Exploring Interculturality in the Colombian EFL Classroom: A Situated Collaborative Case Study

Abstract

An intercultural perspective on language learning and teaching has become prominent over the past three decades. As a result, diverse theoretical frameworks, methods, and approaches have been developed to understand and explore interculturality in foreign and second language classrooms (e.g., Byram, 1997; Byrnes, 2002, 2008; Dervin, 2009, 2011; Kramsch, 1998, 2011; Liddicoat, 2004; Risager, 2007). As a goal of foreign language instruction, interculturality has spurred significant research in second and foreign language education. For example, extensive scholarship has explored how telecollaboration projects and experiences abroad can enhance students’ development of interculturality (e.g., Alred et al., 2003; Basharina, 2007; Byram et al., 2001; Blyth, 2011; Chen, 2017). Another line of research has delved into teachers’ and students’ different conceptualizations and understandings of interculturality (e.g., Castro et al., 2004; Collings, 2007; Moore, 2006; Ortaçtepe, 2015; Sercu, 2006; Young & Sachdev, 2011). From a pedagogical perspective, research has explored the procedures, methodologies, and core practices that pre-service and in-service teachers use to foster interculturality in high school and college foreign language curricula as well as the challenges teachers face when aiming to do so (e.g., Byram & Kramsch, 2008; Díaz, 2013a; Ghanem, 2017; Kramsch, 2011; Kearney, 2015, 2021; Kohler, 2015).Even though the existing research has shed light on the development of interculturality and the beliefs both learners and teachers hold about this concept, research about how teachers teach for interculturality in public high school classrooms and the contradictions that emerge in this process remains limited. Diverse scholars (Díaz, 2013a; Kramsch, 2011, 2013; Kearney, 2015, 2021; Kohler, 2015; Liddicoat, 2011) have argued that there is a need to delve more deeply into the practices teachers use to teach for interculturality in their classrooms and the limitations that might prevent them from doing so. Grounded in situated collaborative qualitative research (Atkinson, 2005; Erickson 1986, 2018) and formative intervention research founded upon the principles of third-generation Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987; Engeström & Sannino, 2010), the present study aims at exploring the understanding that four experienced EFL teachers in three public schools in Córdoba, Colombia have of interculturality; the ways in which they teach it in their classrooms; and the contradictions that emerge in doing so. Data were collected over the course of nine months and included individual interviews, focus group meetings, class observations, stimulated recall interviews, and artifacts. The findings reveal that the formative intervention facilitated the incorporation of new tools (e.g., multimodal texts, the combination of L1 and L2), roles (e.g., teachers as researchers), and community (e.g., parents as part of L2 learning) that propelled the integration of interculturality in the L2 classroom. The findings also underscore the role of collaborative research in the design and implementation of intercultural practices that include: 1) exploring the known before moving to the unknown; 2) exploring practices and products more deeply; 3) moving from factual information to perspectives; 4) challenging existing sources; and 5) contextualizing existing practices that respond to teachers’ contextual needs while aligning with national regulations. The study also shows how contradictions were explored, analyzed, and dealt with collaboratively.