An evaluation of a course book in the development of intercultural competence

Turkey has started a new Foreign Language Teaching Programme, which is based on Common European Framework of References (CEFR). One of the aims of the New Language Programme is to teach intercultural competence in foreign language teaching courses. As the course books are the main teaching materials in Turkey, their contents have necessarily gone under changes to teach intercultural competence. The course book evaluated in this study was written according to the New Language Programme. As one of the outcomes of CEFR is the intercultural competence, this study aimed to find out whether this course book was sufficient for teaching intercultural competence or not. To achieve this aim, all the cultural elements related to the local, target and international culture and the language teaching activities in the course book were analyzed with specific reference to the cultural elements that aim to develop students' intercultural competence. The findings of the study revealed that although the book presents a well-balanced view of diverse cultures involving rich cultural elements from the local and the international culture, the proportion of the teaching activities that aim to improve learners' intercultural competence were not sufficient enough.