Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 31 to 35. More and more English language educators understand the importance of focusing not only on developing our learners’ linguistic competence, but also on helping them use English to connect with people who have different perspectives, beliefs and behavioural norms from their own. The push to help students develop global competence by the ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 31 to 35.

More and more English language educators understand the importance of focusing not only on developing our learners’ linguistic competence, but also on helping them use English to connect with people who have different perspectives, beliefs and behavioural norms from their own. The push to help students develop global competence by the OECD PISA (2018) and the promotion of pluricultural competence by the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) further highlights the significance of intercultural skills today.

However, while many of us might be experts at teaching grammar and vocabulary, sharpening our students’ communication skills and intercultural skills might be unfamiliar territory. Some of us might shy away from this because we feel we lack the knowledge or expertise to help students develop these skills systematically. And some of us might get students to speak in groups in the hope that they will incidentally develop these soft skills. However, developing our students’ communication skills and intercultural skills does not have to be a daunting undertaking—we might already know more about it than we give ourselves credit for. Self-awareness is the foundation of effective communication skills and intercultural skills. And the ability to self-reflect can lead to greater self-awareness. Self-reflection is the ability to observe and evaluate our own emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes. It allows us to look inward and become conscious of what drives us and what makes us feel, think and act the way we do. One of the effects of increased self-reflection and self-awareness is a heightened understanding of our feelings. Emotional intelligence takes self-awareness to the next steps – the ability to be socially aware, i.e. aware of the feelings of the people around us; and the ability to self-manage, i.e. to manage our feelings and respond in a way that is appropriate and effective.

If we regularly provide opportunities for self-reflection, explore emotional intelligence, and encourage curiosity in the classroom, while embracing student-generated emergent language and making use of the expertise in materials and resources to guide our approach, we can gradually build a classroom space in which students can strengthen their communication skills and intercultural skills in preparation for their interactions with the world beyond the language classroom.

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