Incorporating Intercultural Competence in Iranian University Curriculum

Incorporating intercultural competence in developing materials has been an international challenge in language teaching. intercultural communication is significantly undernourished at university settings in Iran. The present study tries to answer to this question: How to infuse Persian culture in Iranian English classrooms First, need assessments were conducted in two Idioms and Metaphorical Expressions classes held at Allameh Tabataba’I University of Tehran. An open-end questionnaire was distributed among 30 male and female sophomores, majoring in English language translation. one sample unit with intercultural activities was taught in the following session. The materials developed were based on intercultural language learning model. It contained both Persian and English cultural events. Another questionnaire was applied after teaching the lesson. The students’ intercultural communicative competence was then compared to their first attempt by using IELTS standard rubric for writing. The results revealed that infusing sociocultural dimensions into language programs can significantly enhance learners’ intercultural competence and communication. The study also showed how much home culture (Persian) is ignored not only in general English classrooms but also at university levels, and specifically in translation classrooms where young students are trained to develop skills in mediating between cultures. After presenting the findings of the study, some intercultural activities are introduced and suggested specifically for Iranian university curricula

کلیدواژه ها:

intercultural communicative competence ، Persian culture ، curriculum development