Research on Enhancing Students’ Intercultural Awareness and Competence in English Teaching

Abstract

With the deepening of globalization, intercultural communication has become an important part of people’s daily lives and work. English, as an international language, plays a vital role in intercultural communication. However, simple language knowledge can no longer meet the needs of modern society. Students need to have intercultural awareness and competence to better adapt to the development of globalization. Therefore, it is particularly important to improve students’ intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching. This paper will discuss how to improve students’ intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching, which includes three parts. The first part introduces the definition of intercultural awareness and competence. The second part explores the importance of intercultural awareness and competence to students, which can help students better understand and respect different cultures, stimulate students’ innovative thinking and creativity, and cultivate critical thinking skills, and is also of great significance to students’ professional development, personal growth, and social responsibility. The third part discusses the effective methods and strategies to improve students’ intercultural awareness and competence in teaching, including carrying out cultural discussion and debate, introducing diverse materials, creating intercultural experience teaching activities, and using virtual learning tools. To a certain extent, this study can enrich the theoretical research in the field of intercultural awareness and competence, help to improve students’ intercultural awareness and competence, and provide certain practical guidance for educators to teach intercultural courses.