Intercultural Education in English-as-a-foreign-Language (EFL) Teaching: What Do Pre-Service EFL Teachers Think about It?

A plethora of research exists in the field of intercultural education, yet the scarcity of research into investigating the views of pre-service foreign language teachers about the provision of intercultural education within foreign language teaching requires conducting further studies on it. For this reason, this mixed-methods case study explored 155 pre-service English-as-a-foreign-language teachers’ (PSEFLTs) perceptions of giving intercultural education in EFL teaching, and whether their perceptions change significantly with reference to their year of study. The findings obtained from the analysis of the quantitative data collected from a questionnaire and the qualitative data gathered from a semi-structured interview revealed the participants believed the teaching of the target culture should be conducted in EFL teaching along with improving students’ linguistic knowledge. The findings also showed aside from the use of mother tongue in the teaching of the foreign culture, there was no statistically significant difference between participants’ perceptions about intercultural education with reference to their year of study. Additionally, the findings demonstrated participants’ enthusiasm for providing intercultural education in their future teaching.