An Elementary School English Classroom Based on the Intercultural Communicative Approach

This study investigates the different dimensions of intercultural communication competence (ICC) observed in the instructional context of an elementary school English classroom and how the dimensions of ICC develop in this context. Currently, in Korea researchers studying TEFL have started advocating a change in teaching methodology from communicative language teaching (CLT) to a new intercultural communicative approach. To carry out this transition, research on ICC in the Korean instructional context is necessary because the current models of ICC have been developed based on Euro-American contexts and on natural cross-cultural encounters, both of which are different from the EFL classroom context. This study shows five dimensions of the ICC of Korean elementary students observed during interactions in the context of their English classrooms while they were working on four projects with a native speaking English teacher. These five dimensions of ICC include cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, innovativeness, critical cultural awareness, and cognitive flexibility; indeed, other dimensions were found to be more prevalent than critical cultural awareness. Unlike previous studies on ICC such as Bennett (1998), this study supports the hypothesis that high level dimensions of ICC can be found even at early stages of acquisition of ICC. This study also suggests some implications for the use of the intercultural communicative approach in English education.