English Teachers as Intercultural Mediators

Recent contributions to intercultural studies in language teaching have highlighted the importance of developing ICC among EFL teachers and learners (Byram, 2021). For both, ICC involves more than just linguistic and sociolinguistic knowledge; it requires interpreting and understanding different worldviews and cultural perspectives, interacting and communicating effectively with individuals from different cultural backgrounds beyond anglophone contexts (Fantini, 2020), being aware of and respecting cultural differences, and resolving any conflicts that may arise (Polat & Metin, 2012). Several theoretical models have been produced to understand ICC. Influential examples include Hammer’s (2009, 2012), who offers the Intercultural Development Continuum model, and Chen’s (2017), who presents a triangular ICC model comprising intercultural sensitivity (Chen & Starosta, 2000), intercultural effectiveness (Portalla & Chen, 2010), and intercultural awareness (Chen & Starosta, 1998). In the TEFL area, the most influential is Byram’s (2021)savoirs model, organized around five knowledge components. Particularly for teachers, it requires them to adopt the role of an intercultural mediator. Mediation, in this sense, is understood as facilitating learners’ ability to bridge cultural differences, promoting intercultural understanding and communication skills for interacting with people from other cultures through English (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013). As intercultural mediators, EFL teachers guide students in developing awareness of their own and others’ cultures and encourage reflection, critical thinking, and effective interaction in culturally diverse contexts (Byram, 2021).

EFL teachers can motivate students to explore and reflect on cultural differences without judgment or prejudice by creating a supportive classroom environment that encourages students to challenge their assumptions and biases, promoting a more open-minded and inclusive approach to intercultural communication (Padua & Gonzalez Smith, 2020). EFL teachers also need to overcome cultural imbalances (Eno et al., 2019; Klenner Loebel et al., 2021), address reconciling contradictions between culturally related ideologies in materials and teaching practices (Hoff, 2020), and embrace critical pedagogies that promote intercultural understanding and challenge homogenizing approaches (Fang & Baker, 2021; Fang et al., 2024).

Effective intercultural mediation in the EFL classroom requires implementing various teaching strategies, including (a) incorporating authentic literature, videos, and articles from different cultures into the curriculum to expose students to different cultural perspectives (Gómez, 2012); (b) prompting discussions on cultural topics that encourage students to share their experiences and perspectives while also respecting and valuing the viewpoints of others (Gómez Rodríguez, 2015); (c) providing opportunities for collaborative projects where students from different cultural backgrounds can work together to solve problems (Reid & Garson, 2016); and (d) creating a safe and inclusive classroom environment where students express opinions and beliefs without fear of judgment or discrimination (Terare, 2019). These strategies foster intercultural understanding and empathy, and enhance students’ foreign and first language skills.

EFL Teachers’ Beliefs About Their Intercultural Mediator Role

Teachers’ beliefs are the implicit understandings, assumptions, and perceptions that teachers hold about teaching, learning, and their professional roles (Borg, 2003). They play a crucial role in shaping teachers’ classroom practices and interactions. These beliefs are constructed through formal education and professional development and are influenced by personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and contextual factors (Levin, 2015). Teachers’ perceptions of their responsibility as intercultural mediators significantly influence their pedagogical choices, the selection of materials, and how they address cultural aspects in their language teaching practices.

Assuming an intercultural mediator role requires teachers’ self-reflection on their beliefs about their identities and praxis (Cuartas Álvarez, 2020). Teachers can develop their identity as intercultural mediators through educational interventions, practical experience, and ongoing critical reflection (Gong et al., 2022). Through educational interventions, such as professional development programs, teachers can gain theoretical knowledge and pedagogical strategies to address intercultural communication in the EFL classroom effectively. Practical experience should further help shape teachers’ identities as intercultural mediators. During practical teaching experiences, teachers should find the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge and expertise to real-life intercultural encounters in the classroom. They ought to learn to adapt their teaching methods, integrate culturally responsive materials, and foster intercultural dialogue among their students. Ongoing critical reflection allows teachers to develop a strong sense of self and be confident in their cultural identities (Mede & Gunes, 2019).

EFL teachers, as intercultural mediators, know and understand the diversity of their students’ backgrounds and the power dynamics that may be present in the classroom (Wang et al., 2022). By critically reflecting on the power dynamics present in intercultural dialogue, teachers can take steps to challenge and disrupt unequal power structures. Lastly, teachers can actively seek opportunities to learn about different cultures and languages and incorporate this knowledge into their teaching practices.

Participants and Data Collection

EFL teachers who have been teaching in primary and/or secondary schools in the La Araucanía region in Chile participated in 13 semi-structured interviews and one focus group. Descriptive data regarding the teachers who participated in the study are presented in Table 1. Participants were recruited using convenience (Golzar et al., 2022) and snowball sampling (Parker et al., 2019). The sample size was determined by data saturation, as no new information emerged in the final interviews. Inclusion criteria included teachers with at least 2 years of teaching experience and without formal education in ICC in TEFL. This criterion was important since it would contribute to identifying gaps in the teachers’ knowledge, contrasted with the new standards for ITE of MINEDUC. The individual interviews lasted 30 minutes, and the focus group, 45 minutes. The interview guide was developed by the principal author, piloted by one teacher, and approved by external experts. Samples of the questions include, “How can the EFL teacher prompt intercultural communication?” and “What are the characteristics of a teacher as an intercultural mediator?” among others. The interviews and focus group were conducted by the principal researcher. The research was approved by the ethics committee of the university where the research originated, and each participant signed an informed consent form to participate in the study.

In the analysis, the first interview subject is designated Participant 1 (P1). The focus group participants are designated with an F. The interviews, recordings, and transcriptions were in Spanish, and the authors translated the extracts for this publication.

Data Analysis

The interviews were analyzed following the thematic analysis steps proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). The first step was an initial approach to the data contained in the transcriptions, which involved reading and re-reading the texts to have an in-depth understanding of participants’ reflections. The second step was to identify initial codes from the data. These corresponded to descriptive labels for data fragments that expressed similar ideas or topics. The work was conducted by identifying units of meaning that allowed the analyst to understand participants’ utterances in depth. The third step was to look for patterns that emerged from these initial codes and to identify themes in participants’ discourse. Themes are broader than codes and represent central ideas or issues expressed in the data. This step allowed us to reach the first thematic organization around the attributions made by participants. The fourth step was to review and refine themes. At this stage, researchers’ triangulation was relevant to ensure data stability. The fifth and last step was to define and name the resulting beliefs assigned to the role of EFL teachers as intercultural mediators. The researchers clearly defined what each belief is and what it is not, and then named it to encapsulate the themes that compose it. The themes emerging from the interviews were interpreted in light of the existing literature on ICC models, EFL learning contexts for developing ICC, and teachers’ roles in the learning process. Atlas Ti 8.0 was used to aid analysis.

Belief A: A Proponent of Positive Intercultural Attitudes

EFL teachers believe that being a proponent of positive intercultural attitudes is one of their most essential responsibilities. Participants see intercultural mediation when an EFL teacher openly inculcates positive attitudes toward intercultural communication, such as curiosity, reflection on stereotypes and prejudice, and positive values. These positive attitudes have two facets: one related to the affective sphere of intercultural relations (how their students feel about interacting) and the other to the cognitive sphere (what students learn from interacting).

The first feature of this belief is an attitude of curiosity. Teachers characterize the affective sphere of curiosity as prompting interest in engaging with people with different worldviews. The second facet of curiosity is a cognitive desire to learn about the culture and its aspects, such as beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors. Hence, curiosity can then be characterized as a mixture of a willingness to interact and a willingness to learn. This can be observed in the following excerpt, in which P4 highlights the importance of knowing the traditions and customs of the cultures associated with the target language and mentions the importance of creating this feeling of positive curiosity towards interacting with others:

It is about understanding the culture you are learning about. To learn a language, you need to know the culture; you need to be immersed in the traditions and customs of the target language so that you can understand what is said and the context in which it is said.

The second feature of intercultural mediation is the need to motivate students to develop a reflective attitude towards stereotypes and prejudice based on ethnocentric views of culture. Reflecting on stereotypes and prejudice would allow students to enhance their positive attitudes toward learning about other cultures from an affective facet, since they would be able to develop empathy toward others and, from a cognitive facet, know the rationales behind cultural differences. As described in the following excerpt, teachers consider this reflection to be fundamental.

First, I think we should be aware of stereotypes [when teaching EFL] because students also need to be aware of them, and perhaps start educating them about the formation of stereotypes, labels, and prejudices. There are ways to address that; one can address it in discussion classes. I think we must be careful with that. (P13)

Prompting curiosity and critical reflection on stereotypes and prejudice leads to another feature of this belief: the motivation behind attitudes that entail positive values, such as respect for differences, acceptance of cultural diversity, and an interest in engaging with people and realities that might be alien to the individual but could enrich their worldviews. According to the participants, these positive values result from contrasting cultural patterns and contribute to students’ integral formation. In the following excerpts, P7 elaborates on how contrasting cultural patterns is the first step to understanding and respecting cultural differences. The participant ponders that the EFL teacher’s role is to guide that reflection, while F15 focuses on the EFL teacher’s role in contributing to the integral formation of students and how intercultural communication contributes to reflecting on diverse areas of human development, such as global communication, moral development, and personal wellness, as positive values. These attitudes align with the development of global citizenship competencies.

The teacher has to teach in English elements that are proper to their students’ culture. If you can make students contrast this with others, then they can respect other cultures as well, so our role is very important. (P7)

I believe that this allows you to approach not only concepts but also the integral formation of people. You can discuss communication, values formation, self-care, or any topic you propose. In this sense, the role of teachers is very important because they know about the different subjects and are open to approaching many topics. (F15)

Belief B: An Expander of Intercultural Contexts

This belief describes the role of the English teacher as overseeing diverse cultural realities (local and foreign) and expanding students’ cultural backgrounds, enabling them to broaden their worldviews through intercultural awareness. The intercultural mediation in this role happens when the teacher considers (a) students’ home contexts, (b) the learning context, and (c) the global context for learning EFL.

For the participants, it is relevant to understand different sociocultural realities of the students’ home context, such as being children of migrants or Indigenous people, and how these might influence the learning process. P4 reflects on the importance of connecting EFL with students’ daily lives, thus incorporating students’ contexts into the learning process: “We try to incorporate culture without leaving aside the children’s context because that is important. In other words, we cannot try to teach English out of the context of what they have in their daily lives.”

This home context theme connects with Belief C, which is related to finding purpose in learning the language. By understanding students’ cultural backgrounds, EFL teachers would better understand students’ learning rationales and motivations for learning the language. In this way, they could provide their students with the most suitable strategies to prompt interest in intercultural communication.

Another feature of this belief is understanding the learning context in terms of the appropriate teaching/learning materials and conditions. Participants mention that selecting appropriate materials is crucial to prompt interest in intercultural communication. In this regard, teachers reflect critically on the materials (e.g., planning samples, textbooks) provided by governmental institutions, which they consider to be biased and stereotypical. Participants indicated that EFL teachers should be cautious about the materials they select, adapt, or create to teach the language, connecting this topic to Belief A regarding reflection on prejudice and stereotypes. Participant F16 reflects on the stereotypes in the textbooks provided by MINEDUC, exemplifying the representation of the Mapuche:

The Ministry’s English language textbooks are adapted, but they contain some misconceptions about other cultures or local cultures; for example, at the beginning, the language used for that culture is not appropriate, saying that the Mapuche people “existed,” when they still exist. So, I question whether the adapted texts sometimes omit information that is true in real life.

Concerning students’ teaching/learning conditions, participants said that the learning settings, whether rural or urban, or different school dependencies such as private, state/municipal, or charter, could influence students’ learning dispositions, for example, how students find a purpose in learning EFL. Thus, in underprivileged contexts, it becomes the teacher’s role to expand students’ cultural capital. This connects with Belief C by understanding and managing the contextual conditions. EFL teachers become guides in helping students find purpose in learning EFL. Participant F14 elaborates on their teaching experience in diverse contexts by specifying the differences between rural and urban private schools regarding students’ motivation and support to learn a foreign language:

The teacher is the one who transmits a subject and culture, but it also depends on the type of school. . . . In the rural area, it is difficult for students to accept English as something that will serve them. As a teacher, I was frustrated because I did not have an answer to help them see something functional they would value. On the other hand, it is different in the context of private schools. They have their families, a whole cultural context behind them, and life goals that help your mediation through the English classes.

Intercultural mediation also occurs when teachers consider the global context of EFL learning. Teachers see English as a global language that enables communication with English-speaking cultures and other EFL speakers. Social media, gaming, and leisure activities allow students to connect with the global context of English. Teachers recognize that students interact in various intercultural scenarios, some of which are more familiar than others, and that they need to expand their range of intercultural experiences. For example, P5 invites students to consider interculturality as broader than communication with the local Indigenous peoples:

Intercultural does not refer only to people of other ethnicities in a country, but also to something more global. So, I think it allows kids to learn about and recognize that there are other realities and cultures, and that learning from them is always meaningful.

Belief C: A Guide to Finding Purpose in Learning

The participants expressed that the EFL teacher should lead a process that reveals the purpose of learning the language, helping students find meaning and significance in their learning activities. One reason to learn English is that it will allow students to connect with people and cultures different from their own. This reason might seem evident in contexts where English is used in students’ daily lives. However, in the La Araucanía context, students do not usually have the opportunity to interact with foreigners in English. In this way, the role of the EFL teacher as a guide in finding a purpose for learning the language becomes relevant, as it allows students to broaden their worldviews.

Regarding this belief, the participants mention three features of the intercultural mediation process. Intercultural mediation is performed when the teacher leads the learning process in (a) establishing a learning purpose, (b) being a co-learner, and (c) motivating the least advantaged.

Establishing the learning purpose does not correspond to presenting the class objectives or the learning outcomes, but to the general purpose of learning a foreign language. P1 states that teachers should first develop their own intercultural sensitivity to help students perceive the English language as useful. Then, they would be able to make this sensitivity explicit for their students:

How that intercultural approach is developed should be much more explicit . . . how [the English culture] is developed in terms of sensitivity because that is the only way English teachers are going to convince themselves first and then make their students see the language as a real tool and as something that really applies to the world, as a life skill.

This excerpt also links to the next theme of this belief, teachers as co-learners. This means that teachers should learn alongside their students and that a co-learner is more than a mediator. By teachers modeling the learning process, students will see a clear route to develop skills, attitudes, and knowledge regarding the language and the cultures they access. In the following excerpt, P11 elaborates on the EFL teacher as a co-learner:

I believe that a teacher, more than a mediator, should be a participant. What is the difference? The mediator may try to facilitate that this works with the other or generate spaces for what is useful. I see the teacher as a mediator but also as a participant or someone who learns alongside their students.

Another feature of intercultural mediation regarding this belief is motivating the least privileged students, which relates to Belief B, expanding students’ intercultural contexts. Teachers understand that not all students have the same opportunities to practice the language in their local context. For example, it was mentioned that students from rural areas and lower socioeconomic levels might encounter difficulties in finding a purpose for learning English, contrary to students from urban areas in higher socioeconomic levels, who might have more opportunities to travel abroad or have relatives living in English-speaking countries, providing them opportunities to use the language in authentic conversations and real-life experiences. In this regard, P2 explains perceived contextual differences and reflects on the greater responsibility teachers have in motivating less privileged students to find purpose in learning:

Depending on the context, it is also a little different. What we try to do at levels where the children are more constrained by their life context is to try, for example, to provide them with authentic materials or, through different types of work or projects, to show them other realities and cultures. Not only those that directly have to do with English, because oftentimes one goes to everything that has to do with English culture, but through the development of the language itself to show them other realities, other peoples, other customs, and there are different ways to do it, through large projects, research, and presentations.