EFL Teachers as Intercultural Educators: Transitional Roles and Identity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33541/jet.v11i3.7410Keywords:
EFL teachers, intercultural educators, teacher identity, transitional rolesAbstract
To date, EFL teachers are ever more anticipated to become intercultural educators, supporting intercultural communicative competence for both teachers and students in language classrooms filled with cultural diversity. Using a mixed-methods design, the study integrates quantitative data from a self-report survey with interviews, as it looks into how EFL teachers convert their roles from typical English teachers to so-called facilitators of communication across cultures. With purposive sampling, 22 EFL teachers from various educational levels and teaching contexts took part in the study. The findings reveal significant differences in the extent to how well-equipped EFL teachers are about intercultural education, and it depends as much on their previous experiences with other cultures. From the interviews, changes in teacher identity, emotional challenges, and the need for support from schools have some influence on their self-perceptions as cross-cultural collaborators. Moving away from delivering content to embracing more reflective discussions with students, most EFL teachers found that being interculturally communicative requires new teaching methods and involves personal development and global citizenship. This transition is found to be a process of learning, developing, and finding new purpose in EFL teaching. Teacher training that offers multicultural experience, reflective practices, and emotional support is therefore suggested.
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