The importance of intercultural communicative competences in English classes on the context of current migration waves

Abstract

The study of intercultural communicative competences (ICC) in the exercise of teaching a foreign language has turned into a vibrant line of research in recent years. It is relevant to promote ICC in English classes to develop awareness, acceptance and respect among members from other cultures and backgrounds, especially on the context of current migration waves around the world, due to the impact of globalization and internationalization in education. Scholars have been talking about intercultural competences and their importance: why it is worth reflecting on their inclusion of ICC in the EFL classroom and the way they are conceived, as well as their contributions to the human being’s development. This paper focuses on a literature review of the definition of intercultural competencies and the conceptions of some scholars who have hardly worked on them and made contributions for teachers of English. Due to the strong relationship between teaching a foreign language and intercultural communicative competences in the EFL classes, it is relevant to clarify the notion of culture, intercultural competence and intercultural communicative competence; all of these concepts are presented in order to clarify their impact in the classroom.