Familiaridad y contacto con culturas extranjeras

Investigaciones sobre maestros de lenguas extranjeras y competencia intercultural

Abstract

This article is based on the results of a large empirical study that seeks to explore the cultural dimension of foreign language learning in terms of the intercultural communicative competence of teachers and learners. The quantitative comparative study contained an internet survey presented to secondary school teachers in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Mexico, Poland, Spain and Sweden. The main purpose of the survey was to attempt to describe an average profile of foreign language teachers. I focus on one of the areas found in the survey, teacher familiarity and contacts with foreign cultures. The results of the entire study can be found in Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence: An International Investigation (Serçu, 2005).