Enhancing language teachers’ skills for intercultural instruction: affordance of collaborative reflection

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of collaborative reflection (CR) on Iranian English language teachers’ intercultural instructional practice. The data were gathered by observing the classroom instruction of four novice and experienced teachers before and after eight CR sessions. The result revealed that CR was an effective tool for improving teachers’ ICC skills and practice as it enabled them to notice cultural episodes of the lessons and teach ICC productively based on the principles and models learned from CR. Nonetheless, although CR was beneficial for all teachers, the novice ones took more advantages from the CR sessions.

Cette étude a examiné les effets de la réflexion collaborative (RC) sur la pratique pédagogique interculturelle des professeurs d'anglais iraniens. Les données ont été recueillies en observant l'enseignement en classe de quatre enseignants novices et expérimentés avant et après huit séances de la RC. Le résultat a révélé que la RC était un outil efficace pour améliorer les compétences et la pratique de la compétence communicative interculturelle (CCI) des enseignants, car elle leur permettait de remarquer les épisodes culturels des leçons et d'enseigner la CCI de manière productive sur la base des principes et des modèles appris de la RC. Néanmoins, même si la RC a été bénéfique pour tous les enseignants, les novices ont tiré davantage parti des séances de la RC.

KEYWORDS:

• L2 teachers
• intercultural communicative competence (ICC)
• intercultural practice
• collaborative reflection (CR)
• teachers’ reflection

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zia Tajeddin

Zia Tajeddin is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. His main areas of research include teacher education, intercultural language education, and L2 pragmatics. He serves as the editor (with Thomas Farrell) of the Springer book series Studies in Language Teacher Education. He co-edits two international journals: Applied Pragmatics (John Benjamins) and Second Language Teacher Education (Equinox). He has published his studies in Language Testing, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, The Language Learning Journal, and Language and Intercultural Communication, among others. He is the co-editor of Lessons from Good Language Teachers (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Pragmatics Pedagogy in English as an International Language (Routledge, 2021), Teacher Reflection: Policies, Practices and Impacts (Multilingual Matters, 2022), and Language Education Programs: Perspectives on Policies and Practics (Springer, 2023).

Zari Saeedi

Zari Saeedi received her Ph.D. from the British University of Trinity College and is an Associate Professor of Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran. She has taught various B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. courses in different universities, taking part in different national/international conferences, presenting/publishing papers/books on a range of topics including educational neuro/psycholinguistics and brain functioning, cognitive language learning and in particular, brain-based language learning (BBLL), culture, technology-assisted language learning, and Role and Reference Grammar Theory of linguistics. Her published paper and book in John Benjamins and Equinox publications are among the recent ones. Her most recent publication is the dictionary of virtual education with a focus on computer assisted language learning.

Neda Khanlarzadeh

Neda Khanlarzadeh is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics at Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran. Her areas of interest are discourse studies, second language pragmatics, and (intercultural) teacher education. She is currently teaching English courses at Allameh Tabataba'i University and English language institutes in Tehran. She has published book chapters, book reviews, and papers in national and international journals, including Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, Applied Research on English Language, and Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching.