Applying Conflict Management Techniques to Improve EFL Learners’ Intercultural Awareness and Willingness to Communicate: Proficiency and Attitude in Focus

AbstractThe focus of the study was investigating the effects of intermediate and advanced EFL learners’ Intercultural Awareness Competence (IAC) on their willingness to communicate in L۲ speaking classrooms. In addition, it aimed to investigate how the language learners perceived the possible effects of IAC as a motivational tool. The participants included ۴۰ intermediate and ۴۰ advanced EFL learners from a language institute in Isfahan, Iran who were chosen through a Quick Oxford Placement Test (QOPT). The participants were randomly categorized to two intermediate and two advanced groups (n = ۲۰). To assess participants' willingness to communicate (WTC) in the classroom, a ۲۷-item questionnaire (McCroskey & Richmond, ۲۰۱۳) was employed. Hughes’s (۱۹۸۶) package of techniques for teaching cultural awareness was employed. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the performance of the intermediate and advanced level participants in experimental and control groups in terms of their willingness to communicate before and after the treatment. Accordingly, the null hypotheses of the research could safely be rejected. In other words, improving intermediate and advanced EFL learners’ intercultural awareness competence (IAC) enhanced their willingness to communicate (WTC) in L۲ speaking classrooms. Considering the participants’ attitudes about the importance of intercultural awareness techniques as a motivational tool three themes were drawn which dealt with the benefits of intercultural awareness. In addition, a number of five themes were derived from the participants’ responses about the implementation of intercultural awareness. The implication is that Iranian learners can take benefit of intercultural awareness to enhance their willingness to communicate in mastering English as a foreign language.

Keywords:

_EFL Learning , Intercultural Awareness Competence (IAC) , Intercultural approach , willingness to communicate (WTC)