Abstract:

Globalisation has influenced foreign language education at universities worldwide. People now live in an increasingly multicultural world where different cultural practices have blended. Intercultural awareness has now become the vital part of foreign language learning, and the prerequisite for language learners to achieve intercultural communication competence.

This paper presents a case study that investigates the significance of intercultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning in an Australian university context. The participants include university students and academic staff in languages courses. The investigation focused on three areas: generalising the participants’ perceptions on the importance of intercultural awareness in general; examining their intercultural experiences personally and professionally, especially in relation to language teaching and learning; and identifying the factors that influenced the way they teach and learn.

The discussion was based on the analysis of a questionnaire survey and subsequent interview research on 27 teachers and 285 students respectively. Results indicated that both teachers and students highly valued intercultural awareness in language teaching and learning at tertiary education settings. The findings suggested that language learners should cultivate intercultural awareness as it is considered to be the major goal of foreign language learning. Meanwhile, to develop teachers’ intercultural perspectives may have an impact on their language teaching methodology and course design. However, this shift from a traditional to intercultural stance in language education poses a challenge that both language teachers and students have to deal with to meet the goals of foreign language education in this modern world. Pedagogical implications and directions for further research are also addressed.

Keywords:

Foreign language teaching and learning, intercultural awareness, intercultural competence, tertiary education.