engleski

Intercultural competence and L1 culture in prospective early EFL teacher education

Intercultural competence is widely accepted as essential in EFL syllabi, with an emphasis on developing language learners as intercultural speakers who use English to mediate between cultures, but also to negotiate their own cultural identity (Hall, 2001). Despite this, the need to focus on L1 as well as L2 culture in the EFL classroom has only recently received attention. According to Vickov (2016), EFL teachers and learners in Croatian primary schools demonstrate relatively poor vocabulary competence in English when it comes to L1 culture elements. Vickov (2016) also points out that there have been few opportunities for prospective early EFL teachers to gain knowledge and competences in this area. The paper discusses the results of research into L1 culture-related vocabulary competence, conducted on 100 university students with a major in early EFL teaching. The research also examined students ́ views on introducing L1 culture into EFL as well as their experience related to L1 culture within the early EFL teaching curriculum. A mixed-method approach with qualitative and quantitative data, gathered by a vocabulary test and a semi-structured questionnaire, has been used. The results have confirmed the findings of earlier research demonstrating a relatively poor level of the students´ L1 culture-related vocabulary competence and an almost total absence of L1 cultural content in the education of prospective EFL teachers. The results of this study indicate a great need to support future early EFL teachers in their acquisition of L1 cultural elements in English as well as to teach them how to include these elements into classes for early EFL learners.

intercultural competence, L1 culture, early EFL teacher education

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