarding the intercultural teaching competencies provided. It also turned out that the majority of teachers’ competencies do not meet the specifications formulated in the literature, regarding intercultural teaching competence. In light of the results obtained, several implications are derived from the study for decision makers and teachers.</em></p>

In light of the new millennium, there has been a growing need for learners who can live and act as intercultural speakers/intermediaries in such a globalized world. This need, therefore, has brought a new learning pedagogy called "Intercultural Learning", aims to provide an everlasting learning process to prepare intercultural speakers for cross-cultural encounters. However, the way intercultural learning is perceived by the teachers would differ from the way it is perceived by the students, which may affect the learning outcomes. In this respect, the present study aims to compare teachers' perceptions with students' expectations regarding intercultural learning in Moroccan higher education. To this end, with a total sample of 51 participants (teachers "N=25" & students "N=26"), two Likert scale questionnaires were used. Based on descriptive and inferential statistics, the findings indicated that most of the teachers held positive perceptions by showing a high degree of agreement with different aspects of intercultural learning namely, the cultural aspects of language teaching, the cultural topics covered, the techniques and the assessment methods used in intercultural learning. Regardless of students' disagreement with some aspects of intercultural learning, the results revealed that they showed positive and high expectations about most of the aspects. Furthermore, on the basis of independent samples t-test, the results indicated that the means of the two groups are not significantly different, and so there is no significant difference between teachers' perceptions and learners' expectations regarding intercultural learning. The study provides insightful implications for teachers and learners regarding intercultural learning.

<p>With the status of English as a lingua franca and the high social mobility, one of the current goals of pre-service teacher training programs consists in preparing intercultural competent practitioners who are capable of teaching learners how to communicate effectively and appropriately in cross-cultural encounters. Thus, the scarcity of intercultural courses in such training programs may represent a serious challenge for them. In light of this, the present paper intends to explore Moroccan pre-service EFL teachers’ intercultural awareness. In view of Byram’s (1997) Model of intercultural competence, a three-point Likert scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were adopted. In consideration of a convenience sampling, the study included ninety (n=90) trainee teachers from different TEFL/TESOL programs and pre-service teacher training centers in Morocco. The findings revealed that pre-service EFL teachers exhibit desirable attitudes towards cultural diversity. Nevertheless, it was observed that the participants’ knowledge about the Moroccan and the American cultures is shallow. It also turned out that pre-service teachers’ lack the mediation skills, including critical cultural awareness that an intercultural speaker/intermediary needs in intercultural encounters. The study addresses several implications regarding teacher education.</p>