CULTURAL ELEMENTS AND THEIR POTENTIALS TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE: A SURVEY ON ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS USED IN CLASSES OF LANGUAGE SKILLS AT UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, HUE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Intercultural competence is one of the most fundamental components that should be developed among language users and can be attained in many different ways. Several studies have suggested that cultural elements incorporated in English textbooks can be of great significance in helping learners acquired intercultural competence. This paper presents the results of a survey on English textbooks used for teaching language skills at the Department of English and the Department of International Studies, Hue University of Foreign Languages. The findings reveal an inclusion of several usable cultural elements from both the inner circle and outer circle cultures in such textbooks; however, most of them reflect surface cultural values rather than deep cultural ones. Besides, although deep culture elements are incorporated, these are addressed at a pretty shallow level. It is suggested that in order to enhance students’ intercultural competence, teachers and students need further effort to take full advantage of the available cultural elements. This paper also gives recommendation on effective use of such elements.