Intercultural Language Education: Supportive Factors and Constraints on EFL Learners’ Intercultural Communicative Competence Development

Abstract

 This qualitative research aims to explore the supportive factors and constraints on the development of EFL learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the EFL context of Vietnam. Forty-seven EFL learners who were learning General English at a foreign language center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, were involved in this study. Two research instruments, namely diary and semi-structured group interview, were employed to garner data. The findings revealed that there were more supportive factors (active learners, inspirational teacher, interactive learning material and task, and dynamic context) than constraints (learner differences and task administration) that affected learners’ ICC development. This study recommends that different factors such as learners, teacher, learning material/task, and context, should be scrutinized so as to facilitate the development process of learners’ ICC.