INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE

COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

COURSE BOOKS: AN EVALUATION OF
LEARNING TASKS IN THE COURSE BOOK
“MAKING CONNECTIONS 2”
 Paper Presentation Outline

Introduction • Background of the Study

• The Purpose of the Study

• Intercultural Communicative Competence

Literature Review • Byram’s Model of ICC
• Studies on ICC in EFL Teaching Settings

• Research Design

Methodology •
•
•
Data Analysis
The Coursebook Evaluated in this Study
The Process of the Analysis

• Key Findings
Findings&Discussion • Conclusion
• Suggestions & Implications
INTRODUCTION
 Background of the Study
• Interculturality has risen to prominence in today’s world.

• People use English for a variety of objectives, including professional activities, academic study, and economic
pursuits, due to its role as a lingua franca.

• "No longer linked to a single culture or nation but serves both global and local needs as a language of wider
communication. " (McKay, 2002)

• " Languages have been blended, influenced by the dynamism of social and economic interactions. "
(Canagarajah, 2006).

• A significant shift in worldwide attitudes towards English

• The global use of English as a lingua franca has given rise to the concept of Intercultural Communicative
Competence, which is important in the field of foreign language teaching.
• “A language is a part of a culture and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that
one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture”(Brown, 2000) .

•  In this regard, Alptekin, 2002; Cortazzi and Jin, 1999 have argued that the primary goal of language education is
to provide students with the necessary communication skills to communicate with people from different cultural
backgrounds.
 Purpose of the Study

•This study finds answers to the following research questions:

1. To what extent does the course book "Making Connections 2" develop EAP learners’ intercultural
communicative competence?
1.1. What cultural perspectives do the reading passages have?
1.2. What cultural perspectives do the reading activities have?
LITERATURE REVIEW
 • ICC is the ability to act appropriately in an intercultural
situation (Byram, 2008). 

Intercultural • In the absence of an intercultural approach to certain

Communicative cases might end up with catastrophic outcomes
(Hismanoğlu, 2011). 
Competence
• The goal of teaching a foreign language has shifted to
encouraging intercultural speakers rather than speakers
like native speakers since the introduction of the
intercultural approach (Lange, 2011). 
1. between people who do not speak the same
language and come from different countries, one of
them is a native speaker of that language,
2. between people who speak different languages and
come from different countries where a lingua franca is
used,
3. between people who do not speak the same
language but from the same country, one of them is a
native speaker of that language.
Byram (1997) 

•According to Livermore (1998), in order to act as a

mediator, one should have specific attitudes related
to intercultural competence.
 • Most definitions of intercultural competence are based on
Byram's intercultural competence model, which is the most
widely used model (Hoff, 2014).

Byram’s Model of ICC

• In her research Deardorff (2006) found that Byram's model is
widely recognized as ideal for pedagogical purposes among
educators.
• There are five dimensions in Byram's framework;

Savoir Savoir Savoir

comprendre apprendre / s’engager
Savoir etre Savoirs
(skills of faire (skills of (critical
(attitudes)  (knowledge) 
interpreting discovery and cultural
and relating)  interaction)  awareness) 
 • A study by Obaid, Ismail, Razali, & Mansor (2019) investigated how
intercultural representations are portrayed in textbooks. A checklist was
used for the intercultural representations that appear often in the texts
and visuals of the textbooks. The results revealed that textbook materials
did not adequately address the intercultural dimension. Iraqi teachers
were aware of the value of teaching culture, but they had little
understanding of the intercultural nature of language instruction. 

Studies on ICC in • Another significant study carried out by Danielsen (2020) with the aim of
EFL Teaching investigating how English textbooks used in upper primary schools
promoted intercultural competence emphasizes the need for a curriculum
Settings change. It was found that the texts provided basic information about a
variety of topics in the United Kingdom.

• Toprak and Aksoyalp (2014) carried out a research to determine the

extension of other countries' cultures represented in course books. They
analyzed 17 English international course books quantitatively. After
analyzing all of the course books, it was found that the most of cultural
elements in the course books are mostly from United Kingdom and the
United States. 
• In his study, Erdoğan (2015) decided to examine the intercultural
elements in the course book "Big Picture” by Goldstein, Bradfield &
Lethaby (2012). The results indicated that the coursebook's number
of intercultural tasks was inadequate to assist learners in improving
intercultural competence.

• Contradicting with these findings, Kaya (2017) aimed to demonstrate

how much ICC aspects for foreign language learners were reflected
in textbooks used in Anatolian high schools. Two textbooks were
analyzed in terms of intercultural communication competence. From
this standpoint, a checklist was used to analyze all components of
the two textbooks, including speaking, reading, writing, and
listening. Based on the findings, the textbooks that include diverse
cultural aspects can be viewed as being in line with the CEFR goals. It
was also found that the textbooks in this study address the
knowledge component of ICC in general.
METHODOLOGY
Research Design

• A qualitative content analysis approach was used to investigate

how culture is portrayed in a textbook used to teach English for
Academic Purposes.

• In order to be systematic, a framework proposed by Byram (1990)

and later modified and formed into a checklist by Aijala (2009)
was used. 
Table 1. 
Criteria for Identifying and Analyzing Learning Tasks Aiming at Promoting Intercultural Competence Aijala
(2009). 

Dimensions of intercultural Aims Description of the aims

competence
Knowledge Factual knowledge Tasks in this category help learners gain a better understanding of culture-specific (own/foreign culture) activities,
of cultures of cultures events, famous individuals and emblems, contact and interaction conventions, private and public institutions, and
(savoir) national memory.
   
   
Understanding the This category involves activities that help learners gain a better understanding of the different ways to define culture
concept of culture and how culture affects language and communication.
(savoirs)  
  This category involves activities that encourage students to gather information and expand their knowledge of their
  own and/or foreign cultures by using resources other than the coursebook.
Collecting information on
cultures
(savoir apprendre)

Attitudes towards Identifying The tasks encourage students to share their experiences, thoughts, presuppositions, and attitudes about their own
cultures generalisations of and foreign cultures, as well as consider their roots.
cultures (savoir étre)  
   
  This subcategory's tasks encourage learners to broaden their perspectives, empathize with different points of view,
  and relativize their own cultural viewpoint and value system. This type of task could involve arguing for or against a
Changing particular topic in debates, playing a specific role in a simulation game, or locating different viewpoints on a particular
perspectives issue in dimensions.
(savoir étre)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
(Table 1 continued.)

This subcategory involves tasks that require students to recognize ethnocentric viewpoints in items
Interpreting and Identifying ethnocentric (e.g., documents, drawings, films), practices, or events from their own or foreign culture.
relating cultural perspectives
elements (savoir comprendre)
The aim of these activities is to link features of foreign cultures to their own, or vice versa.  For
example, learners may be asked to reflect on cultural similarities and differences, as well as report
and/or reflect on personal experiences with members of their own/foreign cultures (e.g.
Relating cultures and cultural phenomena conflicts, misjudgments, positive observations, presuppositions, etc.)
(savoir comprendre)

Learners are instructed to recognize areas of misunderstanding and dysfunction in interactions and
describe them in terms of each of the cultural structures present.
Identifying
 and explaining causes
of misunderstandings
(savoir comprendre)

Intercultural Functioning as a mediator between cultures and dealing with conflict This subcategory includes tasks that ask learners to act as mediators between opposing interpretations
interaction situations (savoir faire) of phenomena, such as pondering solutions to controversial topics and ways to find common ground.

This group of tasks encourages students to use their knowledge (savoirs), attitudes (savoir etre), and
Applying one's abilities in skills (savoir comprendre) in simulated interactions with members of other cultures.
interaction
(savoir faire)
The Course book Evaluated in
This Study 

• Making Connections 2 by Joe McEntire & Jessica Williams 

• It is a five-stage book (intro, level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4).

• In this study level 2 version was studied.

• Reading passages and reading activities was examined in terms of

intercultural communicative competence. 
 The entire activities and
passages in the course
book were first
examined. 

The total number of

The Process of activities were illustrated
in graphs.
the Analysis
Each task was evaluated
separately to see
whether it corresponds
to any of the learning
goals specified in the
checklist and an
example was provided.
FINDINGS AND
DISCUSSIONS
 • The book has 132 learning activities and reading passages in total,
however, 7 of them have intercultural elements in its nature.

Key Findings
• The tasks give priority to increasing the learners' knowledge of others and
interpreting and relating cultural elements. However, attitudes towards cultures and
intercultural interaction elements were not found in the course book.
Knowledge of
Cultures
Knowledge of
Cultures
Interpreting and
Relating Cultural
Elements
• The course book is not giving sufficient data so it may not develop EAP learners’
intercultural competence. 
• Intercultural interaction dimension is not found in the course book. Therefore, it can be
concluded that the coursebook does not prepare learners for multicultural situations. 
• We may conclude that this course book is insufficient for teaching intercultural competence
since it contains fairly a small number of teaching activities aimed at promoting
intercultural competence.
• The results confirm the literature that revealed the textbook materials do not adequately
address the intercultural dimension (e.g., Obaid et al.,2019).
• The presentation of learners' own cultural elements with foreign cultures was another
significant point to remember with the results of the research questions.
In terms of intercultural competence, it is another deficiency of the course book. It
included a limited number of local elements.
• Other scholars such as Toprak, Aksoyalp (2014) contributed to the literature by revealing
that most cultural elements in the course books are from the United Kingdom and the
United States. In this study, the course book does not focus on elements from English-
speaking countries like the United States, England, and Australia.
• Similarly to Kaya’s (2017) results, it was found that the reading sections of the course books
primarily address the dimension of knowledge of cultures.
 • The total number of activities related to intercultural competence was
not enough to foster intercultural awareness. In addition, most of the
reading passages and activities were addressing knowledge of
cultures. 
• The findings are in line with the previous findings (Erdoğan, 2015;
Obaid et al.,2019). To conclude, the course book under examination is
Conclusion&Impli interculturally weak, and it does not follow the intercultural approach
to language teaching. As a result, the course book fails to account for
cations the development of the learners' intercultural competence. 
• This paper has some implications for course book writers and
publishers in the ELT context to maintain an emphasis on intercultural
materials in order to keep this context consistent with recent
developments in the field.
• When selecting a course book, teachers should prioritize intercultural
elements.
 • A suggestion for future research is to examine the course book in its
natural environment, the classroom, and see if it facilitates the
development of intercultural competence from both the learners' and
teachers' perspectives. 

• The course book is a five-stage book; however, in this study level 2

Suggestions version studied. For further research, other levels of the course book
should be examined in a separate study for stronger conclusions. 

• The activities and reading passages are examined only by a researcher

according to the checklist, in another study a course book can be
examined more than one researcher. 
 References
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• McKay, S. (2002). Teaching English as an International language: The Chilean context. ELT Journal, 57(2), 139-148. https://doi:10.1093/elt/57.2.139
• Canagarajah, A. S. (2006). TESOL at forty: What are the issues? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264509
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817. https://doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.09.001
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• Erdoğan, S. B. (2015). Acquiring Intercultural Competence from Course Books: An Analysis of Learning Tasks in the Course Book “The Big Picture” (master's thesis).
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Thank you!