ABSTRACT
The present study investigates 64 in-service EFL teachers’ views concerning intercultural competence (IC). The teachers represented three different teaching contexts: primary (henceforth level 1), secondary (level 2), and higher or adult (level 3). Data were collected with the use of an online survey, which included questions about which terms EFL teachers associated with intercultural competence, which language-related aspects they considered to be important in their teaching, and how they evaluated the IC components in their teaching materials. The results show that the majority of the teachers consider intercultural competence to be a multifaceted construct including both language- and non-language-related components. The findings further reveal that the majority of teachers regarded items associated with pragmatic competence to be part of intercultural competence. However, the study also revealed differences in teachers’ conceptualization of IC and satisfaction with the IC content of their materials based on the level they teach. While primary school teachers considered celebrations, geography, and history to be important IC elements, teachers educating teenagers and adults considered pragmatic IC components relating to nonharmonious language use (e.g., language to resolve or avoid conflicts, swear words, and taboo expressions) to be more important in their EFL teaching than did the primary school teachers.
