Developing English Language Teaching Materials to Promote Intercultural Communicative Competence of Learners in Bangladesh

Abstract

The idea of Intercultural Communicative Competence is a comparatively recent development in English teaching and learning, but it has already come to the centre­stage of English education. It has become important as communication among different nationals , both native and non­native has become a reality in today’s globalized world. For effective communication in international settings it has become very important to know and use whatever language and mode of communication is appropriate in which culture and context of the world. So, promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence has become very important in ELT of the time. For promoting it, it is important to develop materials with focus on it. With that end in view, this study attempts to design some English teaching learning materials for promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence of undergraduate level students of Bangladesh with focus on politeness norms, body language, space –keeping, norms of academic and personal writing, norms of behavior in public places, customs of oral and written communication among other nationals in culturally appropriate way. The general objective of the study has been to design and develop ELT Materials to promote intercultural communicative competence of the undergraduate students. The specific objectives have been : (1) to examine the arguments for intercultural materials;(2) to develop a checklist for selecting/adapting/ designing intercultural materials;(3) to select and design intercultural materials and (4) to examine the views of the ELT professionals about the developed intercultural materials. The research questions of the study have been: 1) What are the arguments for using intercultural materials in language learning and acquisition? 2) What will be the principles for developing/ selecting/designing materials for improving the learners’ intercultural communicative competence? 3) To what extent will the developed/designed/selected intercultural materials be effective in improving the learners’ intercultural communicative competence? This study reviews the literature on materials designing and development, with special emphasis on promoting intercultural communicative competence. The study then designs a pack of intercultural materials, conducts an empirical study for opinion surveys of teachers about the materials, and presents the results of the survey. It has also been found from the empirical survey that teachers are not satisfied with the materials presently used in Bangladesh and they are not good at all for developing intercultural communicative competence. For designing materials, two separate checklists have been consulted —one for materials design and evaluation in general and another for intercultural materials. Finally, a checklist has been prepared for designing intercultural materials for the present study synthesizing those two kinds of checklists. As the idea of intercultural materials is a recent development in the field, available checklists and materials are few in number. Fifty two lessons under seven units have been developed. Each of the units deals with a specific cultural aspect and the lessons under it elaborate the aspect focusing on different cultures and their different language practices. In each of the lessons, activities have been planned to ensure all the four basic language skills practices. The activities have been divided into three stages following the model of a reading lesson—(1) Pre­reading, (2) While­reading and (3) Post­ reading activities. Each of the lessons focuses not only on the appropriate modes of communication in different foreign cultures and also in the learners’ own culture with comparison of local and foreign cultures in every lesson. The empirical survey has been conducted by using — (1) questionnaire survey, and (2) interview with teachers. The data collected from the empirical survey have been used as primary data for this research work and the data shows that majority of the teachers feel that intercultural communicative competence is very important for learners in Bangladesh and the materials pack designed in this study for this purpose will prove useful. The developed materials have been reviewed by a few ELT practitioners, and their suggestions are incorporated to improve the materials in its present shape. They held that the designed materials reflect the life and social aspects of foreign cultures and countries, and the students will be able to develop an insight about the variation of cultures and subcultures that is required to build up intercultural awareness. The teachers also expressed the view that the materials are more interesting and effective than the existing materials in Bangladesh and they are good for promoting ICC. They think that the materials offer sufficient scope for comparison with a balanced mutual representation of images of various cultures and help learners accomplish cross cultural ability of speaking and writing. The teachers are positive about the usefulness of the materials in teaching linguistic means as well as the formal and informal styles of communication and in ensuring practice of basic language skills. They are sanguine about the success of the materials in developing cross cultural communication skills and in teaching appropriate intercultural manners of talking and behaving. Besides, the teachers have expressed their views about some issues related to the implementation of the designed materials and the importance of achieving ICC for the students, giving focus on intercultural communication in ELT course books, providing instruments as well as teachers’ personal initiatives for disseminating intercultural information in the class etc. The dissertation concludes with the hope that if used properly the materials will help learners develop their awareness and skills in using English appropriately in intercultural settings, which is an utmost need of the recent globalized world of increased international co­operation.