Identifier: TFM:1707
Authors: Bozovic, Aleksandra
Abstract:
The study addresses the effect of teaching about Australian culture on English language learning motivation, ICC, and Australian cultural knowledge amongst teenage English learners in Catalonia, Spain. The importance of learning English for today’s young people in Catalonia, Spain is supported by the inclusion of this language in Catalonia’s education system (Centre Cívic Casa Golferichs, 2023). As the current daily lives of young people and the professional world that awaits them become increasingly more globalised, the scope of English language learning changes (Rao, 2019). The need for the inclusion of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in EFL classes can be seen in communicative competencies proving themselves to be essential future work skills (Davies et al., 2020) and CEFR language requirements including the ability to communicate about one's own and other cultures with understanding (Council of Europe, 2020). English continues to be a tool used in an academic and professional context (Pate, 2013 and Rao, 2019), but, to fully prepare students, EFL classes should include the teaching of culture in a way that fosters the development of ICC and language learning motivation. The participants of the study were 3rd year of ESO students from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The study included a pre-questionnaire and pretest, an intervention consisting of a one-hour class, a post-questionnaire and posttest, and a class discussion. The results of the study suggest a statistically significant effect of teaching about Australia on EFL learning motivation and cultural knowledge, but an insignificant effect on ICC skills.
Repositori URV