Fostering intercultural communicative competence through British literature

Abstract

Fostering Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) is crucial in contemporary world to communicate effectively and appropriately across cultures in a foreign language. One of the many ways to achieve ICC is through literature since it may offer opportunities to improve language skills that help students understand other cultures. Unfortunately, there is a limited number of practice activities that help teachers develop ICC through literature in their students. The objective of this article is to present a proposal of activities to foster ICC through British literature in fourth year students from the Foreign Language Teacher Education Program. The proposal is the result of a research process through which quantitative and qualitative methods are combined; among them, systemic approach, analysis of documents, survey, observation, specialists’ criteria, frequencies and charts. The activities designed are presented in a booklet, that constitutes a teaching aid for teachers and students. The proposal was assessed by specialists who consider that it is pertinent, original, flexible, and applicable.