Abstractthe perceptions of high school students to the significance of intercultural awareness

in English learning as foreign language were studied to provide suggestions for enhancing their
intercultural communication competence in the context of high schools. As a significant gap in
intercultural language research there are few examples of related classroom practice to help build
the intercultural awareness. The aim of the present study was to assess cultural factors in learning
and education on Iranian EFL learner in terms of their, awareness toward the intercultural
competence. A quantitative research method was applied with 400 high school students who
were 215 EFL Learners and 185 Non-EFL Learners which included both genders. Our sampling
method was convenient. Multiple choice questionnaire was the instrument of data collections.
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that, at least in the Iranian context participating in
English classes in language institution has a positive impact on their intercultural competence.
Regarding pedagogical implications. The attitudes to cultural diversity, misunderstanding even
conflicts unavoidably existed in English classes influenced target language and culture mastery.
This study suggested the promotion of intercultural awareness among students was important to
help international students take advantage of opportunities available at campus or beyond to
improve their effective intercultural communication.

Introduction
Culture is in language, and language is
loaded with culture (Agar, 1994: 28).
In the context of language teaching, cultural awareness usually means
awareness of the specific culture of the target country, which itself implies a
degree of knowledge, a certain engagement with this knowledge and possibly
a first step towards understanding the culture of the target country.
Regarding the perspective held on the target culture, Chambers (2004: 15)
The concept of intercultural awareness, in contrast,
emphasises that cultures can only be defined in relation to each other. It
does this at a number of different levels: firstly, it implies both a window on
the culture/cultures of the target countries and a mirror where we discover
ourselves in the process of discovering the other culture (see examples given in
Huber-Kriegler et al ., 2003). It thus implies a dual or comparative approach
where similarities and differences are identified and discussed and where it is
important to go beyond the surface culture of behaviours and artefacts to the
deep culture of beliefs and values that lies behind it
Further, intercultural awareness implies a conceptual shift from a specific
focus on the home culture and the target culture _ and the individuals in
these specific cultures _ to an awareness of the greater complexity of cultures,
and cultural and social identity more generally. It values the individual
in the culture, with reference to the concept of social identity (Byram,
2000: 17). Beyond the pure acquisition of knowledge,
therefore, the concept of intercultural awareness implies the development of a
combination of knowledge, attitudes, skills and values which all imply
different types of learning, different pedagogical objectives and approaches.
Of particular relevance in this area are the studies relating to intercultural
awareness and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) carried out
since the late 1980s and initially around the Durham project (see Buttjes &
Byram, 1991; Byram, 1997; Byram & Esarte-Sarries, 1991) as well as a number
of more recent Council of Europe projects such as those presented in Byram
and Tost Planet (2000), and Byram et al . (2002). In short, we may say that
intercultural awareness combined with communicative competence leads to
intercultural communicative competence, or intercultural competence. The
factors involved in intercultural competence were identified by Michael Byram
(1997) as a combination of attitudes (savoir etre ), knowledge (savoir ), skills
(savoir faire ) and values and critical awareness (savoir sengager). Byram furtherrefers to the
role of empathy and specifies that the skills involved or ability to
decentre include: interpreting and relating (savoir comprendre ) and discovery
and interaction (savoir apprendre ) (see Figure 1).
It is well known that teaching or learning a foreign language cannot be only linguistic skills like
phonology, morphology, vocabulary or syntax (Forsman, 2012). Language learning and target
cultures cannot realistically be separated. Mak (2010) asserts language learning is a deep,
conceptual activity which involves explicit analysis of language and culture.
 Therefore, intercultural awareness is required for a foreign language learner to promote
intercultural communication competence (Leask, 2009). Bodycott and Lai (2012) mention that
foreign language learners should be aware to actively intermingle their own culture with target
culture. Colvin et al (2012) points out intercultural awareness helps learners broaden mind,
increase tolerance and achieve cultural empathy and sensitivity. Intercultural awareness is a
consciousness and an ability to put intercultural conceptions into practice in an real-time cross-
cultural context (Baker, 2011). Thus, intercultural awareness is a learning process in which we
become adapt to the target language and cultural situations and principles (Leung & Chiu,
2010).In foreign language teaching/learning, an awareness of target language and culture needs
to be carefully considered. Otherwise, the potential cross-cultural communication problems arise
from lacking mutual untranslatable speech or behavior. There is no question that successful
integration of culture could contribute significantly to target language teaching/learning
(Matsumoto & Yoo, 2006).

Therefore, this study was to investigate the

The following research objectives were set out: to investigate staff and students perceptions
towards the significance of intercultural awareness in Chinese teaching/learning; to provide some
suggestions for enhancing intercultural communication competence in Chinese teaching and
learning in Shanxi Provincial tertiary educational context

method
Data collection methods including questionnaire (see in Appendices I, II) and semi-structured
interview (see in Appendices III), which were concerned about participants views and attitudes
towards the significance of intercultural awareness in Chinese teaching/learning as foreign
language. The questionnaire employed during Phase 1 adopted Likert Scale format (Likert,
1932

The completed questionnaires were conducted in two ways: paper-based (given face-to-face) and
web-based (Potential participants were contacted by email explaining the research objectives and
inviting them to participate in). The email also contained an attachment of questionnaire. During
Phase 1, a 40-items questionnaire was distributed to 325 academic staffs and oversea students
Data gathered from this stage were analyzed with Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS)
version 19.0.
Summary of result
Through research program or development of class activities about language and culture, they
could be able to instruct their students on intercultural awareness and communication
competence and help them face the current process of globalization by creating an open
atmosphere in classroom itself, where members surely from diverse backgrounds.

Discuddion
The quantitative and qualitative data analysis of this research indicated that the intercultural
awareness played an important role in Chinese teaching/studying as foreign language, which was
recognized by most of teaching staffs and international students. The findings showed a strong
correlation between intercultural experience, length of teaching/studying Chinese as foreign
language and the enthusiasm in target language involved lectures or programs, regardless of age
and gender. Their views and attitudes to intercultural awareness impacted target language and
culture teaching and learning. The fact that cultural diversity, cultural misunderstanding or even
conflicts unavoidable existed in Shanxi provincial uThe great gift human have for each other was
not an exotic experiences but an opportunity which could be accomplished only by interacting
with others who did not share the same system (Messner, 2016). The advancement of
intercultural communication capability depended on the motivating force to pursue
communicative interaction. The process may or may not succeed but provided an opportunity to
modify their skills in the developmental learning cycle, in which an in-depth awareness
developed through on-going reflections, intercultural conversations, and understanding of
cultural similarities and differences. Besides, the intercultural awareness and competence
required not an awareness of cultural similarities but differences to enhance effective
communication in a Chinese as foreign language classroom.
In sum, the development of oversea students intercultural awareness and understanding
recognized value of Chinese language teaching/learning as a resource to promote critical
thinking about cultural assumptions and intercultural competence. Nonetheless, the teachers
motivation was pivotal to facilitating communication in culturally diverse classes. A cognitive
willingness coupled with open-minded and positive attitude to manage intercultural difference,
diversity or even conflict would contribute to target language and cultural mastery and
application. niversities should be understood and surmounted.
And further research could be conducted to explore more deep insights about how intercultural
awareness and communication competence manifest in Chinese teaching/learning methodology
and materials.
Several authors such as
Byram and Esate-Sarries (1991: 173) and Zarate (1986: 82) have remarked on
the fact that in such textbooks, the culture of the target country tends to be
represented as static and monolithic. In this case, the teaching objective is
purely one of developing knowledge about the specific culture of the target
country, or countries, reminding us of the banking teaching tradition exposed
by Ivan Illich

Allen (1985) argues that awareness and appreciation of another culture are achieved through
studentsongoing discovery process. Culture learning as a process provides students with
opportunities to explore different cultural aspects, reflect on their cultural explorations and
create their own relational meanings between their own culture and the target culture
(Kramsch, 1993).