Exploring the Systematic Use of Intercultural Encounters in the English Classroom

Abstract

This chapter presents a four-week intervention study in an upper secondary class that explores the systematic use and analysis of intercultural encounters in the English classroom. The overall purpose of the study is to provide some examples of activities in the language classroom that can lead to the development of intercultural competence in accordance with common interpretations of the concept of intercultural competence. The study thus aims to explore the extent to which teachers and students experienced that systematic analysis of intercultural encounters contributed to developing students’ intercultural competence, and to what extent students show progress in analyzing intercultural encounters. The encounters, or critical incidents, to be analyzed were presented in the form of written dialogues, written descriptions of critical incidents, YouTube clips and film excerpts. An important insight from the intervention study is that students can benefit from reflection tools when analyzing intercultural encounters in the classroom, which in turn can promote intercultural competence development as part of teaching practice.