Iranian EFL teachers’ self-reported and enacted culture teaching techniques: A case study

Abstract

This study sought to explore the degree of convergence between EFL teachers’ self-reported and enacted culture teaching techniques and the reasons for possible incongruities as perceived by them. Data were collected from 10 teachers through a three-stage process of pre-lesson interviews, classroom observations, and post-lesson interviews. Anchored in qualitative content analysis, a compound taxonomy comprising six elements (i.e., agent, medium, interaction, modality, pedagogical objective, and cultural orientation) emerged to describe the participants’ self-reports about culture teaching techniques in five categories – namely contrast, authentic material, group work, codeswitching, and role play. Field observations further suggested inconsistencies between teachers’ self-reports and their class performance. Following rationales disclosed by the teachers, areas of dissonance were attributed to institutional policies/time constraints, learners’ religious beliefs, disinterest in the target culture, and low language proficiency, as well as teachers’ subjective judgment of local culture. The participants’ particular set of self-reports was explained in light of their action-based, affective, communicative, and comprehension-based orientations to culture teaching. The inconsistencies between their self-reports and practices were also justified with regard to institution-, learner-, and teacher-related factors. The paper concludes with discussing the implications of the study and providing suggestions for further research.