Comparative Analysis of Secondary Teachers’ Intercultural Competence Related to the Socio-economic Context of Different Towns in Spain

Abstract

This paper is contextualized as part of the Master Studies for Secondary Teachers at Universitat Jaume I, Castellon (Spain). More specifically, it corresponds to the second modality of Master Final Project: Educative Research. The central element of this research is the notion of intercultural competence. Its concept and the evolution of it are dealt with extensively before stablishing the key directions for this research. Despite the existence of studies on the degree of implementation of intercultural competence in foreign language teaching, one can find that most of those studies cover several countries but do not focus on the regional differences which can be detected in them. These differences are especially relevant in large countries with very different historic backgrounds and even linguistic factors, as it is the case of Spain. This research compares the level and nature of intercultural competence implementation in the teaching of English as a foreign language in high schools from different Spanish towns which conform very diverse socio-economic frameworks. The results cast by this pilot study show significant similarities and divergences among the teaching communities analysed, thus highlighting the influence of culture and economy on the perceived importance of interculturality and on the nature of the motivation for its implementation. [Note: since this project is written in English, the names of provinces and towns are spelt in this language, not in Spanish (nor Valencian in the case of Castellon)]