Intercultural communicative competence development through deep cultural issues in American Society

Abstract

This study describes how EFL students develop intercultural communicative competence with the use of authentic materials related to deep cultural issues in American society. The question that guided this study was: How do EFL students develop their Intercultural Competence through the use of AM related to deep cultural issues in American society? The type of study and the methodology carried out in this project were qualitative research and action research, hence, our data collection instruments were written artifacts, audio recordings and interviews. This study was developed with the first semester students of an English language teaching education program at a state university in Bogotá, Colombia. We concluded that knowledge about deep cultural issues is important in the development of ICC. The use of authentic materials is a useful tool in this process because the deeper aspects of language they present reduce the misconceptions about foreign culture. Besides, students’ attitudes are constantly changing according to cultural knowledge. Finally, students make relations between their own and the target culture based on their own experiences, background and beliefs.