Descriptive Content Analysis to Dissect Intercultural Competence in the New Headway "Intermediate" (4th ed.) Textbook and in Teaching Instruction: The Case of the Centre of Intensive Language Teaching at the University of Tébessa

Abstract

Culture and language are inseparable in their essence; thus, any textbook developed for Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) should consider integrating cultural aspects for learners to function effectively in an increasingly multicultural world. Indeed, Intercultural Competence (IC) has emerged as an important goal of Foreign Language (FL) education, necessitating Intercultural Language Teaching (IcLT) in an intercultural learning environment. This exploratory study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the content of the New Headway "intermediate" (4th ed.) textbook by probing into its interculturality. The study also seeks to evaluate the intermediate-level teaching instruction at the Centre of Language Intensive Teaching (CEIL) at Tebessa University. Content analysis of data collected from textbook analysis and observation checklist answered the research questions. Indeed, the findings reveal that the textbook introduces a significant amount of intercultural material for learners to be mediators between their cultures and the foreign ones, making it an appropriate intercultural resource for both learners and teachers. Besides, observations evince that the principles of IcLT are used to a certain extent, for the teacher observed somewhat succeeded in incorporating intercultural instances while she sometimes totally ignored some elements in the textbook that trigger IC. This research suggests a set of recommendations and pedagogical implications that aim at improving textbook implementation and at encouraging selectivity of teaching materials that develop intercultural speakers and mediators rather than native-like speakers. Keywords: Intercultural Competence (IC), Intercultural Language Teaching (IcLT), New Headway, textbookanalysis