Songul Dogan Ger: Developing Students’ Cultural Diversity Awareness and Intercultural Communicative Competence in English Classes
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9 The Students’ Views About the Development of their Cultural Diversity Awareness and Intercultural Communicative Competence – Data Source 5: Interviews with the Students
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9.4 Discussion

9.4 Discussion

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The analysis of Data Source 5 offers insights into the extent to which the participating students demonstrated elements of CDA and ICC in the context of their multicultural school environment. While the students exhibited openness, curiosity, and respect towards cultural diversity, many of these attitudes were instinctively developed through their everyday interactions with peers from different backgrounds. Friendships across cultures facilitated a form of informal learning about values, customs, and behaviours; however, these experiences often remained implicit and unstructured, lacking guided reflection or systematic analysis.

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The students’ ability to articulate cultural differences primarily stemmed from social engagement rather than formal instruction. Their curiosity often led them to seek information from peers or online platforms, yet the depth and accuracy of this knowledge varied. Although such curiosity reflects an important component of ICC, the absence of structured pedagogical support left students susceptible to overgeneralisations and stereotypical assumptions. For example, students frequently attributed behaviours or social norms solely to religion or historical background without critically examining how these factors intersect with broader socio-political contexts. These findings mirror a gap in the curriculum, where opportunities for critically interrogating the roots of cultural norms remain underutilised.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Students also demonstrated a developing capacity for interpreting and relating cultural information, especially when confronted with visible cultural markers such as dietary practices or dress codes. Yet, the development of these interpretive skills occurred predominantly through informal encounters, often lacking the critical scaffolding needed to address more complex or controversial elements of deep culture. While their responses suggested a degree of tolerance and willingness to understand, they also revealed a limited capacity to question or deconstruct the socio-cultural assumptions underlying behaviours they perceived as different or ‘strange’.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

The component of action was particularly revealing. Students expressed a belief in the importance of communication across cultures and showed awareness of discrimination and human rights issues. Nevertheless, their understanding of how to act against injustice remained surface-level and reactive. Strategies such as ignoring, seeking adult intervention, or resorting to protest were frequently cited, but there was little evidence of deeper engagement with democratic citizenship or mediation strategies. Moreover, references to physical confrontation by some students point to a lack of guidance in navigating cultural conflict in constructive ways. While the multicultural setting encouraged everyday interaction, it did not sufficiently equip students with the skills or language to challenge stereotypes and structural inequalities in informed, reflective, and non-violent ways.

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The students’ comments on human rights violations further revealed the influence of their socio-political contexts, particularly in how they viewed protest as the primary, and often dangerous, form of action. These perspectives were shaped by their experiences or media portrayals of repression in their home countries. Their sense of powerlessness and fear surrounding activism underscores the need for schools to foster a clearer understanding of democratic engagement and rights-based responsibilities. The conflation of activism with physical risk demonstrates that many students have internalised a narrow and often fearful conceptualisation of political agency.

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Taken together, these findings illustrate the limitations of relying solely on immersive, multicultural environments to foster intercultural competence. While informal experiences do foster empathy and awareness, they do not replace the need for explicit, critical education in CDA and ICC. English language lessons, as highlighted in the literature, represent a particularly effective space for integrating intercultural learning, given the intrinsic link between language and culture (Byram, 1997; Kramsch, 1993). However, at the observed school, such potential appeared largely untapped. The findings suggest an urgent need to reframe language teaching as a site for developing political literacy, challenging prejudice, and promoting democratic engagement. Without deliberate pedagogical strategies and curricular support, students may remain passive observers of injustice, lacking the tools to critically reflect on culture and their role in shaping intercultural understanding.
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