Intercultural Competence in ELT: Does it really matter for English teachers in India?

For all its conveniences, the modern life goes away much to be wished. To make effective communication, not only do people need adequate language skills but also cultural ability where a cultural boundary can be achieved. As such, the work of English teachers is expected to not only provide and facilitate students to acquire English skills but also the ability to engage with culture. This study aims to expose the views and beliefs of EFL teachers regarding cultural competence in the English teaching process. The courses were for twenty- nine teachers with experience in teaching at other educational institutions, namely schools, universities, and English courses. Based on the data collected using a series of questionnaires and interviews, it was found that most teachers have good ideas for integrating culture and cultural competence into their English teaching practice. Besides, they view culture as an integral part of language. In addition, teachers’ knowledge of target culture was found to be highly fragmented. In their teaching practice, they report that a variety of strategies have been used to facilitate the teaching of language in culture. However, it was found that the way the intended customs were integrated with English teaching was not considered sufficient; therefore, more concerted efforts are being made to address this problem. Cultural competence forms one of the most important skills in this age of globalization, and especially in the development of students as a language learner and as a society. This is because students will benefit from that knowledge, not only their language skills, but also their ability to communicate and interact with other people whose cultures are different from them (Byram, Gribkova, and Starkey, 2002). Therefore, language teachers not only need to equip learners with adequate language skills but also need to develop their learners’ cultural skills as they deliver their language education.