In-house Efforts to Enhance Pre-Service Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence

Abstract

The goal of the current study was to ascertain pre-service English language teachers’ impressions of the impact of thematic speaking tasks on the development of their intercultural competence in an online Spoken English course. Moreover, the effect of certain demographic variables on pre-service teachers’ cultural intelligence (CQ) was also investigated. The findings revealed a significant difference between the CQ of students with and without overseas experience. Pre-service teachers who could speak languages other than their mother tongue and English had significantly higher CQ scores than students who could not speak other languages. However, there was not a significant difference between males' and females’ overall CQ. The results showed an increase in CQ scores when the pre- and post-questionnaire averages were compared, but it was not statistically significant. Semi-structured interviews revealed speaking tasks were effective in exposing pre-service teachers to various cultural perspectives, practices, and products.