THE ROLE OF CULTURE IN LANGUAGE LEARNING: EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO BUILDING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN THE CLASSROOM

Abstract

This paper investigates the key role of culture in language teaching and explores effective approaches to building intercultural communicative competence in the classroom. As globalization brings people closer together and people coming from diverse cultural backgrounds study together within one class, the ability to manage and appreciate cultural diversity has become an essential component of language education. This study explores various teaching methods and strategies that are utilized to promote intercultural communicative competence, such as the comparison between two or more cultures, the incorporation of culturally authentic materials, and reflective activities that promote cultural awareness and sensitivity. Through comprehensive and thorough examination of the systematic literature review, this thesis outlines the significance of culture when it comes to the benefits of integrating cultural education into language instruction and demonstrates what practical approaches have been utilized so far by language educators seeking to cultivate intercultural competence in their learners. 

This study seeks to investigate various ways of implementing cultural elements into language classrooms based on teachers’ experience and expertise. Moreover, the research looks at the importance and impact of Intercultural Communicative Competence in the context of language learning by evaluating students’ level of intercultural competence. A quantitative research design was employed in this study to achieve this. The research was conducted through an online survey aimed at two groups of respondents: teachers and students. The survey was intended to collect data on educators’ experiences with the implementation of cultural elements in language instructions and students’ self-evaluation of their intercultural communicative competence levels. For this study, the quantitative research method was chosen in order to get statistical analysis and numerical data from a wide range of participants regarding the role of culture, efficient approaches, and the level of students’ competence when it comes to diverse cultures.