Intercultural language education in selected textbooks for teaching the language of business and economics in Italian and english. A comparative study

Abstract

This article attempts to characterize three textbooks for teaching the language of business and economics in terms of the presence of content developing intercultural competences. The aim of the study is to identify the content developing intercultural competences, its qualitative and quantitative characteristics, to discuss the differences in the approach in the Italian and English textbooks and to indicate the possibility of using selected solutions in new teaching materials. The main hypothesis, verified during the analyzes, is that the concept of intercultural language education, although not directly expressed on the pages of the textbooks, is an important component of the didactic process in materials for teaching the language of business. The approach to interculturality may also differ, depending on the target culture and status of the foreign language taught (Italian vs English, the modern lingua franca).