The Road to Understanding Intercultural Sensitivity in English Language Teaching (ELT) Pre-existing Frames for Intercultural Sensitivity

Abstract

This study explored intercultural sensitivity in a natural English teaching environment in a Saudi Arabian university. A total of nineteen expatriate teachers took part in this case study. Descriptive qualitative data were generated through focus group discussions, interviews, observations and diary entries. Secondary data as well as anecdotal data were also used to describe the context of the study. The data showed that the context plays a major part in shaping the contextual frame of teaching and that all teachers bring to their work pre-existing biographical frames of reference for intercultural sensitivity. When these two relatively static frames converge in the ELT context, they essentially create a circumstance of discordance.