The Intercultural Communicative Competence and Digital Education

Abstract

Developing an intercultural competence, where language is seen as a cultural construct, seems to be consensually advocated by contemporary theories in teaching and learning English as a foreign language. Given its grounding on cultural studies, intercultural education focuses its pedagogical orientation and strategies on popular cultures that are not included within the recognized canons. It also adopts the critical pedagogy that feeds on comparative and reflective practices for the sake of fostering cultural awareness of the world. Apparently, digital education and the ample opportunities initiated by social media and the various forms of Information Communication Technology (ICT) allow for connecting English learners with speakers of English from other cultures, a possibility that is absent in the ordinary reality experienced in English as Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. Based on these premises, the present research article argues for enhancing intercultural competence among Moroccan university students of English as a viable strategy to overcome the remarkable low achievement in exam scores and language proficiency. It posits that students’ expectation vis-à-vis the learning and teaching materials are not adequately met. Furthermore, it both predicts and confirms that students have a strong predilection for cultural integration in their English studies. As students have positive attitudes of ICTs, especially social media, the article proposes blending the traditional classroom mode of teaching with the cooperative and collaborative online learning practices. To face the inevitable challenges to this suggestion, it is recommended that the teachers should be engaged in preservice and in-service training in the content and the methodology of such blended learning that targets intercultural competence improvement.