Promoting intercultural engagement in beginner language courses: Principles and implementation

Abstract

Developing language learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has been widely recognized as a critical aspect of language teaching. Yet, integrating an intercultural perspective and practices into language classrooms is often neglected, especially for beginner learners, partly due to their limited linguistic abilities. This report presents a collaborative effort by language researchers and educators to develop and implement an interculturally-oriented intervention project in first-semester Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language courses. The three-part intervention was designed to enhance beginner learners’ intercultural reflective learning, addressing a complex interplay of factors—from societal ideologies to specific individual interactions in intercultural settings—that contribute to hurdles faced by learners of the three languages. Reflections on the intervention, challenges, and limitations are discussed with implications for curriculum development and program planning.