Developing Intercultural Communicative Competences in EFL Lessons in Slovakia

Zuzana Sándorová, Slovakia, ID CLEaR2016-395;     Due to massive migration flows and signs of increasing ethnocentrism, intercultural communicative competences (ICC), i.e. the ability to competently interact with people from different cultures, is gaining more and more significance in today’s globalized world. This phenomenon is also reflected in recent theories of FL education, which emphasize the necessity of equipping FL learners with intercultural knowledge and skills. But does FL education in Slovakia really contribute to the development of ICC?
In order to answer the question, the aim of the present paper was to report the findings of observing EFL lessons at secondary schools in Slovakia, a complementary method to verify the results of a course-book package analysis. The investigation revealed that only a rather limited number of aspects of ICC were developed suitably and sufficiently during the observed EFL lessons.
Key words
FL education, intercultural communicative competence, EFL lessons, observation