Foreign Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence as a New Aspect of Professional Development

Abstract

This mixed-method study aims to offer an insight into foreign language teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between intercultural competence and professional development. It is also attempted to explore some methods for evaluating teachers’ intercultural competence through their professional development activities. The research participants are local and international instructors at a private university in Turkey. Data was collected via a web-based questionnaire adapted from Sercu (2006) and a semi-structured interview designed by the researchers. The general findings of the study indicate that learning about a) target culture, b) local culture, and c) international students’ culture contribute to foreign language teachers’ intercultural competence and it is considered as a part of their professional development. However, it is pointed out that pre-service and in-service teacher training programs in Turkey cannot provide sufficient facilities to develop teachers’ intercultural competence.  Key words: professional development, intercultural competence, foreign language teaching.