The Relation between English Language Cultural Exposure and EL Teachers’ Competencies

Abstract

English language learning is more than acquiring language skills, as the universality of the Englishlanguage gives it an array of socio-cultural facets that need to be encompassed in English languageteaching to non-native speakers.This research explores the impact of personal exposure to western cultures on the professional abilities ofnovice female English language teachers in Qatar. Using a mixed approach of quantitative andqualitative data collection tools, findings from this research show that there is a statistically significantcorrelation using Pearson’s test between the teacher’s exposure to English language cultures and hercompetency as an EL Teacher. Furthermore, results show that when teachers are more confident withtheir grasp of the language especially because of familiarity, they are more able to focus on improvingtheir teaching methods and educational strategies. Feedback also emphasized the importance of suchexposure on improving accents and comprehension, which directly aided in the teachers’ abilities toimpart knowledge to their students.The impact of these results is significant with high implications on higher education policies andcurriculum design. The findings of this research provide valuable insight into the training of ELT innon-native contexts and recommends to policy makers to consider cultural emersion and exposure ofstudent teachers to EL cultures in order to improve their competencies.