Pre-Service English Teacher’s opinions about cultural and linguistic diversity as reflection of their intercultural competence levels

Abstract

This study reports on pre-service English teachers’ opinions about cultural and linguistic diversity as important components of intercultural competence. It also investigates the extent to which their opinions are reflective of their intercultural competence levels. The results indicate a noteworthy relationship between the participants’ intercultural competence (IC) and their opinions regarding different intercultural practices and use of different English varieties in English language teaching. The results also reveal that most of the participants do not have a liquid and dynamic understanding of culture, but rather a traditional one, with views like native standard English varieties and native target cultures are the only valid options in language classes.