INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY (VUS) LANGUAGE CENTER

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ! INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AT VIETNAM USA SOCIETY (VUS) LANGUAGE CENTER ! ! ! A paper submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL ! by PHẠM PHÚC KHÁNH MINH ! Supervised by NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUẤN, Ph.D ! ! HO CHI MINH CITY, JANUARY 2016 ! 2! Table of contents 1.! Introduction 2.! Body 2.1 The notion of intercultural communication and its importance 2.2 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in general 2.2.1.! Learners’ differences 2.2.2.! Teaching strategies 2.2.3.! Teacher training 2.3 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in Vietnam 2.4 Intercultural communication in English language teaching at VUS center 2.4.1.! Interview results 2.4.2.! Personal observation 10 2.4.3.! Teaching experience 11 2.4.4.! Suggestions 12 3.! Conclusion 13 References Appendices ! ! 3! 1.! INTRODUCTION Thanks to the development of technology, education has been changing dramatically over the past decades For instance, students nowadays are no longer restricted by geographical difficulty to get access to education Moreover, they have also had opportunities to study in a foreign country more than they used to As a result, the classroom now is considered as an environment of cultural diversity in which the students are originated in different backgrounds and cultures On the other hand, the notion of World Englishes introduced by Kirkpatrick (2007) and the idea that English has been actively nourished and developed by people in all over the world (Conrad, 1996; Davies, 1996; Li, 2002b; Brutt-Griffler, 2002) have altogether consolidated the importance of cultures in teaching and learning English Since English is now spoken by a large number of people who are considered as not being native speakers, it can be easily seen that English is adapted and developed into new varieties in order to express the cultural norms of the speakers For example, Le Roux (2002) stated that in a context of cultural diversity, communication is an essential component of success for students and teachers because it is the “means and indeed the medium of education”; and it is also the primary tool which is able to assist instructors to accomplish their teaching objectives Therefore, a focus on intercultural communication within the classroom environment is not only critical but of fundamental importance Given those reasons, teaching intercultural communication along with the English language is considered to be of extreme importance When students are equiped with the knowledge of other cultures, they have fewer difficulties in communicating with those who come from different backgrounds Being aware of cultural differences also makes it easier for students to adapt with new living environments Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate in the reality of teaching English in Vietnam, especially at VUS center, in terms of teaching and learning intercultural communication, based on the writer’s observation activity, personal teaching experience, following with implications and suggestions for the time ahead ! 4! 2.! BODY 2.1 The notion of intercultural communication and its importance Within the literature, intercultural communication is regarded as symnonymous as that of general communication; however, an additional emphasis is recognized in terms of the cultural context (Chen & Starosta, 1996; Spitzberg, 1989) Furthermore, Spitzberg (1989) argued that the contextual parameter is the only aspect that is able to change from general interpersonal to intercultural communicative interactions Beyond the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with others in general, intercultural communication also relates to understandings when communicate with others "who identify with specific physical and symbolic environments" as a result of their cultural backgrounds (Chen & Starosta, 1996) The knowledge of different cultures in communication is undeniably significant for learners’ success Jarvis (1986) claimed that when the discrepancy between the traditional and new set of beliefs is too great, it “produces pasive resistance or non-learning in the student.” For instance, in a study on the negative outcomes of learning a new culture, Kamm (1990) examined the culture shock experienced by Vietnamese migrants after six to twelve months in the USA Considering the differences between the two cultures, facing new values and beliefs in a new place, they were reported to have reactions that “may range from over-enthusiastic embrace of everything American to a disatisfaction with everything.” To sum up, the literature on intercultural communication has asserted the importance of communication between different cultures and the lack of cultural knowledge can lead to misunderstandings and “a disorientating dilemma in cross-cultural interactions” (Ellis, 1994) In other words, teaching and learning intercultural communication is a crucial factor leading to the success in communicating effectively Nevertheless, the methodology used for teaching intercultural communication indeed counts as a significant contribution to this success Hence, teachers of English should be acknowledged of how to teach English along with intercultural communication appropriately and effectively 2.2 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in general – learners’ differences, teaching strategies, and teacher training 2.2.1.! Learners’ differences In recent years, discussions on the cultural appropriateness of various language teaching methodologies have been brought up, especially when they were exported across contexts ! 5! (Barkhuizen 1998, Coleman 1996, Holliday 1994, Hu 2002) Along with this viewpoint, the struggle and frustration that learners may encounter when being in an intercultural classroom, has urged teachers and syllabus developers to take into consideration learners’ cultural backgrounds in terms of choosing materials and appropriate pedagogical approaches for particular teaching contexts (Coleman 1996, Holliday 1994, McKay 2002) Considering the application of intercultural communication in language teaching, many researchers have pointed out that learners’ learning styles differ as a function of their cultural backgrounds (Auyeung & Sands, 1996; Lam-Phoon, 1987; Ramburuth & McCormick, 2001; Sauceda-Castillo, 2001) Moreover, Roach et al (2003) have indicated that teaching strategies may also differ from different perceptions Auyeung and Sands (1996) compared learners from Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in order to comprehend if learners from different countries differ in their learning styles Australian students were viewed as representatives of Western individualistic cultures and those from Hong Kong and Taiwan were considered representatives of Eastern collectivistic cultures The result showed that Australian students preferred solid and active learning styles, and they had less preference for abstract and reflective learning styles, compared with students from Hong Kong and Taiwan Lam-Phoon (1987) also pointed out the cultural differences between Asian college students in Singapore and Caucasian college students in the U.S The results found that auditory and visual modes of learning are more favoured by Asians than Caucasians In contrast, Ramburuth and McCormick (2001) have found that Australian learners had slightly greater preference for auditory learning styles than Asians, and there was no significantly important difference in favour for visual learning modes Instead, Asian learners denoted a greater preference for tactile and kinesthetic learning styles than Australian ones Interestingly, Sauceda-Castillo (2001) observed cultural differences in learning styles among participants of U.S ethnic groups – African-American, Anglo-American, AsianAmerican, and Hispanic- American Students from the minority ethnic groups (i.e., African-, Asian-, and Hispanic-American) preferred the accustomizing learning style while AngloAmerican learners indicated preference for the assembling learning style Both learning styles are keen on learning through abstract conceptualization, but accustomisers transform their knowledge through observation; meanwhile, assemblers process the knowledge by ! 6! experimentation To some extent, this difference in learning style preferences can explain the reason why minority students are likely to be less vocal in class 2.2.2.! Teaching strategies Although the conclusion on students’ perceptions of teaching strategies in terms of cultural differences has not been drawn firmly, Roach et al (2003) have found that U.S students supposed their teachers to ultilize different strategies, such as affinity-seeking, non-verbal immediacy, reward, referent, and expert power, more than French students did The differences in perceptions between American and French students seemed to suggest that the students themselves have different expectations relating to their roles in the classroom Instead of identifying differences as Roach et al (2003), Littlewood (2001) found astonishing similarity among learners from various cultural backgrounds (i.e., eight East Asian countries along with three European countries) In general, the findings indicated that almost all of the students preferred independent learning styles more than having their instructors count as strictly dominant roles in the classroom The results therefore disconfirmed the general assumption that learners with Eastern cultural backgrounds expect hierarchical roles in the classroom Overall, it can be concluded that students have positive reactions and attitudes towards participative learning as well as group work 2.2.3.! Teacher training Realising the importance of intercultural communication in language teaching, its benefits and consequences as well, there have been a number of intercultural teacher education programmes which can potentially count as examples and models for others to follow (LadsonBillings, 1999) A recent research on intercultural teacher education programme has been proposed by Cochran-Smith et al (2004) The researchers also constructed a formal theoretical framework in order to make clear of the relevant literature The framework includes such aspects as diversity, ideology, knowledge, teacher learning, practice, outcomes, recruitment and selection, and coherence Diversity associates with the identification of teacher educational matters that are the result of demographic shifting Ideology concentrates on the value-based aspect of education purposes and how it befits the greater context of society Knowledge relates to what teachers and instructors must know to teach effectively, especially about how cultures affect the learning progress Teacher learning deals with the process or methods which instructors apply in their teaching Practice refers to the particular skills which are necessary to ! 7! teach dissimilar populations Outcomes involves the appropriate results of instructor preparation relating to both instructional and behavior assessment Recruitment and selection encloses the idea about who should be selected to join the teaching department Finally, coherence comprises the previous seven aspects and investigates how they are related to each other These aspects, however, have not satisfied the desire of linking theory with practice and emphasized the fact that there are not enough studies investigating realistic classroom practice of teachers (CochranSmith et al., 2004) In an attempt to address the matter of connecting theory with practice Cochran-Smith et al (2004) have proposed a research agenda named “mapping forward” and “mapping back” Specifically, they have stated that research must effectively incorporate intercultural teacher education with the learning of teachers, their professional practice, and their students’ learning as well Cochran-Smith et al have explained that research mapping forward should appear in the form of longitudinal studies in which pre-service instructors are followed from the beginning of their training until their professional teaching experiences; next, assessments of outcomes from their students would be concluded Meanwhile, research mapping backwards starts with identifying successful classroom practices, then it investigates the teachers’ learning experiences as well as other factors which have assisted them to accomplish success in their work To sum up, it can be easily seen that effort to prepare instructors with intercultural knowledge to teach various students who differ greatly in the way they think, behave, and learn, has been ongoing for more than three decades (Cochran-Smith et al., 2004) Although there are not enough clear improvements in this field, it is essential and important to acknowledge the influence of cultures on the teaching and learning processes As a result, teachers and education programmers are to be anticipating the changes in teacher education and exploring the appropriate applications in a specific teaching context 2.3 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in Vietnam Secru (2006) concluded that the development of learners’ intercultural communication ability should be one of the main objectives of language education As a result, language learners are able to communicate acress cultural boundaries and mediate between cultures successfully (Byram, 2008) In a study examining how Vietnamese university teachers of English integrate culture into their teaching, Nguyen (2013) found that even though the participants had a deep and ! 8! comprehensive view towards cultures, they had considerably limited goals in incorporating culture in their teaching practices Moreover, the teaching activities focused more on the cultural knowledge than developing other aspects such as the intercultural communication awareness and skills Nguyen (2013) also indicated that the teaching activites of Vietnamese teachers of English are restricted and limited by their syllabuses and prescribed teaching materials The study also discovered that Vietnamese teachers of English received little support from the teacher development programmes For example, they did not have enough opportunities to develop teachers’ intercultural competence or the pedagogical knowledge related to intercultural communication competence In a study in 2012, Pham emphasized that “learning a language involves increasing sensitivity towards cultural differences.” Therefore, teachers should raise learners’ awareness of intercultural communication in order to avoid misunderstandings, and they should also “provide feedback on learners’ pragmatic mistakes” rather than focusing on form mistakes Moreover, in order to enhance the quality of communication, teachers of English should adopt “self-discovery rather than ‘teach all’ approach.” This can be accomplished by organizing activities that encourage students to establish the habit of exploring intercultural communication practices and how these intercultural differences affect the interaction and communication of people from these cultures Hence, teachers of English are able to arouse and foster learners’ curiosity for the target cultures they are aiming at Pham (2012) also suggested that this approach can be achieved by various methods, such as role-plays, acting out scenarios, field trips, researching information about a particular culture and so on These activies can lead to learners’ self-discovery towards cultural differences and their perceptions of how intercultural communication is influenced by such cultural variations 2.4 Intercultural communication in English language teaching at VUS center – interview results, personal observation, teaching experience and suggestions 2.4.1.! Interview results The interviews were conducted at Vietnam USA Society Language center, An Duong Vuong campus The participants are three Vietnamese teachers who have been working at the campus for more than two years, and they are also holding a Master degree in TESOL The interviews were semi-constructed in order to encourage participants to express their opinions freely as much as possible, and to avoid response bias To minimize the biases, all of the ! 9! interviews used an informal conversational style, and discussions started at a broad level, concerning about the perceptions of intercultural communication Then, the participants were introduced with more detailed questions relating to intercultural communication teaching at the language center The interviewer recorded and took notes during the interviews and all of the interviews were transcribed afterwards The first two questions of the interview are aimed at introducing the research topic, which relate to the concept of intercultural communication, team performance and the workplace Among the three participants, two of them addressed the relevance of intercultural communication and team performance; however, the relationship between the two concetps was not significant For example, the first interviewee demonstrated that the communication is more appreciated than team performance and they are not closely related to each other Besides, the second interviewee stated that “intercultural communication competence has something to with team performance but not much,” and that “intercultural communication competence does not make a lot of difference to the performance”; however, she mentioned that good intercultural communication competence is able to improve the working quality since Vietnamese teachers are sometimes required to cooperate with foreign ones Agreedably, the two participants both view their workplace as a multicultural environment due to the diversity of teachers’ origins; for instance, American, English, South African, Australian, and so on The next two questions aimed to investigate the participants’ awareness of intercultural communication competence First of all, the three interviewees are aware of the importance of intercultural communication in today’s job market Nevertheless, they all agreed that the ability to commuincate interculturally is certainly not the most important factor, just an advantage in the process of communication Interestingly, the first and the third interviewees stated that the more crucial factors are soft skills and the countries or the working environments of the labour Secondly, concerning about the characteristics, qualities or skills of an individual who is able to communicate interculturally, all of the participants had different ideas about the issue For instance, they mentioned that an intercultural individual should have a good proficiency of English, be acknowledged of the cultures, be hard-working, sociable and friendly These characteristics and qualities are considered to be able to contribute to a person’s success in working and communicating with other people from different cultures ! 10! The last part of the interview examined the matter of intercultural communication competence in the practice of teaching English at VUS All of the three participants in the interviews notably mentioned that the teaching programme at VUS lack intercultural knowledge For example, the first interviewee talked about the book Everybody Up and said that there is not enough knowledge about culture provided Furthermore, Vietnamese teachers have to cover other language skills and areas so that the time for extra knowledge is limited Another example from the second interviewee is the book Solution Although the book provides a culture lesson which is taught by foreign teachers, she still thought that it was not enough for the learners to be prepared and aware of intercultural communication When the interviewees were asked about the kind of intercultural knowledge they want to teach in class, they listed a number of different aspects such as table manners, etiquettes, greetings, word choice when communicating with others, and so on Meanwhile, when suggestions for teaching intercultural communication skills were asked, the participants were reluctant and hesitate to express their opinions The first participant advised her students to watch and learn from movies or to go to district One to communicate with foreign people and learn from them The second interviewee was unsure about what teachers should to promote the student’s intercultural communication skills since the culture lessons are taught by foreign teachers However, she thought that students should get frequent input of intercultural knowledge in every lesson and when it is possible, students should have chances to produce and practice the language or the customs of foreign cultures The third participant mentioned that in order to provide more intercultural knowledge for students, teachers should more self-study, investigate the topic of the lesson more carefully in order to identify important cultural points so that they can teach the students more accurately and more appropriately To sum up, the interviews provided enlightening infomation and personal opinions towards intercultural communication competence in a specific context Vietnamese teachers seem to be novel to the idea of teaching cultural knowledge since they have been familiar with teaching the language skills and areas However, the three interviewees are aware of the importance of intercultural communication competence and it can be easily seen that they have tried to embed more cultural aspects into their lessons in order to improve learners’ intercultural communication skills 2.4.2.! Personal observation ! 11! Vietnam USA Society (VUS) language center is operated by Vietnamese boards of directors and has been in business for more than ten years The students of the center are mainly Vietnamese students who are currently studying at public or private schools, coming to the center at night or the weekends in order to improve their English skills The age range of these students varies from three to twenties; there are even adults who are in their forties learning English at VUS but they only account for a small portion Considering the learners’ characteristics, it can be seen that the teenagers, whose ages range from thirteen to nineteen, are the ones that can be introduced and taught intercultural communication easily They are willing to learn new knowledge about the world, about other cultures as well Their willingness is also supported by their desire of studying abroad; therefore, intercultural communication knowledge and skills will be able to benefit them in the future Apart from the learners aspect, the materials and coursebooks used at the school should be taken into consideration in terms of providing a source of intercultural communication knowledge and skills The coursebooks such as Everybody Up, Motivate, Solutions and so on seem to focus on grammatical and vocabulary aspects, comprising a large amount of grammatical exercises which are useful for learners to enhance their language skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking) Furthermore, the coursebook Motivate also provides CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), which is a new method for teaching and learning English in Vietnam Despite the new approach introduced, these coursebooks still lack knowledge and skill about other cultures, giving learners the sense and awareness of intercultural communication Therefore, it can be said that intercultural communication information still needs more attention and concentration from the programmers of the language center in particular and the Vietnamese policy makers in general 2.4.3.! Personal teaching experience Taking teaching experience into consideration, the writer has been teaching at VUS center for one year; however, the writer has dedicated to the job and drawn a lot of personal experience which is considered as personal valuable asset During the time teaching at the school, the writer has tried to introduce knowledge, providing information and practices on cultural aspects, using videos, presentations, reading materials, listening texts and so on The reactions from the students are various and thought-provoking First of all, it can be seen that younger learners are less keen on such activities than the older ones For instance, they showed ! 12! indifference or boredom towards learning new knowledge beside what is provided in their coursebook In other words, they lack the awareness of intercultural communication knowledge, probably because of their immaturity and thoughtfullness about the world Secondly, considering the older learners such as high school or university students, interest and concern have been recorded and recognised when they get access to such cultural information This might be the result of their maturity and better-developed cognition towards the world around them Finally, thanks to the support and agreement of students and other colleagues, the writer has been motivated to continue integrating intercultural communication skills and knowledge into the teaching pracice Nevertheless, the writer should be aware of the correctness and appropriateness when introducing new information, as well as which methods and practices should be employed for the best result 2.4.4.! Suggestions It is essential for language teachers to integrate culture into language teaching (Byram, 2009; Liddicoat et al., 2003) Only when teachers are acknowledged of proving suitable methods, approaches and comprehensible activities in the classroom, learners’ willingness for new knowledge and information will be increased For instance, teachers should read materials on cultures and cultural matters Besides, teachers can improve their cultural knowledge by communicating and interacting with foreigners, learning about culture from the media, websites and movies Furthermore, they can also continuously reflect and modify their cultural behaviours when they encounter intercultural issues From another viewpoint, it is necessary that educational programmers and policy makers support and provide language teachers with sufficient opportunities to enhance intercultural communication skills for learners Language teachers are usually restricted to the syllabus and the provided materials In this case, it is the duty and responsibility of programmers that they should incorporate more intercultural issues into the programme by adopting and adapting new international materials, trending ideas and innovations and so on Also, language teachers should be provided with more workshops, conferences and training courses in terms of intercultural communication competence so that they are able to improve their teaching practices, giving their students the best knowledge they can In short, language teachers, educational programmers, and policy makers should unify and incorporate with each other so as to improve the teaching and learning processes of intercultural communication As a result, learners become successul ! 13! communicators and in that way, they are profited the best from their teachers and learning programmes of their countries 3.! CONCLUSION Culture is an obvisous feature in communication between people from distincitve cultural backgrounds (Liddicoat, 2009) Therefore, being aware of culture in language teaching is able to aid learners to become reflexive about their cultures and competent in communicating with other cultures as well As a result, culture has become a specific important element in language teaching, and the lack of knowledge of cultures can lead to misunderstandings and “a disorientating dilemma in cross-cultural interactions” (Ellis, 1994) The paper has presented and reviewed studies on intercultural communication aspects Besides, intercultural communication in language teaching is also investigated and further discussed The investigation analyses the current statuses of teaching intercultural communication in the world as well as in Vietnam After that, the writer presents the personal observation and teaching experience at a specific language school in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam The presentation leads to implications and suggestions for teaching intercultural communication in the future In conclusion, cultures count as a crucial aspect in communication, and language also plays an important role in communication as well Therefore, integrating cultural knowledge and skills in language teaching is of the utmost importance in order to enhance students’ intercultural communication competence As a result, language learners can avoid misunderstandings and confusion when communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds ! 14! References Auyeung, P., & Sands, J (1996) A cross cultural study ofthe learning style of accounting students Accounting and Finance, 36, 261-274 Barkhuizen, G P (1998) Discovering learners’ perceptions of ESL classroom teaching/learning activities in a South African context TESOL Quarterly 32/1: 85 – 108 Brutt-Griffler, J (2002) World English: a study of its development Clevedon, Avon, UK and Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters Byram, M (2008) From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: essays and reflections Clevedon, Great Britain: Multilingual Matters Chen, G.-M., & Starosta, W J (1996) Intercultural communication competence: a synthesis Communication Yearbook, 19 Cochran-Smith, M., Davis, D., & Fries, K (2004) Multicultural teacher education San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons Coleman, H (1996) Society and the language classroom New York: Cambridge University Press Conrad, S (1996) Investigating academic texts with corpus based techniques: an example from biology Linguistics and Education 8, 299–326 Ellis, G (1994) The apropriateness of the comunicative approach in Vietnam: an interview study in intercultural communication Australia: La Trobe University Holliday, A (1994) Appropriate methodology and social context Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Hu, G (2002) Potential cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: the case of communicative language teaching in China Language, Culture and Curriculum 15/2: 93 – 105 Jarvis, P (1987) Adult learning in the social context Sydney: Crom Helm Kam, R A (1990) Reading attitudes in Asian ESL learners ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.ED37026 Kirkpatrick, A (2007) Models of World Englishes, World Englishes: implications for international communication and English language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ladson-Billings, G J (1999) Preparing teachers for diverse student populations: a critical race ! 15! theory perspective Review of Research in Education, 24, 211-248 Lam-Phoon, S C H (1987) A comparative study o f the learning styles of Southeast Asian and American Caucasian college students on two Seventh-Day Adventist campuses Singapore, Michigan Le Roux, J (2002) Effective educators are culturally competent communicators Intercultural Education, 13, 37-48 Liddicoat, A., Papademetre, L., Scarino, A & Kohler, M (2003) Report on intercultural language learning Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training Littlewood, W (2001) Students’ attitudes to classroom English learning: a cross-cultural study Language Teaching Research, 5, 3-28 Li, P (1996) Spoken word recognition of code-switched words by Chinese-English bilinguals Journal of Memory and Language 35, 757–774 McKay, S (2002) Teaching English as an international language: rethinking goals and approaches Oxford: Oxford University Press Nguyen, T L (2013) Integrating culture into Vietnamese university EFL teaching: a critical ethnographic study Australia: Auckland University of Technology Pham, T H N (2012) Cultural dimensions in intercultural communication & implications for English language teaching Journal of Science, 70, Ramburuth, P., & McCormick, J (2001) Learning diversity in higher education: a comparative study of Asian international and Australian students Higher Education, 42, 333-350 Roach, K D., Cornett-DeVito, M M., & DeVito, R (2003) A cross-cultural comparison of instructor communication in American and French classrooms Paper!presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Miami Beach, FL Sauceda-Castillo, M J (2001) Learning styles: a comparative study of cultural differences in African-American, Anglo-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic American accounting students in Texas public universities The U.S.A Sercu, L (2006) The foreign language and intercultural competence teacher: the acquisition of a new professional identity Intercultural Education, 17(1), 55-72 Spitzberg, B H (1989) Issues in the development of a theory of interpersonal competence in the intercultural context International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 13 ! 16! Appendices Appendix – Interview I: Hello Ms Thuy How are you today? P: I’m great Thank you How are you? I: I’m good, thank you Thank you for coming here for the interview And these questions are kept for research purpose only, so your infomation and your answers will be kept confidentially P: OK Got it I: Thank you The first question is how relevant are the topics of intercultural communication competence and team performance to your organization? P: Uhm I think, in my workplace, I’m working in a language center, so we are… there is a mix of international teachers from all over the world and Vietnamese teachers The foreign teachers are mainly from the USA, and other English speaking countries So, it is a mix of different cultures and our school usually promote the American culture I: Yeah, thank you So the two terms, intercultural communication competence and team performance are closely related? P: I think intercultural communication is more appreciated than the team performance We have it, in my opinion, they are not closely integrated I: OK, thank you And the next one, you think, you view your company as a multicultural workplace? P: Yeah… It’s quite difficult to say that but… yeah… you can say so But there are many people, many workers from different places around the world, but half of the staff are Vietnamese and the other half are multicultural teachers I: Yeah… Thank you And… So you think intercultural communication competence as a key factor for success in today's job market? If yes, what makes you think this way? And if no, please explain your answer P: OK I think intercultural communication competence is an important factor to contribute to one person’s success, but I don’t think it is the most important factor I think their ability together with their language competence and their soft skills are also as important as the intercultural communication competence I: Thank you… ! 17! P: But if one person has good intercultural communication competence, it is an advantage for him or her I: Yes, I agree And… Next one, how would you view an interculturally and communicatively competent individual in your organization? So for example, you can give me like some qualities, characteristics, and skills that make a person intercultural P: I still don’t really get the question Can you explain it? I: OK, so this question is about the qualities, characteristics and skills And these factors contribute to a person that is considered interculturally and communicatively competent So he or she can communicate perfectly, well, and he or she also has the intercultural knowledge So he or she must have some qualities, and some characteristics, and some skills So what you think about this? P: I think, first of all, we have to mention about the language, for sure, he or she must be able to speak the lingua franca, English And moreover, they should have some knowledge about the other culture, like… I’m teaching English, so I should, I have to work with foreign teachers mainly British or American teachers, I should know some basic customs of them so that I would behave appropriately, I won’t something rude to them I: OK, thank you very much And so what you think about the barriers that you have encountered when you communicate with other people from English-speaking countries? P: I think the most difficult barrier I have to encounter is the background knowledge I have learnt English for several years, I can speak English, but sometimes, we don’t really get each other understood because they know something in their culture, in their native culture which I don’t know So when they talk to their friends, they may laugh or think it in another way, not that what I think on the literal meaning I: Yes, I understand And the next one what kind of intercultural knowledge you want to teach in English classes? P: Uhm… I: So, like, for example, in your English class, you would like to teach the student some intercultural knowledge And what kind of the knowledge that you want to teach them, for example, maybe about the culture of the country, or how people behave, or how people address each other… ! 18! P: Usually, I teach them all of the knowledge, but I focus on the way of behaviors Yeah… What is considered as appropriate responses to a foreigner, for example, when they something good for you, you should say thank you, and… when you want to express your dislike, don’t do, don’t complain anything directly, it will hurt people, and I try to teach them to it politely, indirectly I: Yeah, gently P: Yeah… I: Thank you very much And so, in your opinion, does the teaching programme at VUS provide enough intercultural knowledge for the learners? Can you please give examples and explanations for your answer? P: I think the teaching programmes at VUS provide some knowledge of intercultural communication for the learner, but not really enough It’s not really enough because, actually we are using the textbook Everybody Up for the very young learners, for primary students And in the book, there are parts in the book that taught children about the culture of the target language but there is not much time, and it’s only a small part in the programme Mainly we have to cover vocabulary, grammar language, listening, writing… too many things… It’s addressed but they don’t focus on it enough I: So they mention about the cultural knowledge but not, like, enough? P: Yes I: And the last question is what you think the teacher should in English classes to help improve the student’s intercultural communication skills? P: I think the best way I usually advise my students is to watch movies because movies are like a minimized society… and they will see in some situations, how the native people behave, and it reflects their culture, they can learn from these And I also advise them to go to the foreigner district, in district 1, where they have many opportunities to communicate directly with the foreign people They will feel it, experience it more deeply and more accurately I: OK, thank you very much This is a very interesting interview and it helps me a lot for my research Thanks again and wish you all the best for the future P: OK, never mind Good luck with your research I: Thank you ! 19! Appendix – Interview I: Hello Ms.Phung Thank you for coming here today for the interview How are you today? P: I’m fine I: OK So your answers and your infomation will be kept confidentially and will be served for the research purpose only OK So, the first question is how relevant are the topics of intercultural communication competence and team performance to your organization? P: Uhm We’re working at VUS And I think intercultural communication competence has something to with team performance but not much because it depends on the practice of this organization, this company Because one person’s performance does not depend on another’s performance much, so I think the relevance of intercultural communication competence does not make a lot of difference to the performance But anyway, if you have, I mean Vietnamese teachers, if a Vietnamese teacher has good intercultural communication competence, it can improve the working quality because sometimes Vietnamese teachers and foreign teacher have to share information or share experiences about the class that they share I: Yeah Right, thank you Alright, so the next question is you think, you view your company as a multicultural workplace? P: Yeah, to some extent it’s a multicultural workplace because teachers are from many countries, from many regions of the world I: OK, thank you So that makes the company become a multicultural workplace, thank you And the next question is you think intercultural communication competence as a key factor for success in today's job market? If you say yes, what makes you think this way? And if no, please explain P: Yeah, because the world is flat, you know… and um… in our work, we have to deal with colleagues, customs from many parts of the world, and um… it is our advantage if we have a good competence of intercultural communication I: Yes, thank you And um… so if a person is interculturally and communicatively competent, so what characteristics, what qualities, or skills that make that person become a good individual? P: Can you please clarify your question? ! 20! I: OK So if a person who is considered to be competent interculturally and communicatively, he or she must have characteristics or some qualities What you think about the characteristics and the qualities of that person? P: Um… I think in order to be communicative competent and intercultural competent, it takes a lot of time and effort, and um… I: So he or she should be a hard-working person? Or he or she should have a good knowledge of the language or the culture? P: Of course, hard-working and good knowledge of both cultures… I: OK, thank you And, so have you ever encountered any barriers when communicating with other people from English-speaking countries? P: Yes, of course I think culture is a very big barrier and it prevents people from understanding each other, yeah… I: Yes, can you give me one example if possible? P: OK I think when we are talking to someone, we have to consider that person’s culture, the country’s culture and the person’s own culture I mean everyone has different personalities, um… personal traits, and if we are not very careful, we might violate their values I: Yeah, thank you And the next question is what kind of intercultural knowledge you want to teach in English classes? P: OK For my students, I think they should be provided with some basic knowledge of intercultural like eating manners, like how we greet each other because the way of greeting and table manners may vary from one culture to another culture And some daily topics of conversation are also very useful for them I: Yeah, thank you And um… in your opinion, does the teaching programme at VUS provide enough intercultural knowledge for the learners? Please give examples and explanations for your answer P: Yeah… I think nowadays the material developers are really careful and they put some effort in designing the materials to give students input about intercultural knowledge and the knowledge of the target language Like in the book Solutions, we have… every unit has one lesson or one part devoted to provide students with knowledge of, I mean cultural knowledge I: OK So you it is enough for the students, or it is too much, or it’s not enough? ! 21! P: Usually this part is taught by the foreign teachers so I think I can’t say much about this but I think the book is making a good effort in helping students with intercultural knowledge I: OK, yes, thank you And the last question is what you think the teacher should in English classes to help improve the student’s intercultural communication skills? P: Um… I think they should embed this kind of knowledge in every lesson, um… and help students to be familiar with the knowledge And what’s more, I guess that foreign teachers may have more advantage if they teach this I: OK, so you have any advice for your foreign colleagues? Like if they want to improve the cultural lesson in Solutions, what you think they should do? P: Well, I think they should let students act out a conversation or if it comes to table manners, eating etiquettes, students should have a chance to bring the food to class, to have kitchen utensils and to learn how to the spoon, the fork, etc I: OK So they should have more chances to produce, practice the language P: Yeah… I: OK Thank you very much for the interview This really helps me with my research and um… wish you all the best for the future P: Thank you Hope I can help Appendix – Interview I: Hello, Ms.Anh How are you today? P: I’m fine, thanks I: Thank you for coming here for the interview And your answers and your infomation will be kept secretly, just for the research purpose only P: Good I: OK And the first question is how relevant are the topics of intercultural communication competence and team performance at your organization? P: What does it mean, “competence”? I: OK, like the… P: And “team performance”? ! 22! I: Like the ability to communicate interculturally, so… that person has knowledge of other cultures, and… does that affect his or her team performance? P: Um… Yes, I think so If you have… like… ability to understand other language and culture, so you may know more about like… their… how can I say… their customs and their… um… I: values? P: Yes, kind of And then they can communicate with other people more easily I: OK, thank you So you view your company as a multicultural workplace? P: Oh… I guess so I just… If you understand multicultural like more than two, OK, I say yes But in this place, just two languages are used here, only English or Vietnamese So it’s really hard to say that this is a multicultural workplace I: OK, yes So you think intercultural communication competence as a key factor for success in today's job market? If you say yes, what makes you think this way? If no, please explain your answer P: Um… Well I think that maybe yes, maybe no It depends It depends on the… the country So… if you work only in your own country, so the intercultural communication is not a big deal, but if you work outside, so maybe it will… it will affect but not too much I: OK P: Because for example, if you treat the foreigner with your… like… native customs, it’s not suitable So even even you work abroad or you travel to another country, um… how can I say… um… the communication is not a factor It not really is… I: OK, I see So the next question is if a person if a person has good knowledge of interculture and he or she can communicate very well, so he or she must have some qualities and characteristics, or skills So what you think about his or her qualities, characteristics and skills? P: OK Maybe they will be more sociable, and they have like how can I say like more clever, and the ability of solving any problem maybe much easier because they have a lot of knowledge about other things so they can improve it I: Yeah So they are more sensible P: That’s right I: And think about others ! 23! P: And qualities, I have no idea about this, but maybe characteristic is like they’re more sociable, they’re more um humorous, for example, and they are easy to communicate and make friends to have more relationships I: Like easy to adapt to new environments? P: That’s right I: OK, thank you So what barriers have you encountered in the process of communicating with people from English-speaking countries? P: Um you mean my own experience? I: Yeah P: OK, um Well I think that it’s about I: Language? P: Like some of your vocabulary is a bit weak, and the customs maybe cause some troubles when you communicate with them You think that it’s ok but it in their country is not ok Like that And um I think language is the most important customs I: OK, language and customs Thank you So in your class, what kind of intercultural knowledge you want to teach your students? P: Um How can I understand intercultural knowledge? It’s about what? I: Um So, for example, it’s about how to eat at the table in a Western country, or how to greet another person P: OK, yeah Alright Yes, I think that it’s important, like you say, the way you eat, maybe it’s different in other countries, the way you say, the way you use your words and body gestures I: Yeah Body gestures P: And sometimes How can I say The way you work Maybe Body language I: Yeah OK So in your opinion, does the teaching programme at VUS provide enough intercultural knowledge for the learners? Can you please give some examples and explanations for your answer? P: OK Well… I: So maybe in your classes, the book has enough or not enough intercultural knowledge What you think about this? ! 24! P: Yes… Well I have to say not enough But, sometimes, being a teacher you have to tell them… But if it’s relevant to the topic, you can tell them some more about it But if you don’t have enough time, it’s really hard to explain it I: Yeah… So it’s about like… time constraint? P: Yes, like… or about bad luck When you use black, you think it’s bad luck or something like that or people will think that black cat is… bring some bad luck for you, too But in other… some other countries, they don’t think like that You have to tell them about it I: Yes… So it depends on the… like the topics of the lesson P: Uh huh… But we don’t have enough time for that I: Yeah… OK Thank you So the last question is what you think the teacher should in English classes to help improve the student’s intercultural communication skills? P: Yeah, OK, as I told you, you have to… like… learn a lot and study more about the topic you say, and if it’s like… Because I said we don’t have enough time so maybe if the topic you are talking about has some important effect on the communication competence, so you have to tell them about it But if it’s not, you may… I: Skip that one? P: Yeah… Skip that one I: OK, so… like… Teachers should self-study more and… P: And they have to learn for yourself first… I: And then study the lesson beforehand to… P: That’s right I: To identify the important factor OK So thank you very much for the interview This really helps me with my research  ... 2.2.2.! Teaching strategies 2.2.3.! Teacher training 2.3 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in Vietnam 2.4 Intercultural communication in English language. .. anticipating the changes in teacher education and exploring the appropriate applications in a specific teaching context 2.3 Intercultural communication in English language teaching in Vietnam. .. how intercultural communication is influenced by such cultural variations 2.4 Intercultural communication in English language teaching at VUS center – interview results, personal observation, teaching