EFL instructors' perceptions and practices towards intercultural communicative competence in a university context

This study investigated Turkish EFL instructors' perceptions and practices of intercultural communicative competence in English language classes. Their cross-cultural experiences and perceptions of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) were examined according to age, gender, undergraduate degree, institutions, and last academic degree. The population of this study, which was conducted in the mixed-methods research model, was composed of 129 EFL instructors working in both state and private universities in Turkey. The data were gathered through a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The data analysis from both the questionnaire and the interview indicated that Turkish EFL instructors have moderate and positive perceptions of ICC. In addition, there was statistically significant differences between educators' gender and age and their attitude towards ICC perceptions. However, there was not statistically significant differences in participants' ICC levels with regard to undergraduate degree, institutions, and last academic degree. As gender and age seem to be effective variables in terms of EFL instructors' perceptions and practices of ICC, these results may not be surprising due to participants' demographic backgrounds.