Tracing the Footsteps of Dwarfs by Feryal Cubukcu

This article describes a digital literacy project implemented with language learners in an adult EAL program.

Although this integration is crucial for the development of communicative competence, practical applications are still challenging as language teachers tend to know more about linguistic items than cultural aspects (Celce-Murcia, 2007). Language and culture are informally integrated in many English as an Additional Language (EAL) programs, but cultural discussions are often regarded from the perspective of a particular dominant culture.

The results show that English language teacher candidates enjoy interacting with people from other cultures and they are sensitive towards cultural differences and complexities. Participants' intercultural sensitivity levels are analyzed in SPSS due to interaction engagement, respect for cultural differences, interaction confidence, enjoyment and attentiveness. In this study, ISS (intercultural sensitivity scale, Chen and Starosta, 2000) is used to measure the results of the 61 student teachers who participated in the study. Thus, the current study aims to investigate English Language Teacher candidates' intercultural sensitivity level. In this angle, English language teachers' sensitivity towards other cultures has significant meaning to make language learners better foreign language learners and speakers (Crawford, 2008). Important scholars in the field define intercultural sensitive persons as those who are conscious in their interactions and accept interlocutors' ideas without judgment of their personal complexity. However, there is still a misperception about intercultural sensitivity with other cognitive, affective and behavioral domains of intercultural communication such as intercultural awareness, intercultural adroitness and intercultural communicative competence. As an affective dimension of intercultural communicative competence, intercultural sensitivity has drawn the attention of scholars throughout the past years.

Abstract A multicultural and global society makes intercultural communication an indispensable part of communication. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 3(1). Measuring english language teacher candidates' intercultural sensitivity: A key element to foster intercultural communicative competence.

Tracing the Footsteps of Dwarfs by Feryal Cubukcu