Teachers' Opinions on Intercultural Competence: A Focus On Instagram

One of the main objectives of English language teaching is to increase students' intercultural competence (IC). People who will accomplish this goal are mainly English language teachers. For those teachers to assist their students, they must possess strong intercultural competencies. Consequently, it is vital to examine what English language teachers do in this context, but it is even more crucial to find out what they believe about intercultural competence. Traveling overseas and experiencing the target culture firsthand provide English language teachers with a valuable chance to hone their intercultural competency. Indeed, going abroad to travel, train, or receive training requires time and money. Social media is a novel and practical way for educators who lack these possibilities to build relationships with the target culture without having to relocate. There are a few studies about English language teachers' opinions of IC; however, given the current state of technology, social media needs to be covered in IC research. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about the opinions of English language teachers on the use of Instagram for IC. The participants were English language teachers employed by public schools in Türkiye at the secondary and high school, and English instructors at universities. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Based on the survey utilized in Sercu's (2005) study, the interview questions were created. Permissions from the relevant ethics committee were secured. Content analysis was used to examine and categorize the data. The findings showed that the educators believed that Instagram use helped in the development of intercultural competency. English language teachers reported feeling good about the target culture, knowing about it, and having positive attitudes toward the people of the target culture. This study offers recommendations on how foreign language teachers might utilize Instagram as a social media tool to help students and themselves become more intercultural competent.