Future Foreign Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence

There is a lack of research regarding the implications for foreign language study and intercultural competence. Scholars suggest that foreign language proficiency plays a role in cultivating intercultural competence, but agree that there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting this notion. Research also shows that foreign language teachers are ethnocentric. Many educators and foreign language programs use a framework developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) to promote language learning. This framework also possesses key elements in promoting intercultural competence. This study addressed whether a pre-service, ACTFL-guided teaching component of the curriculum had an influence on the intercultural competence of seven student teachers from a master’s large institution in the Midwestern U.S. The intercultural competence was scored using the Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory as an assessment tool. The findings revealed no significant differences in their levels, but did find differences in how the correlations within intercultural competence’s different dimensions interconnected. The conclusions indicate connections to student development theory and recommendations for further study