DEVELOPING THE INTERCULTURAL ASPECTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

Interculturalism as an approach to language teaching and learning gained ascendency in the field of education in general and in the teaching of foreign languages in particular during the few past decades. Indeed, studying a foreign language has become increasingly related to studying its culture, this is why teachers and educators around the world strive to promote it and enhance it deeply in their curricula, since it will offer the learners, not only, with the knowledge and skills of the language studied but also, with the ability to use the language in its social and cultural appropriate contexts. Thus, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate the importance , the role and the different ways of developing the intercultural aspects in foreign language teaching; the thing that will permit the learners develop their intercultural communicative competence. It also aims, at building an intercultural understanding of the target language which will help the learners avoid all kinds of stereotyping and be tolerant individuals vis-à-vis people from other cultures with other perspectives, values, attitudes and behaviours.