Professional identity, curriculum and teaching Intercultural Communication: an Indonesian case study

Abstract

Influenced by contemporary research into the interconnectedness of language and culture, many Indonesian teacher education courses have introduced ‘new’ subjects such as Intercultural Communication and Cross-Cultural Understanding, hoping to unsettle their students' traditional assumptions that language is merely a neutral medium for expressing or disseminating ideas or culture. And yet the extent to which such subjects might impact upon these students' understandings and beliefs is contingent upon the particular understandings and beliefs, and the ‘identity work’, of the lecturers and tutors who teach in those subjects. This qualitative case study focuses on one teacher educator's beliefs about and understandings of English language and culture, in order to tease out what perspectives on Intercultural Communication are being constructed through the teaching and learning in that subject. Initial findings suggest some fundamental tensions and inconsistencies in the perspectives on language and culture being taught through this particular subject. Such tensions and contradictions are invariably part of all teachers' identity work, but they limit the potential for significant real change in student learning despite the apparent change in the curriculum being implemented.